Dungeon Crawler Carl
Ratings476
Average rating4.4
I picked this book up when it was mentioned on Fantasy News on Youtube and I'm so glad I did. This is a cool take on the dungeon crawl trope that really looks at the gamut of human atrocity. The main characters are growing and the plot hooked me, especially when I though it would peter out.
My sense of humour tends more towards the British because if I can rapidly guess the punchline or the 'humour' is really demeaning and / or mean, it's not humour it doesn't rate a twitch of the cheek muscles let alone the lips or eyes.
This was really really enjoyable, probably because I loved DnD in college, the two main characters are written well and have great interactions, the announcer is incredibly creative, and the action just keeps going.
The narrator is incredibly talented with his voice. I'd swear the female voices [Princess Donut for example] doesn't sound like a male voice straining at its audible limits. And he does a fantastic job interpreting the announcer's dialog!
If you enjoyed this book give Drew Hayes' NPCs https://hardcover.app/books/npcs a try.
I want to keep reading, sadly none of the library systems I have access to have the book and interlibrary loan doesn't include audio since the '00s when the government started cutting back on funding for the arts and libraries had to cut costs somewhere.
Not my usual thing by any means.... But the audio book was well produced and definitely worked to keep me entertained while trapped in bed fighting a fever for a couple days.
Not sure I'll venture to book two despite this rating.
4 stars, Metaphorosis reviews
Summary
Aliens have come to harvest Earth, and everyone who isn't killed is invited to join a dungeon crawl for the entertainment of Earth's new owners - and a chance to win control of the Earth itself.
Review
There's not a lot of surprise in Dungeon Crawler Carl, but that's okay. The initial premise is odd, verging on farcical – aliens kill almost everyone on Earth and many of the rest enter a newly generated dungeon. There's what I hope is a nod to Douglas Adams at the start (if it's not, it's a ripoff), and Dinniman mines a similar light-hearted comedic vein. Greg Costikyan's Another Day, Another Dungeon also comes to mind, though the parody here is of video roleplaying games.
Once the setup (which I found a bit rocky) is out of the way, Dinniman takes the initial premise pretty much where you'd expect, with in jokes about RPGs and inventory, and fairly stock characters. But while he's doing the expected, he does it in quite a fun way. For one thing, he does the ‘right' things: this is not one of those horror movies where no one picks up the dropped weapons; when Carl sees a takeable object, he takes it, and Dinniman gets him to do fun things with them.
There are some moments of discomfort – does he really need to kill all these innocents just for points? – and Dinniman moved a little more quickly past them than I thought warranted. But most of the action and commentary is timed and delivered quite well. It's fun, funny, a quick read, and I did find myself interested to go on to the next volume (and apparently there are six in total).
I didn't go in with high expectations – humor is hard to pull off consistently – but Dinniman does a good job here, and I look forward to continuing the series.
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.
Im not a LitRpg person - but this has been recommended so many times i decided to give it a go and im glad i did. I have enough peripheral knowledge of RPG to not be totally lost but probably lost some jokes. But the plot is fun and the audio book is nothing if not entertaining.
A bizarre story. The first 50% is basically like watching someone play an RPG, which could get a little boring but fortunately things pick-up when it becomes clear that there ia more to the story than a simple dungeon crawl. I initially thought I was one-and-done, but now I am actually looking forward to the next book…
I do not recommend anyone read this book. Not because it's not good but because the audiobook is just amazing and the narrator's voice is perfect. So many funny parts that just wouldn't be the same without his voice. Can't wait to listen to the next one!
4.00/5.00
Dungeon Crawler Carl is a greatly paced funny book. The AI comments are real funny. Some good characters, one great character. Some of the action and the various mob/monsters blend together. I think the author is really struggling with action, but shines at comedy, character work and plot lines. Certainly worth a read (better worth a listen). The book starts off with a deep and reflective battle and gets very RPG later in the book, but return to deeper themes later. I am getting a lot of Upload vibes.... (amazon prime show)
Love princess donut. The AI's feet fetish is hilarious. We need better action writing. We need more character moments, more ethical dilemma, more trauma and horror of this situation and less RPG. This book is so RPG!
3 ***
This was my first experience with LitRPG. It takes some time to get used to it but once you are in that mode it is almost like listening to the gameplay of an RPG.
I heard the audiobook and the narration was good. Overall a fun read, I had a good laugh a few times.
The first book did not entice me enough to pick the next ones in the series right away so maybe sometime later I will get back to this genre.
Rating - 8/10
Plot - 8/10 Characters - 8/10 World & Concepts - 6/10 Prose - 5/10 Theme - 8/10 Narration - 10/10 Enjoyment - 9/10
First LitRPG I've ever read but definitely not my last. Super fun and fast-paced with some great characters. Funny without overdoing it. A surprising amount of depth to the world and the story.
Side note: The audiobook narrator is spectacular
4.5 stars
Listened on audio. Just a fun book with good characters and humor. Helped break up some of the darker books I was reading
I listened this on audiobook and the narrator was absolutely amazing! Such a fun book! I literally laughed so hard when listening to this book. The premise is absurd and the book does not take itself seriously. I didn't know litrpg's could be soo much fun.
Occasionally funny, continuously crude. I suspect I would've enjoyed this book more if I weren't grown.
9.5/10
Just pure fun. It was refreshing for me to read something where the humor is front and center rather than just some comedic relief dribbled between all the grimdark. Every single character is likeable and familiar. On to the next one!
Incredibly juvenile. I loved it.
I loved everything about this book and it's premise. I'm excited to continue reading the series. NEW ACHIEVEMENTS TO BE UNLOCKED.
I initially started this audiobook a few months ago and didn't really like it that much (I think I got to chapter 2 or so). It just seemed so slow.
Well, I picked it up again recently and holy cow! Its amazing. I love the narrator and the voices and it just clicked for me this time around. I am steaming ahead for book two and I cannot wait.
I fucking inhaled this book. Complete popcorn novel.
Not quite as good as Kaiju:BS, but that's probably because that was a complete story and this one ends with a cliffhanger that propels you directly into the sequel.. if you can even call it a sequel, more like each book is an arc of a massive webnovel. Speaking of webnovels, I haven't gotten this thoroughly hooked on a book since Worm. Finished this first book in under a week and am already 20% through the next.
Really really charming. Fun and refreshing and goofy and weird and just a really pleasant experience. I read so many self-serious meaningful novels that I almost forgot how quickly and completely I can be immersed in something so straightforward and addictive.
Has basically everything you would want out of a litrpg book, including actually interesting well-developed characters. Even the small side characters feel fully developed.
Bloody entertaining
Well, it was lot of fun. It had its down moments but overall it's a very entertaining as well as heartbreaking. The things they did to humans are horrible and I hope Carl will get justice for us humans. Goddammit, Donut!!!!!!