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Reviews tagging 'Violence'
Dungeon Crawler Carl - V1 Foil Hardcover Edition by Matt Dinniman
296 reviews
adventurous
dark
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Imagine a mashup of Saga, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, and Ready Player One, and you've got Dungeon Crawler Carl: a hilarious, profane, gross-out action adventure with characters to root for. Manages to be both silly and clever. Great world-building and unique monster/creature design. Can't wait to read the next one!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Gun violence, Sexual content
Minor: Body shaming, Drug abuse, Drug use, Excrement, Vomit, Dementia, Cannibalism
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This is one of the funniest, most imaginative books I've read in a long time. It balances humor, drama, gore, heavy themes, and interpersonal character dynamic so wonderfully.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
adventurous
dark
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Murder
Moderate: Child death
adventurous
dark
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore, Violence
adventurous
dark
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Gore, Misogyny, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual content, Excrement, Vomit, Dementia
Minor: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Infidelity
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
DNF at 26%. It was entertaining, and the narration was superb, but I couldn't get past the misogyny.
In this first quarter, we see four female characters:
* The cheating ex-girlfriend
* The cat
* A giantess whose t-shirt gets vaporized after the first shot by Carl and his cat. Apparently, the reader needed to know how her breasts were hanging
* A dead woman who appears naked in the dungeon
When the dead woman appeared, I had enough and declared this book as DNF.
Carl is a very immature character, and the LitRPG theme isn't my cup of tea, but I thought the premises were fairly interesting, and I wanted something light. The misogyny was too much for me, and I couldn't find any redeeming characteristics to make me continue listening to this audiobook. Goodbye forever, Carl.
In this first quarter, we see four female characters:
* The cheating ex-girlfriend
* The cat
* A giantess whose t-shirt gets vaporized after the first shot by Carl and his cat. Apparently, the reader needed to know how her breasts were hanging
* A dead woman who appears naked in the dungeon
When the dead woman appeared, I had enough and declared this book as DNF.
Carl is a very immature character, and the LitRPG theme isn't my cup of tea, but I thought the premises were fairly interesting, and I wanted something light. The misogyny was too much for me, and I couldn't find any redeeming characteristics to make me continue listening to this audiobook. Goodbye forever, Carl.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny
Moderate: Violence, Xenophobia
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Did we really just start a meth war between the goblins and the llamas?
I’ve got a complicated relationship with the LitRPG genre. On one hand, it always sounds like something made for me, since I love gaming and the idea of turning game mechanics into part of the narrative appeals to me greatly. On the other hand, most of what I’ve read in the genre, with only a couple of exceptions, left me bored and disappointed, so after some point, I kind of stopped trying to get acquainted with it. Except a bunch of my friends have been super excited about the Dungeon Crawler Carl for a while, so eventually, I fell to peer pressure. And boy, I’m so glad I did, because this has been A Romp!
One thing I had doubts about starting out was the combination of the really dark premise (the whole world ends and the survivors get stuck in an intergalactic dungeon crawl-themed reality show, dying by the million) and the humor everyone promised me. I wasn’t sure how possible it was to combining the two aspects without trivializing stuff I don’t like seeing trivialized. Unbelievably, it turns out it’s quite possible! There’s much hilarity here, but the horror of everyone’s circumstances is always there in the background. The humor happens in spite of that, in that pretty organic way where things get so absurdly bad that you can’t help but laugh every time an occasion arises. And the dungeon does provide plenty of occasion, between all the over-the-top notifications, ridiculous takes on the D&D-ish tropes, and the AI having a foot fetish. Actually, the more I think about it, the more I feel like in a story with a less dark premise, I would find a lot of the jokes obnoxious, but here, somehow, it just works.
I also genuinely enjoyed how the blend of videogame and reality show was handled. It’s a game, so of course there are rules that the players must follow and can exploit if they’re smart and inventive enough. But it’s also a show, so of course those rules get constantly tweaked and rigged to provide more entertainment to the viewers—and a steadier current of money for the organizers. And then of course there are all those tensions and intrigues and dirty deals between all the intergalactic capitalists involved, and the crawlers have no way to be fully aware of it all but still need to take whatever scraps of information they get into account if they want to survive long enough. It’s sort of like Hunger Games, if the tributes were forced to deal with sponsors directly while managing their risks of dying horribly. Except with levels and loot and skill points.
Carl is a fun protagonist who’s doing his best to keep it together while maintaining a moral compass, and Donut is an endless source of entertainment in a way only cats can be. Other characters all provide their own layers to the narrative, whether they’re fellow crawlers or the various cogs in the whole dungeon show machine. The action is always tense and inventive and entertaining. Finally, the audio production is superb, more of an audiodrama podcast than an audiobook, and I’m very glad I opted for this way of getting acquainted with the story. Honestly, I’ve had so much fun with this book. I will definitely continue the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
emotional
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood
Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Abandonment, Colonisation, Classism
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Listen, is this book a literary masterpiece? No, it's not. But wow did I have fun.
I have to give it to Dinniman for creating a really unique concept for a novel. We've seen the concept recently of video games being converted into TV shows (some silly, some serious), but this works surprisingly well for a book. While some elements got slightly repetitive, especially early on, I was surprised by how much character development and complex plot points that the author was able to weave in to gaming format.
The whole idea of this book is so outlandish - in the middle of the night, all humans indoors are vaporized by an alien race mining your world and those who are outdoors either have to try to tough it out on the surface or to descend into a "dungeon" where you have to survive in a reality/game show style tv-show. Carl, our main character, a retired military bro who recently got dumped by his girlfriend, takes said ex-girlfriend's cat (Princess Donut) into the dungeon with him, and to his surprise, Donut becomes his teammate who can now talk and strategize like a human.
These books definitely seem geared towards dudes who aren't typical readers, and who need a familiar genre (video gaming) to lure them away from their Playstation. But I think it actually appeals to a much wider audience than just that group and can be a great introduction for readers who maybe are just dipping their toes into the action/sci-fi/fantasy genre.
The one downside was that there were some moments of crude/dirty humor that definitely wasn't very politically correct. It isn't the primary mode of getting laughs, but there were a few jokes that made me slightly uncomfortable as they poked fun in ways that weren't super appropriate. Along those lines, the book is a bit dark and the humor is definitely in some of these dark scenarios. So if that makes you uncomfortable, it might not be the book for you.
Overall, I found it to be an absolute treat and laugh out loud funny. I wasn't expecting to like it, but there was just something about it that just really hooked me and I kept coming back for more. Immediately picked up book 2!
I have to give it to Dinniman for creating a really unique concept for a novel. We've seen the concept recently of video games being converted into TV shows (some silly, some serious), but this works surprisingly well for a book. While some elements got slightly repetitive, especially early on, I was surprised by how much character development and complex plot points that the author was able to weave in to gaming format.
The whole idea of this book is so outlandish - in the middle of the night, all humans indoors are vaporized by an alien race mining your world and those who are outdoors either have to try to tough it out on the surface or to descend into a "dungeon" where you have to survive in a reality/game show style tv-show. Carl, our main character, a retired military bro who recently got dumped by his girlfriend, takes said ex-girlfriend's cat (Princess Donut) into the dungeon with him, and to his surprise, Donut becomes his teammate who can now talk and strategize like a human.
These books definitely seem geared towards dudes who aren't typical readers, and who need a familiar genre (video gaming) to lure them away from their Playstation. But I think it actually appeals to a much wider audience than just that group and can be a great introduction for readers who maybe are just dipping their toes into the action/sci-fi/fantasy genre.
The one downside was that there were some moments of crude/dirty humor that definitely wasn't very politically correct. It isn't the primary mode of getting laughs, but there were a few jokes that made me slightly uncomfortable as they poked fun in ways that weren't super appropriate. Along those lines, the book is a bit dark and the humor is definitely in some of these dark scenarios. So if that makes you uncomfortable, it might not be the book for you.
Overall, I found it to be an absolute treat and laugh out loud funny. I wasn't expecting to like it, but there was just something about it that just really hooked me and I kept coming back for more. Immediately picked up book 2!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Fatphobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism
adventurous
challenging
funny
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Not usually in to action/fantasy/sci-fi but this book was so well written and hilarious. Made for a great listen during a long car ride! When it hit the Epilogue I was so bummed, but thankfully we already had the second one ready to go! Excited to continue to follow Carl and Donut in this crazy world.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Child death, Dementia