Reviews - Dungeon Crawler Carl

13.7k reviews for:

Dungeon Crawler Carl

Matt Dinniman

4.41 AVERAGE

estrattan's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous funny fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

missalessia's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous funny lighthearted 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

SO FUCKING FUN. CR4CK C0CAINE IN BOOK FORM. need to physically restrain myself from binging the entire series (jeff hays did such an incredible job narrating - capturing the charm, tone and whimsy with the skill of seeming like a full cast production)

kristina_bazhanova's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous funny relaxing 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: No

wouterk's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous dark funny tense medium-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: Yes

Second read:
Okay I can see why some people actually bounce off of the first book. It is still great though and the series as a whole amazingly good and fun. And it is conceptually strong, while slowly building up strong characters.

First read:
This was a great book. 4,5 out of 5 stars but I'm rounding it down. But it is a great book. Action packed, fast-paced a fun world full of pop culture references but also awfully dark and gritty. The characters are awesome, hilarious and sometimes slightly cliché.

In Dungeon Crawler Carl the earth is scheduled to be mined for resources. The humans are decimated but can join in a game in a large dungeon to regain the planet. A survival race for the bottom of the dungeon. Each period the level where they are will collapse and in the meantime they have to level up, gather loot and, yes, get views as the income for the mining company is largely the game, its views and sponsorships and only for a minor part the actual resources of earth.

Carl is one of the (un)lucky people who is outside when this happens and gets the opportunity to enter the dungeon together with his cat Princess Donut. Alas, he chased her outside from his bedroom so he wears no pants or shoes. But the monsters do not care. A neck-breaking adventure ensues in a very creative world that Dinniman created.

Yes it was amazing but slightly flat as well. I'm no connaisseur of LitRPG so, although some of the items were hilarious, and the game mechanics quite good, I found the levelling part somewhat tedious sometimes. Still, you can very much enjoy this book without paying all too much attention to that. Also in terms of morality Carl is a generic good guy with empathy. I must commend Dinniman for having him reflect on the cruelty of the game. Still, I would have liked to see more exploration of what such a situation does to different humans. Well, maybe just not this book. But that's why it is 4,5 and not 5 stars.

And then again, the cast of characters was amazing. Carl and Donut, but also their guild guide and the other agents and show hosts they meet (yes there are show hosts) are interesting and hilarious.

Still looking forward to go through to book 2!