When the guy in boxer shorts and his talking cat threw a bomb to blow up a bunch of goblins as aliens from all across the galaxy watched, I was instantly hooked. That’s just one of many wild moments in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series by author Matt Dinniman. First published in 2020, it’s gone on to become a massive literary hit with eight books (and counting), and while it admittedly took me a while to get here, I am now totally obsessed.
Dungeon Crawler Carl is the story of a man named Carl who is on a dungeon crawl. Obviously. Carl is only in that situation, though, because he happened to be outside his apartment when aliens crushed every single structure on Earth simultaneously, killing the majority of humans on the planet. He and everyone else who lived through the destruction were invited to either try to survive on the surface or participate in a game where you go underground and fight for your life through 18 levels of deadly dungeons, which is broadcast to creatures all over the cosmos.
That’s the very, very basic setup of the series, and it sucks you in from the start. You have so many questions, like: how is this possible? What is possible? Who did this? What did this? And can Carl make it to the end? He’s joined by Princess Donut, his ex-girlfriend’s trophy cat who, thanks to the powers of the dungeon, becomes not just sentient, but a fellow participant in the game. Carl and Donut team up, and it’s off to the races.
Now, to give some context as to why I’m writing this article now, years after Dungeon Crawler Carl became popular, let me explain. At San Diego Comic-Con this past year, the franchise was everywhere. Cosplay, exclusive merch, panels. I’m usually pretty up on these things, but I felt woefully out of the loop on something that seemed so cool. So, when I got home, I bought book one. Fast forward to last week, and I finished the eighth and most recent book. That means, in about three months, I read all eight books. For some, that might not seem like a lot. But beforeDungeon Crawler Carl, I had probably read eight books total over the last five years. I enjoy reading, but it’s not something I often have time to do. However, when I find something I like, I go all in, and that’s what happened with Dungeon Crawler Carl.
From the very beginning of book one, Dinniman’s world-building made me want to read more. With each page, chapter, and book, the hilarious and incredible imagination on display continued to wow me. The whole thing begins at the already complex cross-section of Earth’s extinction, an alien invasion, an intergalactic game show, and a superhero origin story, but that’s just the set-up. In each moment that follows, Dinniman makes things bigger, wilder, and more complex, much to my delight.
Everything introduced, from walking, talking goats, seals, and alligators, to a sentient sex doll head, literal gods, dinosaur pets, new worlds, vehicles, spells, weapons, and defenses, is wilder than the last. Rarely is there a moment of calm in the whole series as Carl, Donut, and a growing group of friends and allies work together to not just survive and make it to the next level but, eventually, challenge the system that started this whole thing in the first place.
Another huge part of my Dungeon Crawler Carl obsession is that it’s my first foray into LitRPG. What is LitRPG? Well, it’s right there in the name. It’s literature that incorporates common elements from role-playing games. The characters inDungeon Crawler Carl acquire items, powers, and level up to become more and more formidable. Dinniman’s crescendo of loot boxes, magical items, experience points, and more adds yet another layer of awesome on top of everything around it. I’m the kind of person who plays a game and needs to explore every single corner to see what’s in there, and Dungeon Crawler Carl scratches that itch beautifully.
You can’t stop reading because you need to know about the next power-up, the next magical item, the next level, and what’s around the next corner. Is it a stadium-sized caterpillar? Is it a complex system of killer trains? A bomb-hurling arm extension? Maybe an ability that allows a person to turn into liquid to squeeze through cracks? You simply never know.
It also helps that Dinniman’s writing is perfectly approachable and breezy. You feel like you’re talking to a friend as his direct, smart, funny prose keeps you entertained and intrigued. Then, you’ll see a section that’s bolded, which means either you’re about to learn about some specific, cool RPG elements or the galactic AI that’s controlling all aspects of the game is about to dump some key exposition on you, building out the world even more.
Dungeon Crawler Carl also taps into a certain modern sensibility because, as Carl, Donut, and the gang move from challenge to challenge, level to level, Dinniman constantly reminds us that the whole galaxy is watching. The Dungeon Crawler game they’re taking part in has been going on for centuries, and people choose which crawlers to watch like Twitch streamers. At all times, the characters and the audience have to remember that people are watching, and it adds all sorts of fascinating twists.
Once I finished A Parade of Horribles, the eighth book in the series, and was no longer afraid of spoilers, I finally let myself gently dip into the world of Dungeon Crawler Carl fandom, and it’s a lot. Much more than I was expecting, even knowing how big it had gotten at Comic-Con. This may just be a series of books for now (and potentially a Peacock series in the future), but there’s already official merch, fan groups, meetups, a comic book series—you name it. The books are big enough, but the world around it is equally as expansive, and I’m happy to now call myself a part of it. (Did I take precious hours away from a recent vacation to go to Wal-Mart because its website said it had a Carl action figure in stock only to find it not actually in stock? Who is to say?)
So, if you’re looking for your next great literary adventure, and you love world-building, video games, cats, sticking it to the man, and general off-the-wall buffoonery, you have to check out Dungeon Crawler Carl. I can’t recommend it enough.
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