Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman Review | Laugh Out Loud, LitRPG Story With A Sassy Talking Cat…Sign Me Up!
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Quick Book Details
Title: Dungeon Crawler Carl
Author: Matt Dinniman
Series: Dungeon Crawler Carl #1
Genre: LitRPG, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Dark Comedy
Publisher: Ace Books
Release Date: 28 August 2020
Pages: 449
Audiobook Narrator: Jeff Hays
Synopsis
When aliens arrive on Earth, they don't come to make peace.
Instead, the planet is destroyed and the surviving humans are forced into a deadly intergalactic reality TV show known as the World Dungeon.
Carl and his ex-girlfriends prize winning cat, Princess Donut, suddenly find themselves competing for survival inside a vast dungeon filled with monsters, traps, quests, loot and increasingly ridiculous challenges. Every floor brings new dangers, while millions of alien viewers watch from across the galaxy.
To survive, Carl and Donut must level up, make allies, outsmart their enemies and somehow stay alive in a game nobody has ever beaten.
Who I'd Recommend This Book To
LitRPG and game inspired stories
Humorous fantasy and sci-fi
High stakes survival stories
Action packed adventures
Stories with comedy mixed with darker moments
Fans of The Running Man and The Hunger Games
Review
I laughed out loud multiple times during this! Ahh that was fun 🤩
Think The Running Man mixed with D&D style levelling and lots and lots of lols. That's Dungeon Crawler Carl, by Matt Dinniman!
Oh, and did I mention the talking cat? Princess Donut is a sassy queen through and through. THE MISSION? Survive the dungeons…which nobody has ever done before. Survive all the levels and you get to reclaim ownership of your recently crushed world.
If that wasn't enough, the events are all being recorded Hunger Games / Death Race style and turned into a sadistic TV show for the aliens' viewing pleasure.
Along the way, Carl and Donut meet other Crawlers trying to survive…or trying to kill them, it really is a coin toss. Every corner, every level, there's a new way for something to try to end them.
I listened to the audiobook alongside the book and it was ELITE! Jeff Hays, you gem of a narrator. His narration of all characters was PERFECT. This is up there with the Project Hail Mary audiobook for me. GOAT level narration of an amazing story! 🎧
This was one of the most entertaining books I've ever read / listened to! I've never laughed so much whilst listening to an audiobook. This really was a good time! 🙌
Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
You can buy this book on Amazon (Affiliate Links):
Hardback - https://amzn.to/4faLq5L
Paperback - https://amzn.to/4hlhBkd
Audiobook - https://amzn.to/3RMwEJn
Content Warnings
Potential content warnings include:
Violence
Graphic injuries
Death
Strong language
Gore
Mass death events
Animal danger (Princess Donut is never harmed in a graphic way, but dangerous situations occur)
Psychological trauma
Human exploitation
Survival situations