“The first 3 books are an addictive survival story, but once Carl starts to understand the dungeon (and in turn, you, the reader begin to understand), the books shift into a war cry from humanity.”

Review by Rayleigh Gray

The apocalypse will be televised! Welcome to the first book in the wildly popular and addictive Dungeon Crawler Carl series—now with bonus material exclusive to this print edition.

You know what’s worse than breaking up with your girlfriend? Being stuck with her prize-winning show cat. And you know what’s worse than that? An alien invasion, the destruction of all man-made structures on Earth, and the systematic exploitation of all the survivors for a sadistic intergalactic game show. That’s what.

Join Coast Guard vet Carl and his ex-girlfriend’s cat, Princess Donut, as they try to survive the end of the world—or just get to the next level—in a video game–like, trap-filled fantasy dungeon. A dungeon that’s actually the set of a reality television show with countless viewers across the galaxy. Exploding goblins. Magical potions. Deadly, drug-dealing llamas. This ain’t your ordinary game show.

Welcome, Crawler. Welcome to the Dungeon. Survival is optional. Keeping the viewers entertained is not.

Welcome, Crawler! 

Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman is a series that gained rapid popularity ahead of the release of book 8, A Parade of Horribles. I stumbled across the first book last summer and quickly made my way through the rest of the books, which is rare for me since I usually don't read past books 1 or 2 in a series (short attention span, I can't help it). But I gobbled these books up! 

Because of the content of this series, I wouldn't normally post a review here, but I see so many people asking what Dungeon Crawler Carl is and what to expect in the books. So, this is a spoiler-free guideline to  the series for readers who might be a bit more selective about their book content.

What Dungeon Crawler Carl is: 
It's pure chaotic fun with deep messages that align with books like The Hunger Games or The Giver, while also being so unlike anything you've ever read that it's difficult to comp. It's one of the best, if not THE best LitRPG series that I've ever read.There are loads of humor (oftentimes very dark humor) to keep the reader addicted to the series and the most incredible, lifelike characters to root for. As you progress through the books, the heaviness of what the characters go through takes on a more serious note as you realize the unfairness of the dungeon and those who run it. The characters outsmart the challenges, so the show-runners and the System AI change the rules. It's a lose-lose situation, but the characters are determined to not lose their humanity. That's what Dungeon Crawler Carl is; a profitable, apocalyptic game that tries to strip away everything that makes humans "human" (empathy, teamwork, compassion, determination, etc) and the characters doing their best to keep their humanity intact...and win. 

What Dungeon Crawler Carl is NOT:
While there are lots of fun scenes, Dungeon Crawler Carl is not a "light and fluffy read". It's entertaining at times, yes. It's also heartwarming and tear-jerking, but it dips into the horror genre often with it's gore and mind games. Remember, the dungeon is trying to break the characters; that means it's going to do some very, very, very awful things. They encounter messed up scenario after messed up scenario that is meant to break down their willpower and make them give up. The more messed up the scenario, the more the viewers are entertained, which means the show-runners make more money.That's where the horror comes in; and I mean, true horror. 

Books 1 - 3 vs Books 4 - 8:
The series has some very distinctive turning points throughout the series, but one of the most fan-agreed upon turning points is that Books 1- 3 is the dungeon happening to Carl, while Books 4 - 8 is Carl happening to the dungeon. The first 3 books are an addictive survival story, but once Carl starts to understand the dungeon (and in turn, you, the reader begin to understand), the books shift into a war cry from humanity. The things you used to laugh at (in the first 3 books) now make you angry, because you understand. The "humor" is the same, but it hits differently. You find family, you rescue family, you fight alongside family, and you lose family. These characters are truly some of the best written characters I've ever encountered. 

Content Disclaimers: 
I'm not even going to attempt to list content warnings, because I will undoubtedly forget some. This is absolutely an adult content series. Cursing is through the roof. Gore and horror are present around every turn. While there is no on-page spicy content, there are plenty of sexual jokes, disturbing comments, offensive remarks/imagery, and triggering circumstances as the dungeon is trying to break the characters. While I usually find content like this to be unnecessary in books, in this case, I would actually argue that this is what makes Dungeon Crawler Carl resonate so deeply with its readers. Because we see what they're going through in an unfiltered lens. We watch them stand for their beliefs and fight for their humanity over and over again. We're forced to ask the question, "Would I do the same if that were me?". Nothing is sugar coated. We see the darkness and we see flawed, imperfect people react to that darkness  with all the light they have in them. It's truly one of the rare occasions where I don't think the series would be as good if it left out all of the dark content. 

Is the story going to be worth stomaching that content for everyone? Absolutely not. Many readers have DNF'd Dungeon Crawler Carl after the first few chapters because of the content. It is a lot. However, I can say that if you make it through the first book; you won't see a drastic ramp up in content as the books progress. The action, cursing, and "jokes" remain at, relatively, the same level throughout the series, with the exception of a few boss fights. If anything, the emotional levels of the later books are the jump scare to watch out for (I cried 5 different times in book 6). 

Jeff Hays The Narrator; a Celebrity in His Own Right
You've likely heard this already, but Jeff Hays is easily the best narrator to have ever narrated on this planet (and beyond, I bet). I read books 1 - 4 on my Kindle and kept hearing people talk about how incredible the audiobooks were. I finished books 5 - 8 on audiobook and I'm in the process of listening to the first 4 books again just because I want to hear Jeff Hays narrate them. I've introduced people to the audiobooks who don't even like audiobooks and they've finished the series. The audiobooks are truly set apart and if you're able to listen to them, I highly recommend them! 

Bonus Content: Ebooks vs Audiobooks vs Physical Copies vs Webtoon (Graphic Novel) vs Fully Cast Audiobooks
If you feel like you're being pressured to join a cult, don't worry, we're almost at the end. But, I do want to mention some of the differences in the reading experiences. 

-The ebooks are the most basic way to read these. You are experiencing the story in it's entirety without missing anything major.
-The audiobooks narrated by Jeff Hays are a unique experience that will have you in stitches you're laughing so hard. The audiobooks DO have exclusive content at the end of the audiobooks. They are hilarious bonus scenes that carry no actual value to the series, other than the fact that they're hilarious.
-The physical copies also have bonus scenes that are not included in the audiobooks or the ebooks. These are the Pineapple Cabaret chapters. These do carry value to the storyline, however, if you don't read them, you're not really going to be handicapped going into the books. However, when you do read them, you gain elite knowledge that audiobook listeners and ebook readers do not have. (I actually had to go back and read these after I finished the series, because I didn't know they existed.) 
-The Webtoon is an abridged version of Dungeon Crawler Carl. The first few episodes were recently published into a graphic novel. The graphic novel IS the Webtoon. So, if you read the Webtoon, there's nothing different about the graphic novel that was released, other than it's a physical copy that can be placed next to the other DCC books. These are still being released and are pretty far behind the books, so I view them as bonus content. Also, I've seen several people ask online if they need to read the first books in the DCC series if they read the Webtoon first; and my answer is "yes". While they definitely cover the gist of the books, you're still missing a LOT. 
-Fully Cast Audiobooks are also still being produced and released on the Soundbooth Radio Theater app. These are theatrical episodes of Dungeon Crawler Carl that aren't an exact read through of the audiobooks, like the Jeff Hays version, but more of an audio TV show with a full cast. You can probably get away with listening to these exclusively, however, I did notice that a lot of things were cut to make the episodes an appropriate length. I view these as bonus content as well.
-More bonus content is on the way! There is a TV show in production, a Table Top RPG (like Dungeons and Dragons) getting released later this year, a deck building card game, and lots of buzz around this universe. 

So, if you're looking for a new fandom to join; the Dungeon Crawler Carl universe is a fun one and the fans are extremely welcoming! This is easily one of my all-time favorite series and I'll always recommend it; though I do recommend it with it disclaimers. Enter the dungeon at your own risk.

Content Ratings:

9. Very intense gore/mild horror (infrequent, morbid deaths that are detailed).

1. Romance with very mild content (feel good vibes but nothing physical–not even kissing).

10. Very extreme cursing (does this person even know how to speak English without a curse word?).

Other Trigger/Content Notices:

See above review.

Our Reviews of Other Books by these authors:

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