Dungeon Crawler Carl #1
By: Matt Dinniman
“If we get to the point where we don’t help each other anymore, that’s when we stop being human.”
Dungeon Crawler Carl
*This post contains spoilers for Dungeon Crawler Carl
Overview:
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.
Dungeon Crawler Carl
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.
I held off on reading this book for a very long time. I’m not gonna lie, I thought it had something to do with dungeons in the medieval sense. Absolutely not the case. However, because of this I have had no spoilers and I have no idea where we are going with this but I’m loving the ride.
This book is our generation’s Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. That is the best way that I can describe this book.
Instead of Earth being destroyed to make room for an intergalactic highway, it is to be destroyed and strip mined. All buildings and indoor spaces have been flattened to the ground. Just like Hitchhiker’s the company responsible for the destruction gave notice in a way where no reasonable person would have been prepared.
There are two options for the humans who were lucky enough to be outside when the world was flattened. Try to make due on the surface or enter the Dungeon and take part in a reality TV show streamed all across the universe.
The book is both silly and horrifying at times.
It is so entertaining but then I think about what it would be like to be in that situation and I just feel dread.
Given the choice between staying on Earth’s surface or participating, you would always choose participating but with any kind of knowledge of what is down there, even on level one, I would take my chances on the Earth’s surface. I’d be dead in thee Dungeon within minutes.
I also can appreciate when an author is a good world builder. Dinniman is creating a lore with thousands of different characters and creatures. I’m sure it will expand so much more as we travel down the levels. It’s not only what is happening inside the Dungeon, there is also a complex political system running the game.
The Borant corporation is running this years games but there are groups that want to see them fail. There are political groups that benefit from their success and will do anything they can to make sure the games go a certain way. Carl isn’t just facing monsters and other crawlers, he is a player is a universe wide power struggle.
I feel like I need to take notes because I know at some point everything is going to come back into play.
The author does a very good job of writing the story where you can visualize everything. Even when the boss descriptions pop up I can imagine them flying across the screen in a dramatic video game style. It is so visual and you never forget the unique environment that the characters are in. Which is good because the reader is trying to figure out how to beat the game just as Carl and Donut are.
I also really appreciate the pacing of the book. Book 1 is just levels one and two. Book two is just level three. If the series was terrible, this would have been a nightmare to have to get through all the books. Because the series is phenomenal, I am so pumped that we get hundreds of pages to explore most of these levels. I know the pace picks up as right now 10 books are planned but I wouldn’t care if it was a full 18 book series. I would be so happy to have that many pages to go through.
Overall,
This book is funny and weird but also horrifying and depressing.
Again, it is reminiscent of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy but also such a fresh concept. I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys oddball stories and no one should be intimidated by the page count. Also, anyone that likes the absurdity of reality TV will really enjoy this series.
This is one of those series that gets people interested in reading.
Rating: 5/5 stars
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