Have you ever wondered what happens when the world is invaded by aliens who make you play a Dungeon Crawler game for galactic entertainment and prize money? Well, the Dungeon Crawler Carl series thought about this, a lot.
In Dungeon Crawler Carl, Carl and his ex-girlfriend’s cat, Princess Donut, find themselves in a literal dungeon crawl, fighting through floor after floor of monsters to survive after their planet is invaded.
This absurd, video game–inspired LitRPG is the funniest, most bizarre adventure I’ve ever had the pleasure to read, with each aspect of the world meticulously planned and executed. I am obsessed with Carl and Donut’s adventure, their ever-growing party, and finding out how the hell they’re going to get to floor 18.
Read our full summary, review, and ending of Dungeon Crawler Carl explained here.
Dungeon Crawler Carl
Description
The apocalypse will be televised! Welcome to the first book in the wildly popular and addictive Dungeon Crawler Carl series by Matt Dinniman—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.
Includes part one of the exclusive bonus story “Backstage at the Pineapple Cabaret.”
Tropes
- LitRPG
- Found Family
- Adventure
- Humor
Review
Overall Impressions 😊
This might be my favorite book of the year. It’s irreverent, funny, absurd and different than anything else I’ve read all year.
You might be wondering if this is just BookTok hype but these novels are worth the time you sink into them. It’s like Hunger Games but much less serious and very literal in terms of how aliens who control the galaxy take over Earth for its minerals and turn humans into crawlers who have to fight to the death against every mythical creature we know of.
It’s a funny DnD campaign come to life with deep characters, good quests and just a grand time.
And if you don’t go any further in this review other than just to get my overall impression, this book must be consumed in audiobook format as the narration is divine.
Think Project Hail Mary if you’ve listened to that but in a Dungeons and Dragons campaign setting.
Perfect For Fans Of… 🌟
Are you a gamer? Or do you enjoy reading LitRPG novels? If so, look no further, this is your next time sink.
Sometimes when I try to fall asleep, I imagine imaginary scenarios like, what if I owned 30 acres and had magical powers? This book is like someone imagined what if we all became part of a dungeon crawler world and just ran with it.
It’s so unique and should truly be on everyone’s TBR, just to experience something that feels completely original.
If you enjoyed well produced audiobooks like Project Hail Mary, you will love Dungeon Crawler Carl in audiobook format.
Characters 👥
The main character is Carl, a former Coast Guard who finds himself in a sadistic game show. He’s cute, funny, clever and a character who’s very easy to root for. You immediately understand his circumstances and the absurd situation he’s found himself in, and you can’t help but follow his adventures. Jeff Hays, the narrator, also does a phenomenal job narrating Carl (and everyone else, truly) that this man is an instant favorite.
Princess Donut is a lovely sidekick and every pet owner’s dream come true. Because who wouldn’t want to go through the end of the world with their beloved pet? Except in this case, it’s Carl’s ex-girlfriend’s show cat, so the dynamics are even more hilarious.
The side characters are great as well, both human and monster, with plenty of character development all around. I liked how the first book really focused on Carl, Donut and a bit on Mordecai, which gave the world a chance to flourish. Having read multiple books in the series, we definitely get more characters with plenty of development later on.
Plot 🗺️
Believe me when I tell you this amazing, unique plot filled with jokes, traps, and creativity has no brakes. You would think that given the series has around eight books at the time of writing this review, the gimmick of video games in a dungeon would’ve become old news, but no.
This world is vast, the plot is well thought out, and every time you turn a corner, something new comes up. From the tutorial to the next level, this story will have you in a chokehold.
The pace is fast, but it should be, as this is a life-or-death situation the characters are in. The stakes are high, and it’s captivating.
I loved where the first book ended, with some of the future books’ plot clearly laid out, and I am enjoying the adventure so much.
My Favorite Quote to Hook You 📣
“God dammit Donut”
Matt Dinniman, Dungeon Crawler Carl
Writing Style and Narration ✍️
I strongly believe audio is the superior medium to consume this literary masterpiece in. The voice effects, character voices, and sound ambiance are spectacular. Something that is already funny becomes hilarious the way Jeff Hays delivers this action-packed rollercoaster.
You will walk around randomly yelling “NEW ACHIEVEMENT!” every chance you get after finishing Dungeon Crawler Carl. Seriously, in case you didn’t caught on yet!
Synopsis
Carl and Donut Enter the Dungeon
It’s 2:23 AM and Carl is having a cigarette, thinking about his ex-girlfriend Beatrice. Beatrice has cheated on Carl and Carl ended the relationship, he’s not much for drama. His cat Princess Donut, however, still lives with him while Beatrice on a cruise.
Princess Donut wanders into the room and is agitated. She jumps out the window. Carl chases her down the street. As he’s wandering outside in his underwear, the entire world is leveled. Buildings are collapsed and everything is flattened, crushing all life indoors.
A robotic voice speaks into his mind, telling him all earthly resources are being harvested. Humans can attempt to claim Earth back by entering an 18-level dungeon in which they’ll have to fight enemies and descend levels.
Carl, freezing in his underwear, leather jacket and pink crocs too small for his feet has no choice but to enter the dungeon entrance that appeared in front of him out of nowhere.
Carl and Donut enter the dungeon. An information box appears in front of him, just like in a video game. Donut is frazzled, she bites him and runs down the hall.
The dungeon entrance closes behind them and a timer appears in his vision, a game HUD appearing in front of his eyes. He also begins earning achievements. Carl begins making his way toward a neon sign only to be chased by goblins on a makeshift vehicle.
He eventually finds the tutorial guild. Mordecai, his apparent guide let’s him in after Carl beats one of the tractors to death.
Carl goes back outside and kills another of the goblins. When he returns he asks Mordecai about the dungeon, who tells them he once was a crawler and he made it to level 11. Since then, he is serving as a guide.
From Mordecai, they learn the Syndicate, a governing board of the galaxy puts six species on compatible worlds. Thousands of years later, Syndicate reveals themselves to the surviving species calling it first contact which starts a timer. When the timer runs out, Syndicate strips the planet to it’s materials.
The Borant Corporation has sent the creatures running the dungeon to earth in 1960s. Although there is some money in minerals, the real profit in stripping a planet is Dungeon Crawler World game show airing to the entire universe.
Mordecai walks them through the tutorial, teaching them about the minimap, the stats, social settings (how many viewers and subscriber he has).
An announcement is made and they hear 13 million people has entered into the dungeon. Mordecai tells them this is his last show and he will be a citizen of the Syndicate at the end of it. Although Carl thinks whoever makes it level 18 will become in charge of the world, Mordecai reveals no one has ever made it past Level 13.
Carl has received a Legendary Loot Box which contains an enhanced pet biscuit. Donut steals the treat as they discuss whether to feed it to her or not. She turns into a blob while the transitions.
Carl receives some loot from the boxes. As he puts on his gear, he begins earning achievements. The system AI who narrates all of his gear and achievements seems to have a foot fetish. Carl receives a toe ring but before he can dive into AI’s penchant for his feet, he is interrupted by a very british female voice.
Donut’s transformation is complete. She is more charismatic and intelligent than Carl, and she has an enhanced growth buff. Due to the benefits she’s received from the enhanced pet biscuit, Donut is no longer considered a pet and instead she is a crawler. Since she is stronger than Carl, she is named party leader.
Donut begins opening her loot boxes she’s received now that she’s a crawler. One of the items is a tiara which she puts on excitedly. The crown gives her benefits, however it also puts her in line of succession for the Sultanate which will require her to hunt down the other’s in line of succession before she can descend into the 10th floor.
After finishing the tutorial, Mordecai sends them off. Donut consistently belittles Carl. Fed up by Donut’s commentary, Carl suggests they split up. Donut immediately apologizes and the two of them decide to traverse the dungeon together.
Carl and Donut’s First Few Days in the Dungeon
Donut and Carl find a safe room, which is a refurbished fast food restaurant. They decide to leave the safe room and get some experience by hunting small level mobs while they look for the staircase to the next level. Donut emphasizes how they need to be interesting to catch the attention of the viewers in order to attract sponsors.
After spending the night in the safe room, Carl and Donut begin hunting low level creatures and getting to Level 5. Donut reveals Beatrice has been cheating on her which she doesn’t realize would be upsetting to Carl. Aggravated, Carl throws dynamite at a mob accidentally triggering a boss fight.
The boss is The Hoarder, a stretched out Spanish woman. Carl and Donut kill her, receiving a neighborhood map which reveals area nearby. Mordecai reveals that there are talk shows in between levels which Donut is very excited to be featured in.
Carl and Donut find the body of a woman named Rebecca. Rebecca has a tooltip on her revealing that she was killed by another crawler named Frank. Carl wants to avoid Frank at all costs.
They watch the Dungeon Crawler World: Earth in the safe room. Earth is featured as a horrible place that deserved to be mined. After the show a voice announces the patch notes.
Realizing how much ground they need to cover to find a staircase to go below, Carl decides to enter the goblin neighborhood using his tattoo and ask the goblins to build him a motorcycle. Two shamans Rory and Lorelai agree to build a motorcycle for them in exchange for some of their loot.
Carl and Donut learns that the NPCs don’t descend the lower level stairs. Instead they freeze when the floor collapses and they remain in stasis until the next season.
After learning that Donut and Carl got the loot from llamas the goblins depart the settlement to take on them. The crawlers loot the goblin settlement eventually throwing a bunch of dynamite into a room where the neighborhood boss resides, raising them to Level 8.
The boss room contained goblin babies in addition to the boss giving them another tattoo that allows them enter the Desperado Club.
Carl and Donut Meet Frank and Maggie
After the episode finishes, Carl and Donut meet a crawler named Frank. Frank has three skulls next to his name indicating he’s killed three crawlers, but he has no stars which means he hasn’t killed any bosses.
Donut accuses Frank of killing Rebecca. Frank claims he’s had no choice. While Frank appears peaceful and friendly, Carl doesn’t believe it. He tells Donut to be on guard via chat. Frank fires his gun at Donut with his wife Maggie who he claimed to be dead popping out of the bathroom. The safe room freezes them both as a penalty for attacking other crawlers in the Safe Room.
Carl and Donut run. Donut kills a rat, and Carl puts degraded dynamite in it’s inventory as a trap. They get on the bike and drive off.
As they travel they see signs spray painted on the walls by other crawlers warning them if they get closer they will run into the borough boss. Carl suggests they find the people who’s made the signs.
They find a group of former nursing home residents. They meet Brandon, Chris, Yolanda and Imani who are their caregivers. They tell Carl and Donut their plan is to get the residents to Level 3 where they can change their class and race so they have a chance at survival.
Carl and Donut decide to help them.
They decide to level up before they have to find stairs. Carl and Donut face another boss named The Juicer who is a parody of a gym bro on steroids.
They go back to the safe room and Mordecai commends them on killing a boss higher than their level. He advises Carl to keep using his fists while recommending Donut to continue taking scrolls due to her high intelligence.
When Carl mentions their intent on taking down the borough boss, Mordecai cautions him against it. He can’t tell them anything about the boss, but he tells Carl to exploit the boss’ weaknesses.
Carl, Donut, Meadow Lark caregivers and a homeless woman named Agatha enter the boss arena. They use materials they looted to make a moving fortress defeating the boss.
They approach the stair after the boss fight. Agatha goes down on her own. Carl and Donut decide to remain as a party of their own but to stay in touch with the Meadow Lark party.
When they go down the stairs, they find themselves in a boat on the surface. The viewers have taken an interest in Carl and Donut. They are to be interviewed by a host named Odette.
Odette’s Show and Meeting with Zev
Odette is the most famous and beloved host of the entire galaxy. She is a mixture between a crab, a praying mantis and huge boobs. Donut charms the crowd while Odette coaxes Carl to say his catch phrase, “God Dammit Donut!” They leave the show with the audience enchanted by them.
Odette speaks with Carl and Donut alone revealing the praying mantis look is just a costume. In fact she appears to be a human in 60s. She is however legless, an upgrade she’s received when she was a crawler herself. She was also Mordecai’s guide.
They go down to the second floor, begin fighting low level monsters.
They find a safe room and Carl receives a pedicure kit that makes his feet resistant to damage. Donut gets a membership to the Dungeon Book of the Floor Club which gifts her one magic tome per floor. On floor 2, she receives a necromancer spell that raises a dead creature or a crawler.
Brandon, one of the Meadow Lark caregivers, and the rest of the residents make it down the stairs.
Carl makes a special incendiary called Carl’s Jug O’Boom. They fight some winged creatures.
They fight a neighborhood boss with tentacles. They nearly die. Carl wraps around Donut and they somehow survive, killing the boss. Donut and Carl share a heartfelt moment, and Donut drags him out of the room.
They go back to Mordecai and tell them about Odette. Mordecai is clearly upset with her. Mordecai has shapeshifted into a bugaboo for level 2. He tells them someone from the Borant company will be arriving, and tells them not to use their spells.
Carl receives a protective shell spell, wrapping around him once every 30 hours.
A female, fish like creature wearing astronaut outfit named Zev arrive. She is a kua-tin working in the PR department for Borant Corporation. Carl and Donut has become popular, and they are receiving more and more interview requests.
Zev mentions there is a lot of pressure on her to get them to do interviews and the Borant company really need money. That’s why they’re moving the show along quickly so they can end the season early.
The Rage Elemental and Maestro’s Show
Carl and Donut decide to meet up with the Meadow Lark party. They made a contraption where they are pulling the eldery residents around like a parade float. A 99 year old resident named Mrs. McGibbons hits on Carl. Yolanda yells at one of the elderly residents, Jack, who pees in the hallway.
A rage elemental spawns as a punisment for peeing outside of a restroom. Yolanda dies. Carl and Donut run to the saferoom. The rage monster alters gravity making the fight difficult.
They make it to the safe room and despite wanting to hold onto his humanity Carl wonders if helping the elderly is hindering his chances at a survival.
They watch the recap episode in the safe room. The rage elemental continues on attacking the saferoom door. The level collapse approaches meaning they can’t hide in there forever.
They decide to drive around throwing stuff at the rage elemental. Carl guides the elemental to the stairway which gets stuck in between levels and disappears, exploiting a bug in the game. They don’t get any experience but they survive.
Chris, Imani and Brandon start taking the elderly down the stairs. Carl and Donut transport to their next interview.
They are being interviewed by someone named the Maestro on a show called Death Watch Extreme Dungeon Mayhem. The show is crude and juvenile. There are other crawlers in the interview Li Jun and Zhang.
It’s revealed that Maestro has pulled Li Jun and Zhang during a near death experience and they have a chance to save their other party members if they play and win a game. They can watch crawlers and guess if they die or not. If they guess correctly they can save a person by teleporting them to a safe room.
Zhang and Li Jun win two of the four teleport points. Carl says he wants to play death watch and take Li Jun and Zhang’s spot knowing he is too valuable to the Borant Company. Carl gives Li Jun advice, which they take and they survive.
The Maestro talks to them about the rage elemental and tells them on ninth floor his family will become involved in the Faction wars. He is part of the Skull Clan. The Maestro then brings Frank and Maggie on the show. It is revealed that they had a daughter and Maggie had to kill her.
Maggie blames Carl for her daughter’s death and promises to hunt them down. Maestro tries to goad them into arguing but it doesn’t work. The Maestro gives Maggie a potion that allows her to find another crawler no matter where they are.
Dungeon Crawler Carl Ending Explained
The show ends and they sleep in the safe room. Donut reveals she heard Mordecai suggest him leave her on the ninth floor. Carl tells her not to worry about it.
The recap episode airs, featuring Carl and Donut’s fight with the elemental. The announcer comes on after the show announcing that stairwells will no longer vanish enemies.
Zev arrives and tells them the Borant Corporation is very happy with their performance on the Maestro’s show.
The Maestro is second son of the Emperor of the Skull Empire. A fake video of Carl and Maestro, similar to AI generated fan fiction, is very popular. It depicts Maestro in a compromising position so the Skull Empire will likely be very angry.
Carl and Donut kill another neighborhood boss. As a reward they are given a pet reward. Donut picks something that looks like a skinless chicken with a few pieces of pink hair and serpentine tail. It is a Mongoliensis. Donut names him Mongo.
Mongo is aggressive and he keeps biting Donut. Donut tries to figure out how to train her. Her antics with Mongo and Carl’s video with the Maestro makes them very popular with the audience.
Mordecai tells them in level 3 they will choose a class and a race. AI will recommend them one and he will help them through it. Carl realizes Mordecai’s brother was also a crawler. They leave the safe room as Mordecai advises them to figure out how to domesticate Mongo, something he can’t tell them, and if they can manage it he will be a valuable member of the party.
Carl has an idea and asks Donut to hunt with Mongo. He begins taming. They have 10 minutes left and Mordecai tells them unless he bonds with Donut before the floor collapses, he cannot go with them. Mongo gets captured and Donut saves him, allowing her to bond with him.
Right before the floor collapses, Carl realizes he has some very valuable items in his inventory, devices made by the Valtay Corporation. He remembers he picked up Agatha’s shopping cart before the boss fight, and he must have left some of it’s contents in his inventory.
They run into Agatha and Carl realizes Agatha might be part of something he cannot understand. She goes down the stairs after Carl fixes the wheel of her shopping cart. Zev calls them panicking revealing their signal went all static-y for a moment.
They go down the stairs to Level 3 but are transported to Odette’s show once more. Odette tells them Mongo is a good pet, and is not surprised that Mordecai is still angry with her. She doesn’t have time to explain what happened between them.
She tells them when choosing a race they have to select something with pathfinding or advanced mapping. Carl asks if Odette knows about Valtay Corporation, and she says they are waiting to collect Borant Corporation’s debt.
Odette says Mongo is a velociraptor in earth terms. She also gives them some secret advice about what class to choose, but the readers don’t get to hear it. It will be a class for Donut and if she gets the option, someone will be enraged.
Carl and Donut heed her advice and get ready to descend to the third floor.
Dungeon Crawler Carl has entrapped me with its 18-level labyrinth, boxer shorts with hearts, and the promise of an unending, chaotic adventure that will keep delivering with the help of the loot boxes.
The sense of humor and the very complex world Matt Dinniman has built in this book makes it a must-read I will recommend to anyone and everyone who will listen to me for the foreseeable future.
Wrapping this up with the declaration that DCC is the new standard for LitRPG books. I’d love to know what you think of the series so far, so please let me know in the comments! Enjoy the crawl!
“Goddamnit Donut”! 🍩🐈
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