Review: The Novel, Dungeon Crawler Carl…

There’s something to be said about allegories. Even if they’re subtle and not recognized as fully literary ones. Dungeon Crawler Carl, Matt Dinnaman’s popular series, has its titular hero act as said unsung allegory: a reluctant, frustrated, exasperated adult who winds his way through constant crises, shrugging and cursing all the way. 

Boy, do I feel like that sometimes. Minus the cursing—I am a high school teacher after all.

Throughout the entirety of Book One, Carl is barefoot, wearing boxer shorts, and sporting a leather bomber jacket. After a cataclysmic event, Carl, and his girlfriend’s Cat, Princess Donut, find themselves underground, in a huge dungeon. In true LITRPG fashion, they are thrust into an actual, real-life, world-sized MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game) filled with enemy mobs, treacherous traps, and mighty bosses. They’ll both need to develop their skills and player levels to succeed. They succeed by killing. Lots and lots and lots of killing.

For there is no winning or losing in an MMORPG, or even in a tabletop RPG. There’s participation and loot, and the allure. Which can be incredibly addictive. Trust me on this. I played an MMO for quite some time, and I was very addicted to it. Games like these can indeed be time sinks. They can end relationships, cause unemployment, make folks sick. Luckily, I no longer play them, mostly because my hand-eye coordination has diminished because of my age. Now I just read and write as my primary hobbies, and I feel much more productive doing so. 

Matt Dinnaman, an obvious gamer, piles on the challenges and adds much lowbrow yet effective humor, especially in the descriptive texts of the dungeon items and monsters. I found myself guffawing several times throughout the book, so much so that the jokes tickled me far after I put the book down. He also makes Princess Donut, who gains the ability to speak at the get-go, both a foil and a comic relief. She starts the novel as a pampered show cat. That entitled attitude doesn’t exactly leave, although. She whines and acts holier-than-thou, but now she can cast spells. She is an absolute delight, offering an excellent counterpoint to Carl’s gruff, grumpy outlook. 

The ending of the novel attempts a cliffhanger, mostly because Carl and Donut are in no way finished with the dungeon, but the last event, which is just an interrupted conversation, does not entice me to binge-read the rest of the series. 

The rest of the novel was worthwhile and entertaining enough, though. I highly recommend this novel. It is entertaining, the characters are engaging, while the humor keeps you chuckling while you read. I fully intend to read Book Two: Carl’s Doomsday Scenario.