Dungeon Crawler Carl (Dungeon Crawler Carl, #1) in SciFi and Fantasy Book Club

May 20, 2025 Eric rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy, science-fiction, post-apocalyptic

For a book I found to be fairly middling, I have a lot of thoughts on it:

The short chapters and quick pacing made for easy reading, but I also saw very little depth to the story (with the exception of Zev's allusions about the intergalactic politics going on behind-the-scenes at the event, which was one of the more interesting parts, and reminded me a bit of the Cabin in the Woods control room).

This felt very much like a juvenile male power fantasy — I mean, Carl enters the dungeon with almost For a book I found to be fairly middling, I have a lot of thoughts on it:

The short chapters and quick pacing made for easy reading, but I also saw very little depth to the story (with the exception of Zev's allusions about the intergalactic politics going on behind-the-scenes at the event, which was one of the more interesting parts, and reminded me a bit of the Cabin in the Woods control room).

This felt very much like a juvenile male power fantasy — I mean, Carl enters the dungeon with almost nothing, but he still has a leather jacket and a pack of smokes. He spends almost no time considering the implications of his predicament, and instead pummels and detonates his way through the dungeon, while maintaining a conscience by helping the weak and infirm. It all just seems like what a fifteen-year-old boy thinks his reaction would be to a circumstance such as this.

His now-talking cat also occasionally drops comments on exactly how often and with how many other men his ex-girlfriend was cheating on him with, and he just doesn't react to any of it. It's not that I wanted this post-apocalyptic adventure to be about a depressed man crying his way through the dungeon — I didn't — but I did want him to feel more... real? Human? To whit, Carl never once mentioned craving a smoke or going through nicotine withdrawal, despite running out of his cigarettes very quickly.

The punch-kick-loot box-repeat of the dungeon grinding became repetitive, despite the new ways Carl found to kill things. In that respect, it reminded me of The Martian, except Mark Watney "sciencing the shit out of things" felt way more earned.

Seeing repeated recommendations for this on Fantasy subreddit was one of the main reasons I finally picked it up, and I'm honestly shocked that the same community that loathes Ernest Cline's Ready Player One can love this book so much, considering both share a simple worldview, sophomoric humor, and frequent nostalgic references.

Overall, I felt like I was reading fan fiction for a post-apocalyptic video game I'd never played. It was a quick and painless read, and the pacing was very good, but I found it exactly as satisfying as eating a meal that consists only of junk food.

Note (spoilers follow): At the end of this book, Carl and Donut have only descended the first two of fifteen levels of the dungeon, and almost every plot thread remains unresolved. From Frank and Maggie chasing him, to Mordecai and Odette's backstory, to who Agatha is and why she had alien technology in her shopping cart, and many other things. That said, I can't imagine I am going to read 7+ more books to find out the answers to any of these questions. ...more

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Jan 21, 2024 Suz rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, science-fiction, space-opera, humor

So, I guess this is called Lit-RPG? I have no idea. It is not high-litracha, and it's bone jarringly silly. And yet I can't help but love it.

~~Vogons are paving the earth~~A space-conglomeration has decided to strip the Earth of resources, but before that happens, there's a live action dungeon crawl (with a total of 12 levels, but contestants don't make it that far) which is streamed to the world so that people can vote, a la Eurovision (but way sillier/wackier). Lives are on the line, and not just ...more

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Jun 11, 2025 Brooke rated it liked it

Shelves: 2025, science-fiction

I follow a few science fiction subreddits, including a couple specifically for sci-fi books, and lately it seems like the only book anyone can talk about is Dungeon Crawler Carl. Previously it was Project Hail Mary, which I love, so when NetGalley offered up the Dungeon Crawler Carl series, I grabbed the first one assuming that I was going to be in for a great ride.

And it was...fine. Fun, even. It's "litRPG" which means that it contains a lot of descriptions of things you would find in a role pl ...more

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Aug 12, 2025 Ramon rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: nova, serie, 2025, trad-davidtejeraexposito

Madre mía que libro.
Bizarro, exagerado, humor socarrón, grueso.
Pero entrañable , que locura de libro.

Es un juego de rol hecho libro.
Da lo que tiene que dar sin tapujos ni medias tintas.

Es salvaje y muy muy divertido.
No se puede explicar sin leerlo.
Pero da lo que esperas con creces, no pretenden ser una obra maestra pero esta más que bien escrito y promete diversión. Hay que leerlo sí o sí. O también sí.

Se ríe con cariño de todo el mundo de los juegos de rol, de sus normas y divertimentos y lo ...more

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Feb 01, 2024 Dave rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, sf, audiobook, humour

Didn't quite grab me though I know it's the hotness of the moment. Inferior to The Hunger Games with immersion breaking video game like sequences, including loot boxes. Humour didn't really land; just went over the top constantly. The audiobook version is great though, and the narrators/readers had fun with it. ...more

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Dec 09, 2024 Dennis rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I wasn't sure what to make of "LitRPG", but Mr. Dinniman was Guest of Honor at Capclave (a DC based Science Fiction convention) earlier this year, and another friend recommended this one, so I gave it a try.

I really enjoyed it, and have queued up the next two to listen to later. Good action, interesting puzzles, amusing character interaction - definitely enjoyable. ...more

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