Dungeon Crawler Carl Book Review

Dungeon Crawler Carl follows the adventures of Carl and his ex-girlfriend’s cat, Donut. Most of earth’s population has been killed and entrances with a staircase leading downward have appeared throughout the world. Carl and Donut enter one of these entrances and begin their crawl through the dungeon.

This book was way funnier than it had any right to be considering the premise of the story. There were several instances where the situation was fairly dark/morbid but because of the tone and the constant jokes it didn’t have the weight that normally would come with these scenes. There were several gross parts though but even those were often set up as jokes.

I really liked the integration of the D&D/video game mechanics with the interface and inventory system. They felt natural and didn’t feel like they were artificial. It also added an interesting dynamic to the story by allowing the characters to hold tons of different items which can be saved for later.

I also liked the integration of social media. This added a second objective to the story. Now, instead of just surviving and killing things, they have to it with style! With this inclusion changes the genre. If it was just about survival then this could have been a horror book with the main characters cowering in fear the whole time. Instead, the characters have to fight and explore in order to appease and increase their fans.

Another thing I like was the hinted at politics that are happening in the background and how it is set up to be something that Carl must keep in mind at all times. Carl must make sure he is not making the wrong people his enemies while also looking for potential allies who he could work with. This is similar to the social media in that it is something that will have a greater impact in the future and could change the entire course of the story depending how it plays out. That will be interesting to see considering his current position in both the literal game and in the political game.

One thing that got on my nerves initially was how annoying Donut can be. At first I thought that she was fickle and self centered, which is mostly true, but then I remembered that SHE’S A CAT! Once I realized this her actions still got on my nerves a little but not near as much. She has an excuse for her behavior but despite these things the author makes sure to remind you that Donut does love Carl and she knows that she needs him in order to survive the dungeon.

I really enjoyed this book. The constant, fast paced story along with the constant jokes made it a quick read. I did have to relatively speed through this though since the copy I got from the library was only a 2 week loan. I probably would have taken a little more time otherwise. This didn’t take away from my enjoyment though and I would have devoured the book nonetheless. The game mechanics along with the addition of the social media and politics adds to the enjoyment and depth of the story. This could have just been the dungeon survival part and it would have been enjoyable but the social media adds to the variety and the politics to the depth. I look forward to seeing where the story goes and how far Carl and Donut get through the dungeon. It wouldn’t surprise me if the plot moves from the dungeon to the politics later in the series.