Hello everyone! I hope you are all doing well. Not that anyone asked, but I’ve been going through a weird time. There’s been some sad things, and some good things. All of these have happened in a short amount of time, so I’m still processing a lot. Things, however, are looking up. I wanted to read something a little more lighthearted to improve my mood just slightly. I also thought that you all might want to read a review about something not depressing. Dungeon Crawler Carl has been making the rounds on social media, so I decided to give it a fair shot. Now, it’s time to discuss the first book in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series.

Content Warning: Crude Humor, Strong Language, Cartoonish Violence

Carl isn’t having a good time. First, his girlfriend breaks up with him. Second, she leaves him with her prize-winning cat named Princess Donut. As if this doesn’t suck enough, then the Earth is attacked by aliens. The survivors of the attack must survive a deadly game of survival that’s being aired to wider galaxy. With nothing but his boxers and a fluffy cat, Carl must fight his way through enchanted traps and deadly creatures, all while trying to impress viewers and not get vaporized by the producers. Safe to say that this isn’t your typical game show.

Dungeon Crawler Carl is a fast-paced, action-packed, and humorous take on literary RPGs. This novel certainly stood out to me in many aspects. I appreciated the overall setup of the novel and its consistent tone. This is one of the few novels where infodumping was beneficial to the story. You don’t have to be familiar with RPGs to understand general mechanics of the story and Matt Dinniman takes the appropriate measures to ensure that the readers understand the world of the novel. My favorite part of the novel was Carl as the main character and narrator. His grounded and pragmatic demeanor helped provide an anchor in a novel full of absurd elements, like killer llamas and a talking cat. I enjoyed the expansive and unpredictable world of the novel. I like that I never knew what absurd thing would happen next. The novel is just absurd and silly enough, without distracting from the fact that this is a survival story. The only element that was really hit-or-miss for me was the humor. Humor is fully subjective. I’m not going to act like I’m above something crude, crass, or juvenile. With being said, the humor of the book didn’t do a lot for me. It was just a little too gross at times. It felt like something akin to South Park or Family Guy, which I find to be hit-or-miss. It was just a bit too gross for me personally. It wasn’t overly offensive, though, and toed the line without crossing it. My main reaction was to roll my eyes because I found it to be distinctly male, if that makes sense. I won’t let that draw away from my overall positive opinion about the book. At the end of the day, this was the ideal book I needed for an adventurous and fun escape. I can even see myself picking up the sequel in the future. If you need something absurd and energetic, then I will go ahead and recommend Dungeon Crawler Carl.