Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman is a science-fantasy LitRPG book that features game-like mechanics in an apocalyptic world. It’s the first of the Dungeon Crawler Carl book series.
After many recommendations from friends and family, I jumped into DCC with no expectations. I was familiar with LitRPGs, as I’d read many of them in comic book form, though not many in novel form. DCC follows Carl and his ex-girlfriend’s show-cat, Donut, as the world comes to an end and they must survive in a game-show/game-like dungeon while meeting eccentric cast of characters and other crawlers. The story is told in the first-person point of view.
To start off, the premise is unique, but as I mentioned, I am familiar with the genre so it wasn’t outside my area of expertise. One thing I was fond of is that the menu pop-ups in the novel were done well. As I mentioned before, there are a lot of video game mechanics that is in the novel but the novel did a great job at explaining the achievements and items the characters found and accomplished.
Another strength it had was the writing. The book is very easy to follow and to understand. The author did a great job of explaining what needed to be known in the context of the story. To me, it was an easy read. I also liked how the author showed glimpses behind the curtain of what was going on through Carl’s mind. The novel didn’t have much of Carl’s inner dialogue or his thoughts. So, the reader does need to infer things through the character’s actions and dialogue.
With the way the book starts — it’s very high-adrenaline, what’s-going-on-here, no-time-to-think vibes — there isn’t much time to know about Carl from before the dungeon, apart from the first chapter, where some of his life was told to us. Despite this, the author gives us glimpses of the time before and they’re very impactful. However, the author doesn’t linger on these moments and the story continues as there is an immediate danger or decision that needs to be addressed.
Speaking of the first chapter, I almost stopped reading the book because of it. The author repeated many things every few paragraphs that I wasn’t a fan of. Perhaps this is to help with memory retention, but for me, once is enough. That’s not to say that I don’t understand why the author kept repeating some things. Luckily, the writing style changed, and the repetition hasn’t occurred since.
There are many things that I liked about this book. For example, the nods to different cultures, like the gym, hoarding, and a certain group that resists modern medical practices. The author did not shy away from them at all, and I appreciate it.
Despite all of this, the novel didn’t leave a lasting impression on me. That’s not to say it was bad or not good. It was a fun read, and I enjoyed it, but that’s about it. I’m unsure whether it deserves all the hype it has from this one book, but I’ve heard from many sources that it’s not until later that it becomes better. While I continue to read the books, I am open to learning more about DCC’s world and the overarching story the novel touched upon.
My rating, 4/5.
