Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman

I admit, dear reader, that I was finally unable to resist the hype surrounding this series and decided to go see what all the fuss is about. And the answer is: a lot, and most of it really good!

Full disclosure, the tipping point for finally getting me to pick this up was likely the successful BackerKit campaign for the tabletop role-playing game based on the Dungeon Crawler Carl book series, of which this is the debut. I was definitely interested in jumping aboard but am already so invested in various different (and too often unplayed) RPG systems, that I figured I ought to at least give the first book a read before committing more funds and time to the game. Ironically, the main beneficiary of my time since then has been Baldur’s Gate 3, a video game that I can only play in small doses because I find the controls curiously fatiguing.

But I digress. This book is frigging great! Carl is a Coastie who runs out of his apartment pantsless one winter night to chase after Princess Donut, the spoiled showcat of his very recent ex-girlfriend who herself is off on a yacht somewhere with her new man. When an alien syndicate proceeds to flatten every man-made structure on Earth’s surface — as well as everything and everyone within them — Carl and Donut are forced to find refuge from the cold in one of the dungeon entrances that suddenly pop up instead. These entrances lead to a massive, multi-level underground dungeon where everyone who enters must fight to survive… for the entertainment of a galactic viewing audience eager to send loot boxes to their favorites. Soon, Carl and a newly sentient Donut must figure out how to play the game without losing their sense of right and wrong.

I was going to say “humanity” but Donut is a cat and, for better or worse, has a lot of cat morals. This leads to consequences both hilarous and tragic, and is part of the depth of this novel. I was so caught up in the writing and the plot and the excellent sense of humor that I crushed this book in a day. Perhaps ironically, it did take me a minute to get over the fact that the protagonist is a fit cis white dude, since it felt like the premise of a power fantasy that I may or may not actually have been invited to join. Fortunately, Matt Dinniman establishes quickly that this is a book for everyone. There is plenty of heart involved, and Carl isn’t a guy who thinks he needs to be the special one (even tho he kinda is.)

In fact, what really sets DCC apart from most books of this type is that, while there is the expected “wtf is going on and why is this happening to me?!”, there isn’t a whole lot of self-pity. Carl actually spends more time worrying about other people and pondering the consequences of his violence than in nearly any other work of speculative fiction I’ve read that is not explicitly anti-war, a la Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games. His self-awareness and sensitivity to social undercurrents is refreshing, and I was all in on his story well before even a third of the novel was done. It was also honestly nice not to have a love interest shoehorned in here: establishing the relationship between him and Donut was more than enough emotional development, imo. Donut, btw, is a hoot, and the contrast between her and Carl’s attitudes towards fame and attention are especially nuanced and insightful for being so wryly drawn.

I’ve placed a library hold on Book Two of this projected ten-book series, and am glad that I came in to it when I did, with Book Eight having just been recently published. Lol, I have so many books to read and review for work, but what is the point of doing this job if I don’t get to also read books just because I want to? I’m so glad the DCC books exist and that I get to look forward to reading more.

Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman was first published September 21, 2020 by Royal Road and is available from all good booksellers, including