At long last, I have joined the throngs of adoring fans of Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman, having listened to the first audiobook via Audible.
The voice acting was by far the best voice acting I think I’ve ever had in an audiobook, closely followed by Project Hail Mary, which also had exceptional voice acting.
The story starts with the destruction of planet Earth and the commencement of a terrifying dungeon crawler computer game, but in real life, where Carl and his trusty cat, Princess Donut, wander down the stairs and into the dungeon, not because they want to be fighting to their death and earning intergalactic notoriety, but because they were cold. Anyone who was indoors at the time that the Borant Corporation seized planet Earth was immediately crushed and killed. Princess Donut had chosen that precise moment to jump out the window, and Carl followed her, sparing both their lives.
Throughout this first book, we cover the first two levels of the dungeon, learning the rules, how one earns rewards and skill points, levels up their abilities, and fights the various horrific monsters, traps, and other bosses that litter the floors. They meet some colourful characters along the way, and it’s just a lot of fun for somebody who plays a lot of computer games and enjoys that kind of storytelling.
While I really did enjoy Dungeon Crawler Carl, as previously said, mostly because the voice acting was exceptional, I do feel like it’s missing a piece for me. I can’t help but feel that the destruction of the entire world and the death of billions of people is perhaps a little glossed over, and that our intrepid dungeon explorer Carl doesn’t really seem to take any time to mourn or grieve or adjust to his new reality. It just seemed a little bit easy to me.
But I can definitely see that this novel is building towards something, and I will give the next one a go once I’ve had a Dark Tower palate cleanser.
Overall, I would give this one three goddamnit, Donuts out of five.
