dungeon crawler carl by matt dinniman
dungeon crawler carl is one of those books that is wildly popular yet kinda niche. it's part of the litRPG genre, which is basically... an RPG-style video game played out in book form. there are characters with levels and skills and HP and quests to complete and rewards to receive upon completion. it is perfectly brutal and absurd, the ideal semi-mindless book to read in times like these, when the world is particularly dystopian and you're expected to gaslight yourself and just carry on. it is the only book I could read when my work life was going off the rails.
the book begins with an apocalyptic event that kills off most of humanity and leaves a relatively small percent of the human population unscathed. these remaining survivors are forced to compete in a televised "survival of the fittest," a hunger games-esque dungeon crawl. the series follows carl and his ex-girlfriend's cat, princess donut, as they learn to fight and work to survive.
it's really as simple as that.
dungeon crawler carl was very entertaining, if a little long.
I was actually about to pick up the next book, only to find there are, like, six other books in the series and each one is 400-500 pages. what in the sarah j. maas? I'm not really interested in reading another 3,000 pages only to get to the end of book 7 and realize book 8 still hasn't been published. no, thank you!
however, upon learning that dungeon crawler carl was published in 2020 and there are already six other books in the series, I did feel very impressed with the author. there's even a tv adaptation and graphic novels and actual TTRPGs in the works. I am happy for matt dinniman for being able to take his fun little nanowrimo project and create a lucrative career for himself. that was the success story I needed to hear while I was facing the implosion of my own career! (I mean this sincerely though!)
beyond matt dinniman's personal success, I also really just enjoyed seeing some ordinary guy and his cat learn how to play along with the intergalactic powers that be and also fight back in their own ways. carl respects the rules, but he holds to his principles. I found it kind of... validating and emotionally regulating – the idea that you can retain your own sense of agency and power in a system that is intent on stripping it away from you.
is the writing good? eh. is it funny? yeah, kind of. I think the biggest thing is that it delivers this weird but satisfying juxtaposition in tone.
as my friend lauren said, "somehow this book about an alien invasion where everyone is forced into a dungeon or die is escapism in this fucked up world we are currently in." it's extremely high stakes and extremely violent, but it also manages to be very lighthearted, and I think maybe that's what we need right now? humor helps us get through a lot of things. have a laugh, come up for air, and then dive back in again and get to work.