My book club introduced me to a new series. I had been hearing about the Dungeon Crawler Carl series for a while; I’ve even been to a convention where Matt Dinniman was in attendance. While I have enjoyed LitRPG in the past, it isn’t that fascinating to me to watch characters level up through statistics. I prefer to read characters growing and expanding their skills and emotions through other means than the mechanisms of LitRPG. But when the group choose to read it, I was like “okay, it is popular and I should be reading stuff that is changing genres.” Little did I know what a game-changer Dungeon Crawler Carl is. The darkly humorous fantasy series has so many levels to it, a properly made baklava might be jealous.
I love this series. I hate that it doesn’t let me sleep when I pick one up from the library, because these books don’t get put down easily. And each books gets longer, making it real hard to read them in a day, let alone one sitting.
This review covers books one through three. I am reading the hardback editions which include the Backstage of the Pineapple Cabaret. All books are being read in hardback through the library. While paper version is not required, you likely will want to flip back and forth to check things out.
Bonus, my book club recently started using the Storygraph Buddy-Read option. I will publish the comments I made while reading this series in a special blog tomorrow.
Dungeon Crawler Carl Series
Book 1: Dungeon Crawler Carl (levels 1 and 2 of the dungeon – 464 pages)
Book 2: Carl’s Doomsday Scenario (level 3 – 384 pages)
Book 3: The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook (level 4 – 544 pages)
Book 4: The Gate of the Feral Gods (level 5 – 608 pages)
Book 5: The Butcher’s Masquerade (levels6 and 7 – 720 pages)
Book 6: The Eye of the Bedlam Bride (level 8 – 832 pages)
Book 7: This Inevitable Run (level 9 – 880 pages)
Book 8: A Parade of Horribles (level 10 – forthcoming in June 2026)
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BOOK BLURB ON AMAZON for DUNGEON CRAWLER CARL
The apocalypse will be televised!
You know what’s worse than breaking up with your girlfriend? Being stuck with her prize-winning show cat. And you know what’s worse than that? An alien invasion, the destruction of all man-made structures on Earth, and the systematic exploitation of all the survivors for a sadistic intergalactic game show. That’s what.
Join Coast Guard vet Carl and his ex-girlfriend’s cat, Princess Donut, as they try to survive the end of the world—or just get to the next level—in a video game–like, trap-filled fantasy dungeon. A dungeon that’s actually the set of a reality television show with countless viewers across the galaxy. Exploding goblins. Magical potions. Deadly, drug-dealing llamas. This ain’t your ordinary game show.
Welcome, Crawler. Welcome to the Dungeon. Survival is optional. Keeping the viewers entertained is not.
MY REVIEW for DUNGEON CRAWLER CARL
Oh, goodness the lack of sleep this book gives – pure evil. This is amazing on so many writing skills – the McGyvering problem creation and problem solving, the world, the characters, the humor mixed with the dark, the drama. Yes, very plot driven, but somehow the agency keeps coming into play.
Background politics of those running the game – wow, this is EXTREMELY well-done. Dropped throughout in very small piecemeal bits (not infodumps) – from the planetary to the corporations, from debt to history. The horrific mix of rushing the game (from the early start) to pay off debt, but making sure a LOT of money is generated. Most of the times I’ve seen the background information be dropped on characters in other books (background political mechanisms and it is like, both in fantasy and science fiction, especially military sci-fi), it’s all “oh, so that is how the world works” for both me the reader and for the POV character, but with Carl it is, hmm, let’s put this into the toolbox, we might need it. And then he breaks it out and uses it whenever he can. Just amazing writing – this is what I called layered-writing – and Mr. Dinniman is so far down in the layers it is pure Baklava.
I adore the McGyvering, and Mongo, and Princess Donut (long may her tiara shine). Every character has goals and hopes – which is horrendous against the countdown from 8 billion to 12 million to … every tick of Earth-humanity going towards extinction. This book is at once hilarious and horrific; funny and freaky. I hope Carl doesn’t break.
If you are into (1) dungeons and dragons; (2) science fiction or fantasy; (3) Mcgyver-like problem-solving; (4) human vs. dehumanizing; (5) storytelling; (6) reality shows; (7) talk shows; (8) cats … this book is for you.
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BOOK BLURB ON AMAZON for CARL’S DOOMSDAY SCENARIO
“The training levels have concluded. Now the games may truly begin.”
The ratings and views are off the chart. The fans just can’t get enough. The dungeon gets more dangerous each day. But in a grinder designed to chew up and spit out crawlers by the millions, Carl and Princess Donut need to work harder than ever just to survive.
They call it the Over City. A sprawling, once-thriving metropolis devastated by a mysterious calamity. But these streets are far from abandoned. An undead circus trawls the ruins. Murdered prostitutes rain from the sky. An ancient spell is finally ready to reveal its dark purpose.
Carl still has no pants.
They call it Dungeon Crawler World. For Carl and Donut, it’s anything but a game.
MY REVIEW for CARL’S DOOMSDAY SCENARIO
I am doling this series out slowly, like once a month. Not because I don’t want to eat these up like candy, but because they CONSUME me while I read them, staying up way too late and not getting other needed tasks done.
They have more layers than lasagna. I stopped counting the layers to world-building and characters at fourteen (!!!). The complex world can be enjoyed at the top-level dark-humor action-flick adventure as a quick read.
But thinking about it, even a little is worth it.
Dig in and level up.
I recommend reading this series in order. And now to sleep and then catch up with the rest of life.
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BOOK BLURB ON AMAZON for THE DUNGEON ANARCHIST’S COOKBOOK
Welcome to the Gun Show!
The top ten list is populated. The sponsorship program is open. The difficulty is ramping up. The first three floors were nothing compared to what Carl and Donut now face.
The Iron Tangle. An impossibly-complicated subway system built out of the world’s subterranean railway systems, all combined and then tied together into a knot. Up is down. Down is up. Close is far. The cars are filled with monsters, the railway stations are less than safe, and the exit is always just a few stops away.
But there is hope. For the first time, the crawlers are all working together. The loot is better than ever. And the secret to unraveling it all may be hidden in the pages of a seemingly-useless book. Welcome, crawlers. Welcome to the fourth floor of the dungeon.
MY REVIEW for THE DUNGEON ANARCHIST’S COOKBOOK
It takes a while for this book to gel; thank goodness Mr. Dinniman had two beyond-incredible books before this one so I was willing to give him the rope to either hang himself or pull me along for the ride, because what a ride this ends up being!
I adore trains, so I went into this with high hopes but the first third of the book is about setting up the puzzle to level four, getting all the pieces in play. Like learning a subway and public transportation system. The second third is getting the solution pieces on the table, like gathering the token, locations, and perfect combination of friends for the most Epic.Night.Out.Ever. The final third delivers on the setup, leaving one at their destination bruised, battered, exhausted, wondering “dude, where is my car”, and euphoric to have survived the ride.
Not as funny as the previous parts of the series, I wouldn’t recommend starting with this one, but the McGyvering and puzzle-solving might be the best yet. The characters continue to evolve, from Donut to the “throw-away” side characters, gaining maturity and horror.
This darkly funny series is some of the best worldbuilding and character creation out there.
Series of Transcripts for Dungeon Crawler Carl
- Book Review Series: Dungeon Crawler Carl Books 1-3 (12/16/2025)
- BuddyRead Transcript: Dungeon Crawler Carl Book 1 (12/17/2025)
- BuddyRead Transcript: Dungeon Crawler Carl Book 2 (12/19/2025)
- BuddyRead Transcript: Dungeon Crawler Carl Book 3 (12/20/2025)