Dungeon Crawler Carl, by Matt Dinniman, (Aug. 2024, Ace), $30, ISBN: 9780593820247
Ages 14+
Folks, trust me on this one: it’s not listed under Teen/YA, but your gamers, your tabletop fans, your D&D crowd, your SFF readers, all will love this straight up hilarious, wild ride. Originally self-published, Penguin Random House finally got hold of this series and now we can all rejoice that it’s available on more shelves.
It’s the apocalypse, kinda: Carl is a guy going through a break-up when the world ends. No, literally: he’s in a tree, trying to catch his ex’s prize-winning show cat, when he sees his building just… crumbles. Every building is gone, and whoever’s left learns, via a message in the sky, that they’re the newest contestants on an intergalactic game show. Think Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy meets Running Man, and you’re on the right track. Carl enters a tunnel with Princess Donut – of course, he’s taking the cat with him – and learns that the two have to survive a fantasy-type dungeon, complete with power-ups, monsters, and other humans. And Princess Donut can talk now. Dungeon Crawler Carl is nonstop adventure with moments both gross and laugh-out-loud hysterical. Carl isn’t some meathead, blundering his way through a dungeon, nor is he super nerd guy; he’s an ordinary guy trying to keep himself, his cat, and maybe another couple of humans alive until the next level, at least. The book is part of a the LitRPG subgenre, with gamelike elements and full character awareness powering the narrative. I loved this book and can’t wait for the next two – luckily, Carl’s Doomsday Scenario just pubbed last week, and The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook is coming in October.
Mom Read It 