Teaser

When an all-powerful alien corporation claims ownership of Earth, the survivors of humanity are given a chance to win their freedom. All they have to do is survive a sprawling dungeon filled with monsters . . .

Review

I’m going to preface this review with an aside that might go some way to explaining why I’m so grumpy with regards to Dungeon Crawler Carl. I’ve noted on a few occasions, both here on the blog and elsewhere, that while fantasy literature gets a new trend every decade (grimdark, cozy, romantasy, etc.), science fiction often gets overlooked. Books like Dunegon Crawler Carl mark something worth noting: a new type of storytelling in science fiction. Unfortunately, it’s a trend that simply uses the broad scope of science fiction (aliens, computers, and the like) to replicate fantasy worlds, all through the lens of being a game. Sigh. The genre deserves better.

Those of you who are familiar with fantasy roleplaying games, be it Dunegons and Dragons or World of Warcraft might well be familiar with a dungeon crawl. If not, it’s exactly what it sounds like. The characters are put in a dungeon that contains lots of rooms. In those rooms one will find monsters that are in need of killing, treasure that is in need of looting, and traps that are in need of springing. There might also be some merchants for no in-universe reason. Dungeon crawls have a reputation for being combat-heavy, roleplay light, and not making a whole lot of sense.

In that regard, Dungeon Crawler Carl is a total success. The titular Carl finds himself in the mysterious dungeon with a handwaved explanation (aliens want our resources and are putting humans into a televised gameshow) with only a cat for company. Within a few hours, he has merrily become what Dunegons and Dragons players refer to as a murderhobo. He punches and stomps his way through hordes of goblins, bugs, and fairies, cramming every last bit of salvaged loot into an interdimensional inventory. He feels a little bad when he has to strangle a monster that used to be a woman, and protects some elderly people who have also wandered into the dungeon, but generally adopts an us-or-them mentality that sees him merrily murder his way downwards even as we see that the monsters have minds and plans of their own, and are by no means evil. Also, because this is an American novel, our protagonist is a military veteran who can do no wrong. He’s like Jack Reacher, but with a background in PlayStation gaming. For the sake of my own sanity, I’m not even going to go into his background of an abusive father and cheating girlfriend. Suffice it to say that unless Carl can protect them or befriend them, everyone in this book is absolutely horrible, and presumably deserves to be stomped to death by our macho, macho hero.

There is some genuine comedy in the idea of real life working like a videogame. What if we got achievements for the smallest things? What if we could see each other’s kill counts? Unfortunately, these jokes are best reserved for sketch comedy like Saturday Night Live or Viva La Dirt League. Dragged out across an audiobook, they become just as tiresome as the unrelenting violence and menu-accessing. Even the occasional TV interview can’t liven things up, rooted as they are in satire of the present-day. I hate manosphere influencers as much as the next sane person, but having an orc chat show is a wasted opportunity. Also, the orcs look like pigs, but any interrogation of Carl’s racist epithets for them is absent. Why bother with depth when there are crude jokes to be tossed around?

I will say that Jeff Hays’ narration is spot on, especially when it comes to the achievements. He really brings home how annoying it would be to live with constant announcements. Alas, that accuracy makes the book something of a chore to listen to, with the story constantly updated by reminders of the framing narrative. Hays does brilliant work, and I understand why most fans of the series recommend audio, but even the greatest variety of voices I’ve come across this side of Marc Thompson can’t redeem the book from its myriad flaws. Don’t get me wrong, Dungeon Crawler Carl is not the abysmal mess that Operation Bounce House was, but that doesn’t mean it’s good.

Few books have become the worldwide sensation that Dungeon Crawler Carl has managed to be. It’s inevitable that it’s going to come across readers like myself who are a severe mismatch for the book. But just as I prefer my games to be more than just hacking and slashing, so too do I want my literature to be more than violence and sex jokes. I make no claims of being an authority on high art, and won’t deny that trash can be fun, but Dungeon Crawler Carl is simply not a good use of my time and money

Book Stats

• Narrated by Jeff Hays
• Dungeon Crawler Carl #1
• First Published 2020
• 13hrs 31mins