Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


In Dungeon Crawler Carl, aliens invade the earth, instantly killing much of the population, and giving the survivors the option to either scrape a living as scavengers, or to turn themselves into characters in a real life RPG in an interactive arena underground. The aliens create a pastiche of various aspects of human culture, meaning that fantasy creatures such as goblins are portrayed as antagonists, and the earth characters (or 'crawlers') can 'level up' as if they are in a video game. The protagonist, Carl, enters with the dungeon with his ex-girlfriend's cat- Princess Donut, who, after a lucky experience in the dungeon, becomes super intelligent, and a more skilled character than Carl, meaning that she has a lot of control over how they proceed.

A premise this zany can only be introduced nonchalantly and with a lot of detail, and this is what the author does. In fact, the first few chapters are similar to a RPG video game, in which the rules are given in tutorials before the real game begins. A lot of this is tongue in cheek and very funny. For example, many actions in the dungeon give achievements to the crawlers that result in rewards, and at the start of the adventure, achievements are rewarded for various actions, such as entering the dungeon unarmed or with a pet. In all likelihood, much of the book will be mysterious to anyone who has not played RPGs in other mediums, but the right reader will love the references.

Although the plot is complete nonsense, the interplay between the two central characters is both funny and oddly touching in places. The novel also contains the start of an interesting meta plot involving the alien factions who design and control the game. Crawlers have to appeal to the audience to gain sponsors who can give them treasures that may prove vital to their survival, but the corporation that owns the game seems corrupt, meaning that crawlers struggle to navigate politics that they don't understand.

A book like this compels one to read further into the series.



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