Dungeon Crawler Carl

A LitRPG/Gamelit Adventure

By: Matt Dinniman

Narrated by: Jeff Hays

Length: 13 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's Summary

The apocalypse will be televised!

A man. His ex-girlfriend's cat. A sadistic game show unlike anything in the universe: a dungeon crawl where survival depends on killing your prey in the most entertaining way possible. 

In a flash, every human-erected construction on Earth - from Buckingham Palace to the tiniest of sheds - collapses in a heap, sinking into the ground.

The buildings and all the people inside have all been atomized and transformed into the dungeon: an 18-level labyrinth filled with traps, monsters, and loot. A dungeon so enormous, it circles the entire globe.

Only a few dare venture inside. But once you're in, you can't get out. And what's worse, each level has a time limit. You have but days to find a staircase to the next level down, or it's game over. In this game, it's not about your strength or your dexterity. It's about your followers, your views. Your clout. It's about building an audience and killing those goblins with style. 

You can't just survive here. You gotta survive big.

You gotta fight with vigor, with excitement. You gotta make them stand up and cheer. And if you do have that "it" factor, you may just find yourself with a following. That's the only way to truly survive in this game - with the help of the loot boxes dropped upon you by the generous benefactors watching from across the galaxy.

They call it Dungeon Crawler World. But for Carl, it's anything but a game.

©2020 Matt Dinniman (P)2021 Matt Dinniman

A refreshing take on apocalyptical LITRPG

So...this book. Man, I just love it. Somehow, the author managed to avoid almost every LITRPG hero trope that exists and made that a good thing. Except the snarky system messages, but, let's be real, that's one of the genre's more fun tropes.

* SOUND BOOTH THEATER KNOCKS THIS OUT OF THE PARK! JEFF HAYES IS THE MAN! No distracting music or sound affects that aren't pertinent to the story. Proper voices for the system notifications and other messages. Just...nailed this 100%
* MC is not dumb
* MC is not a womanizer
* MC is not gifted with some super, ultra rare ability that breaks the game or makes him a snowflake
* MC does solve everything (or anything) with magic (...I love magic...I'm keeping my fingers crossed this might change)
* MC is practically McGyver (like the real McGyver not the Dr. Who sonic screw driver McGyver)
* MC has good dialogue with other characters and his companion whom happens to be a talking cat (happens in first 35 minutes...not really a spoiler)
* MC (and all of humanity) is definitely the underdog

Now, the LITRPG aspects.

* A$$hole corporate, inter-galactic politics and greed cause the apocalyptic event
* While the story progresses well with Carl's progress in levels and skills, there are bigger, deeper story arcs being threaded so this isn't just an apocalypse for no reason.
* The system seems to be absolutely massive as far as ability & class options go.

Definitely 5 stars all the way.

Wow. That was just great.

Okay, so this doesn't normally happen... I completely lost track of where I was in the book. It felt like I was only a few hours in and before I knew it the book was over. The pacing was just so great that I managed to listen to the whole book in a single day! One trillion likes.

Yes Yes Yes!

Been looking forward to a new audio book from Matt Dinniman and low and behold not only do we get Dungeon Crawler Carl, but we get Jeff Hays as narrator!!!
Seriously if you're a fan of either Jeff or Matt .. GET. THIS. BOOK!
Shoot, even if you haven't had the pleasure of knowing about either of these guys before.. GET. THIS. BOOK!
Equal parts hilarity/bonkers characters/epic fight scenes/loveable characters (yes, even you Donut). I am absolutely looking forward to book 2. Bring it on! (seriously, don't stop, we want moar!)
Awesome book Matt! Fan since grinder, keep up the great work!
Epic narration as always Jeff! (Seriously, watch him narrate sometime, his seamless transition between voices is unbelievable)

No crappy sound effects or music!

After one to many decent stories ruined by Soundbooth Studios I decided not to purchase any audio books from them unless the book was highly rated. This book met that requirement and I was pleasantly surprised that it was a clean performance by Mr. Hays!

Boy was I excited! I really enjoy Mr. Hays performances and the idea that there would be an entire series of just him without accompanying sound effects and crappy music... the the end of the book came and they threatened us with their shīt noise pollution.

If they follow through with the shift in production and the next book has all the garbage extras, I will not buy it.

Please don’t ruin this series as well. Or if you can’t help yourself, at least have the decency to release a clean version with just the voice acting.

Soundbooth Studios is the worst thing to happen to audiobooks.

As to the book. It’s pretty good. Won’t age well, but Mr. Dinniman is up to date on his memes.

The funniest performance and writing ever

This is easily one of the FUNNIEST BOOKS I HAVE EVER READ. The formula of relatable MC and halarious animal sidekick once again proves to be a winning one, and despite what could be an incredibly bleak story of the end of life as we know it, we get a wonderful performance that had me laughing from the first chapter to the end.

Great book, but Jeff's worst narration performance

I like this book, and I am usually a fan of Jeff hays.
Unfortunately, It sounds like he is doing a really bad immitation of Patrick Warburton. It's very off putting, a real disappointment.... I don't understand why no one told them how bad it is.

One of the best!

Dinniman is probably the best gamelit guy out there. This book was a ton of fun. I eagerly await the next in the series!

This book is awesome!

I highly recommend this if you want a funny litrpg style book. It has been a blast and I for one can’t wait for the next one. Jeff Hays knocked it out of the park on the voice.

Good Story Idea, Poor Execution

Another stellar performance by Jeff. Unfortunately, while the story itself started strong, and quickly grabbed my attention, the plethora of inconsistencies and retcons mere chapters apart steadily pushed me away until I no longer wished to finish the story. The author has a strong creative streak and unique ideas, but absolutely no attention to small details. I overlooked the first 3 or 4, but eventually you have to chalk it up to lazy writing/bad proofreading. Hopefully these problems go away as the author grows, but I feel Ive reached the end of my commitment to this series before it even really began.

Buy this if you want to listen to item stats for 8 straight hours

The book describes a game that might be interesting…
The book focuses too much on just describing the items and mechanics of the said game.

I did not make it trough the first hour of the book before returning it.

Holy Fudge

What are you doing down here the buy button is up there. just press it right now. got no money? wishlist it and sell your pants and shoes for money. it's worth every penny

Delightfully silly.

I’m not a huge fan of LitRPG but the proposition for this book works really well. Matt Dinniman keeps the pace going well and the dialogue is snappy. Jeff Hays gave a great performance. My only criticism? The next book isn’t on audible. Godammit Donut! Publish the next book already.

Hillarious!

Narration was pure genius. The perfect voice and comedy timing - just awesome.

There aren't too many paths an author has access to when writing litrpg, but this one carved out a little niche and had an interesting story.

It's so funny though! Right up my street for humour (be warned, language!).

Looking forward to the next!

God dammit Donut!

What are you doing reading over here, just buy the damn book! Seriously it's epic, you won't regret it.

Awesome

Perfect balance of comedy and drama. My favorite part is any scene featuring an animal, even without words every creature has a unique and funny personality.

God dammit Donut....

Congratulations 👏👏
New Achievement!: You found a review, how special.

Reward:
Having someone say that this book is amazing and you shouldn't be reading this achievement!
but seriously, read it...

awesome!!

I think this is the most entertaining audio book I have ever listened to and I've got nearly 200 in my library I highly recommend to everyone with a sense of humour

Well written, excellently performed

The story is excellently written, full of humour, well-paced and with action sequences galore.
The performance is immaculate, with distinct voices fitting the characters perfectly, and no audio issues whatsoever.
The first part of a series that's well worth getting into! Genuinely entertaining and wonderfully delivered.

Absolutely Fantastic

Buy this book. BUY IT!! It is fantastically written and I'm waiting on the sequel. very impatiently

Excellent

Brilliant story and narration. Amusing, smart and slick plot. Relatable characters, thoughtful strategy and hugely addictive overall. Brings together the best of this genre.