Briar WestSometimes a book gets recommended so often that you end up putting it off for no good reason.
That was Dungeon Crawler Carl for me.
I’d been seeing it everywhere for months. Then our local indie bookstore, The Charmed Page, announced a book club for the series, and I decided it was finally time to see what all the fuss was about.
I had one more reason to be curious.
I’d never read LitRPG before.
Turns out, I picked a pretty great place to start.
If you’ve been following my reading journey lately, you’ll know I’ve been making a point to step outside my comfort zone. After reading my first horror novel, This Wretched Valley, I figured it was only fair to give LitRPG a chance, too.
https://briarwestbooks.com/reading-my-first-horror-novel-this-wretched-valley-review/
The biggest surprise wasn’t the humor, although I laughed more than once. It was how quickly the world pulled me in. The game mechanics, quests, achievements, and loot all fit together in a way that actually made sense. Nothing felt like it existed just because it was a game.
It also hit me with a huge wave of nostalgia.
Mr. West and I spent years playing World of Warcraft, so once I understood how this world worked, it felt familiar. Before long I was thinking about stats, rewards, and dungeon floors the same way I’d think about leveling a character in an MMO. It scratched an itch I didn’t even realize I’d missed.
I listened to the audiobook, and I honestly can’t imagine experiencing this story any other way.
Jeff Hays absolutely disappears into the characters. Every voice feels distinct, every joke lands, and his performance makes an already entertaining book even better. It’s one of those audiobooks where you stop noticing there’s only one narrator because every character sounds like a completely different person.
Between the explosions, monsters, and talking cat, I became genuinely invested in these characters. By the time I finished the first book, opening the second one wasn’t even a question.
Books like this remind me why I love reading outside my usual genres.
If I’d dismissed Dungeon Crawler Carl because it wasn’t romance, I would’ve missed one of the most entertaining books I’ve read in a long time.
⭐ Rating: 5/5
If you’ve been side-eyeing this series because the premise sounds a little too weird, take this as your nudge to give it a shot. I get the hype now.
Ready to enter the dungeon? If you’re curious what all the hype is about, here’s the complete series in reading order to get you started.
Dungeon Crawler Carl Reading Order
Dungeon Crawler Carl (Book 1)
Carl’s Doomsday Scenario (Book 2)
The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook (Book 3)
The Gate of the Feral Gods (Book 4)
The Butcher’s Masquerade (Book 5)
The Eye of the Bedlam Bride (Book 6)
This Inevitable Ruin (Book 7)
A Parade of Horribles (Book 8)
Read the Series (paid links)
Loved the sound of Dungeon Crawler Carl? I put together the complete series in reading order here:
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Have you read Dungeon Crawler Carl? I’d love to hear what you thought. And if you’re already a longtime LitRPG reader, tell me what series I should pick up next.