Oct 29, 2026
Dungeon Crawler Carl Review: Is the Series Worth Reading?
Yes. A spoiler-free review of all 8 Dungeon Crawler Carl books: why it's so funny, who it's for, and the best and weakest of the series.
Read by one of us, who has read all 8 books so far · Matt Dinniman's Dungeon Crawler Carl series · Our rating: 4.9 / 5
Is Dungeon Crawler Carl worth reading?
Yes. It's super worth it. Five stars, or 4.9 if you want us to split hairs.
Here's the thing that sold us: most long series fizzle out. They peak early, coast through the middle and limp to the next release. Dungeon Crawler Carl starts great and then keeps getting better. Eight books in, the later books are the best ones, and that almost never happens.
What it is
Aliens show up, every building on Earth vanishes, and the survivors get dropped into a giant multi-floor dungeon that's broadcast across the galaxy as a reality show. Carl, a regular guy who ran outside in his boxers chasing his ex-girlfriend's cat, is now a contestant. So is the cat, Princess Donut, who gains the ability to talk and has a very high opinion of herself.
Think World of Warcraft turned into a book: levels, loot boxes, gear, stats, a boss on every floor. Then hand it to Matt Dinniman, whose sense of humor has no brakes.
Why it's so much fun
The humor is out of pocket. Dinniman is genuinely unhinged, in the best way. The jokes go places you would never see coming, and he digs up obscure words, strange phobias, fetishes, weird sports and wildly niche hobbies (button collecting and sew-on patches, to name two). You will find yourself stopping mid-chapter to look something up just to confirm it's real.
There's a point under the jokes. The whole dungeon is a product. Under the gags runs a sharp, running critique of consumerism and late-stage capitalism, and of what a system built for spectators and sponsors does to the people stuck inside it. It's funny until it suddenly isn't, and that's when it lands.
Carl blows things up. He's a hero of the people, but he's also reckless and impulsive, and his answer to a lot of problems involves explosives. That's rarely the smart way to play the game. But Carl hates the game. He isn't trying to win it the way the showrunners want; he's rebelling against it, and watching him refuse to play nice is a big part of the fun.
The plans pay off like a heist movie. Some of the best stretches keep you in the dark about what Carl is up to, then show you how the plan works as it unfolds. When it clicks, it's pure Ocean's Eleven.
You get attached to everyone. The cast grows alongside Carl, and by the later books you care about a lot more people than you expected to. That's where the stakes come from.
Why it keeps getting better
Every floor is crazier than the last and every boss more convoluted. Dinniman keeps changing up how he tells the story, so it never settles into a rut. And because the cast keeps growing on you, each new floor hits harder than the one before.
It's also genuinely hard to predict. We honestly can't picture how this ends, or whether anyone makes it to the bottom, and that keeps every new book exciting.
Best and weakest books
- Best: The Eye of the Bedlam Bride (book 6). The peak of the series so far. It's where the escalation the series has been building toward fully pays off: the biggest scale, the highest stakes, and everything we've praised above working at once. No spoilers, but if you're wavering early on, this is the book worth reading toward.
- Weakest: Carl's Doomsday Scenario (book 2). Okay, nothing special. It's not bad, just the one entry that doesn't stand out. Push through; book 3 picks things right back up, and the climb from there is steady.
Who it's for
It's made for readers who are a little geeky and love RPGs, video games or board games: the leveling up, the gear upgrades, the satisfaction of a character getting stronger. If you've never touched LitRPG and the idea of stat blocks in a novel sounds off-putting, try it anyway. It is a lot more fun than you would expect.
Skip it if you want hard, grounded science fiction or serious space opera. This is a cartoonishly violent alien game show with a talking cat. It knows exactly what it is.
A tip: the audiobooks, narrated by Jeff Hays, are famous among fans in their own right, so if you listen while you commute, that's a great way in.
Where to start
Start with book 1, Dungeon Crawler Carl, and read in order; this is not a series to jump around in. Our Dungeon Crawler Carl books in order post lists all of them.
Give it through book 3 at least. It starts great, and it only goes up from there.