I’m going to lead into this review with something that might sound like a dig, but trust me it’s not. It’s taken me a little while to think about how to review Dungeon Crawler Carl, and actually it’s taken me until nearly finished with the third book to know what to actually say about this work.
Initially, I would review the first book as a very well written story that will feel familiar but uniquely different to most gamer-culture era readers of a somewhat getting-up-there in age (read: I was born in 1978) and will be the most delightful blend of slow churned gamerism, little chunks of Hitchhikers Guide, along with a Hunger Games swirl; however, my instinct kicked in and said to hold for a bit and mull over things that were hitting me on a surface level. It wasn’t until the third book where the themes of parasitic corporatism, police state political parties, and change that dash of Hunger Games into something that reflected the human spirit that Hunger Games was going for, but better.
These are masterful works, I can say no greater praise. Dinniman has a very strong grasp of how to incorporate very clunky game-centric ideas and terms without it breaking an extremely insightful first person narrative from the titular protagonist Carl. There’s also so many moments of genuine human sincerity and concern for others. Carl is a protagonist that works wonderfully as an insert for many of us who want to make the world a little better than we found it, have a deep inner rage against those who oppressed others, and it’s obvious from the writing of the character that Matt has a knack for taking the concept of suffering and inspiring others to know that it can sometimes, often times, still lead to a greater result where all of that suffering wasn’t in vain. Something I’m not sure you get to without some level of experience in it personally.
The audiobook version only enhances what’s on the written page in all these cases. At the time of this writing we’re still waiting on news of a live action show (fingers crossed here, Jensen Ackles would make the best Carl. Fight me) but I can speak for myself that I can take that wait for that show extremely patiently due to the thorough adaptation of the audio book by Jeff Hays and his folks.
I adore the work you all are doing, and keep sharing stories that don’t just entertain, but take the world around us and change it juuuust enough to make us take those written words and use them as a lens for our own world we live in today. I’m gushing, (it’s well earned) but I’ll shut up and close with one line from Carl from book 3, The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook, “One day, this pain you’re feeling now, will matter”.