Caramel reviews Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman

For his first post after summer break, Caramel is talking to Sprinkles abut Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman, a book originally published in 2020. As usual Sprinkles is taking notes and asking questions.

Sprinkles: So Caramel, this was a really long book, but you read it quite fast…

Caramel: Yes, I did. It was very captivating, almost like a dungeon you cannot get out of. Sorry that was a poor joke.

S: Well, it is not clear why that’s a joke, even, so maybe it would help if you told us a bit about the book first.

C: Good point. So the book is about a guy named Carl, as you can imagine, and the world has ended.

S: Wait, what do you mean?

C: Well, the book starts when Carl is in a dungeon. Then there is a flashback and we learn that the Earth was lost, due to some weird legal issue, kind of like in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, actually. And so an alien corporation took over the planet and crushed every roof on the planet and almost everyone died.

S: That’s pretty bleak. At least The Hitchhiker’s Guide was funny.

C: Well, this is quite funny too, at times. But so the planet is taken and the remaining humans are given a chance to participate in a reality TV show that is a dungeon crawl. It is kind of a role playing game where the players have D&D-like skills and traits.

S: Oh I see, that is why Carl is a dungeon crawler, right?

C: Yep. And his partner is a cat named Princess Donut.

S: Wait, a cat?

C: Yes, she is a show cat, and through one of the weirdnesses of the show they are in, she can speak.

S: That is interesting!

C: Yes, very.

S: So the book is about Carl and Princess Donut going through the dungeon?

C: Not only them. The reality TV show is called Dungeon Crawler World: Earth. And apparently it is one of many this corporation has been running, in many different planets. And in the book there are many other crawlers that Carl and Princess Donut meet. In the beginning there were thirteen million who started. And then by the second chapter a couple million have been eliminated, and it goes like that.

S: That sounds cruel.

C: Yes, well, they took over the planet and they don’t seem to care about the living beings on it. More than 90% of the population just died during the takeover, and about twenty million or so humans remain. About thirteen million of these go to the dungeon for a chance to be free.

S: This is kind of like The Hunger Games and Dungeons & Dragons got together and had a terrible baby.

C: Oh yes, and also remember the Purging Trials from the Powerless books that Marshmallow reviewed. Put them all together and then mix…

S: It is a pretty bleak future.

C: Yes.

S: Was it not too depressing?

C: Not too much. After all I know it is fiction. And it is really funny sometimes. But maybe the very young bunnies should not read it. Still it is a good book.

S: And apparently there are quite a few sequels.

C: Which I will need to read…

S: Okay, we will see about that. So Caramel, maybe this is a good time to wrap up this review, what do you think?

C: Sure.

S: What do you want to tell our readers?

C: We are back! Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!