Genre: LitRPG • Sci-Fi Fantasy • Apocalypse Adventure
Tropes: Dungeon Crawl, Alien Invasion, Survival Game, Talking Animal Companion, Dark Humor, Reality TV Apocalypse, Leveling System, Found Family
Spice Level: None
Format: Audiobook
Series: Dungeon Crawler Carl Book 1
When The Flattening happened, Carl was outside in nothing but boxers, a jacket, and his girlfriend’s too-small Crocs trying to coax her prize-winning cat out of a tree during the coldest night of the year. Then every building on Earth vanished. Aliens have arrived, civilization has collapsed, and the only chance humanity has to survive is entering massive underground dungeons scattered around the globe. If humanity can clear every level, they get to keep Earth.
Simple, right? Now Carl and Princess Donut—yes, the cat—must descend floor by floor through a televised apocalypse filled with monsters, traps, insanity, and an AI host that may be having entirely too much fun watching humanity suffer-and a weird fetish.
Welcome to the dungeon, crawler.
I absolutely love LitRPGs, and this series had been floating around my book group forever before I finally gave in and started it. My husband had technically started it first but never finished… until I bullied him into continuing because I needed someone else to witness the chaos. And chaos is truly the best word for this book.
Princess Donut Queen Anne Chonk, Best in Dungeon is hands-down one of the greatest characters I’ve ever encountered in a LitRPG. She starts off delightfully obnoxious, overly dramatic, and completely ridiculous—but somehow becomes impossible not to love almost immediately.
Book one mainly establishes Carl, Donut, and Mordecai while throwing them headfirst into complete madness. Between murderous monsters, explosive combat, bizarre dungeon mechanics, and an AI obsessed with feet for reasons I genuinely do not want explained, the humor in this series is unmatched. The dark comedy absolutely lands.
One minute you’re laughing at Donut demanding proper recognition and the next you’re witnessing horrifying dungeon brutality. Somehow the series balances absurdity and violence perfectly without losing momentum.
I listened to this on audiobook and immediately started book two the second it ended. The narration is phenomenal. The narrator gives Carl this Kronk-esque energy that somehow works perfectly, and now I genuinely cannot imagine Carl sounding any other way. Donut’s voice is equally iconic. And yes—Donut talks. A magical pet biscuit gives her sentience, and from that point onward the series becomes even more unhinged in the best possible way.
This book ends with Carl and Donut descending to the next floor, already mildly traumatized and wildly underprepared for what’s coming next. Unfortunately for them—and fortunately for us—it only gets worse from there. The combination of nonstop action, dark humor, ridiculous dungeon mechanics, explosive violence, and genuinely lovable characters makes this one of the strongest LitRPG starters I’ve ever read. Add in the unusual detail of Carl being former Coast Guard instead of the typical overpowered military archetype, and the whole thing just feels fresh.
At this point my ringtone, notification sound, and phone background are all Dungeon Crawler Carl themed, so I think it’s safe to say this series consumed my personality a little bit. No regrets. I don’t feel like I need to say that I will be reading on in this series, because who could possibly stop after book one? After all crawlers, we have to get out there are “Kill, Kill, Kill!” There isn’t a thing I would change about these books and will be sad when I run out of them. Side note. I MAY have a DCC tee shirt on that says "I AM YELLING, CARL" as I write this...
You’ll Love This Book If You Enjoy:
- LitRPG and dungeon crawl stories
- Dark humor mixed with brutal survival
- Talking animal companions
- Reality TV-style apocalypse settings
- Explosive action and nonstop chaos
- Alien invasion stories
- Video game leveling systems
- Audiobooks with incredible narration
- Found family dynamics
- Ridiculous humor alongside real emotional stakes
An absolutely chaotic LitRPG masterpiece full of explosions, monsters, dark comedy, and one unforgettable talking cat.
This book is available on Kindle Unlimited or buy it on Amazon for $4.99 by clicking here.
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