Review: Dungeon Crawler Carl (Dungeon Crawler Carl #1)

4 stars. Listened to this on audio with my husband and we both totally loved it. Such a strange ride... probably unlike anything I've ever read. Very funny and enjoyable and action packed! Hats off to Jeff Hays - who is seriously, unbelievably incredible - for bringing everyone to life. 

In short: one night, an alien corporation takes over earth and redesigns it into a dungeon, where survivors must take part in a competition, which is filmed and broadcast to the rest of the universe. Carl, our hero, is alive only because he followed his girlfriend's cat outside right before the dungeon erupted into existence. He and the cat enter together, and chaos ensues.

For what it's worth: I'm not a video game person. I was never allowed growing up, so it doesn't come naturally to me and I didn't immediately understand some of the vocabulary. I've watched a bit of D&D, which helped. Luckily most of it is intuitive - my ignorance didn't detract from the experience.

Still, what a weird way of worldbuilding. Is the writing itself even that good? I'm genuinely unsure. All I know is that this is something special: a very unique reading experience with unique characters and unique circumstances. And it's funny.

The hype is real!

Dungeon Crawler Carl on: Amazon | Bookshop.org | Goodreads | StoryGraph