“Goddamnit, Donut!”

I finally managed to finish the book everyone around me has been talking about: Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman. And unless you’ve been living under a rock, chances are you’ve already heard of it or read it yourself.

An alien syndicate decides Earth will be its next source of “contestants.” Any human caught outdoors survives an apocalyptic event in which all buildings and enclosed spaces are completely flattened. The main character, Carl, escapes destruction purely by chance, along with his ex-girlfriend’s prize-winning show cat, Princess Donut, after the cat bolts through an open window. Wearing only a leather jacket and a pair of boxer shorts, Carl and Donut are dropped into a deadly dungeon crawl where survival depends on wit, luck, and a whole lot of improvisation.

The game is televised across the universe to alien races who place bets, send gifts, and cheer on their favorite contestants. The more fans a crawler gains, the better their odds of surviving. As Carl and Donut progress through increasingly dangerous levels, they defeat monsters, collect loot boxes, and scrape together whatever resources they can to stay alive.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, though I’ll freely admit I’m a big game nerd. This story feels like a Dungeons & Dragons campaign brought to life or a chaotic video game dungeon crawl. The relationship between Carl and Princess Donut is sarcastic, hilarious, and surprisingly heartfelt, and even the dungeon’s mobs (mobile entities) have their own personalities and motivations.

Don’t expect highbrow literature here, but do expect to be completely entertained. Dungeon Crawler Carl is fast-paced, absurd, and laugh-out-loud funny, with just enough emotional depth to keep you invested. If you enjoy gaming humor, dark comedy, and wildly inventive storytelling, this is absolutely a series worth diving into.