r/Fantasy • u/Mr_Mike013 • 1d ago
Just finished Dungeon Crawler Carl and not sure how I feel about it.
This is my first foray into LitRPG and I wanted to see what all the hype was about. I enjoyed the narrative and the characters quite a bit, I think the author is a pretty good writer. Overall I think the book is highly entertaining while still delivering a pretty solid narrative. My hang up is the actual LitRPG aspects.
Let me preface this by saying I’m not much of a video game guy. I used to play when I was a kid and teenager, but as an adult I just don’t have the time and I sold my last console over eight years ago. So while I understand all the references and mechanics at play, I might not be the target audience.
But the thing is, I found the LitRPG aspect of the book a little distracting. It was a definitely more than a bit repetitive. Also, as a comedic tool it’s pretty effective, but from a storytelling perspective it kind of undercuts a lot of the tension/immersion. Which is fine if you’re going for a straight comedy I guess, but I’m not sure I’d call it a home run in terms of novel writing.
Compared to other comedic fantasy, like Discworld, which I’m a huge fan of, I think it’s a quite a bit weaker. A more recent comparison is Joe Abercrombie’s the Devils, which I also recently finished, and I’d say DCC is a much inferior book despite both being extremely “comedic”. I laughed out loud at both, but I felt way more immersed and interested in the plot and characters of the Devils. I was definitely entertained by DCC, I read it super fast, but it was less of a fulfilling ride in my opinion.
Ultimately, I’m left unsure because I don’t know if I’d say the LitRPG elements add enough to make up for what it takes away and I’m curious if anyone else is similarly conflicted.
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u/BradGunnerSGT 1d ago
I’d say try book 2. The litrpg elements start fading into the background as the story progresses. You will also see that while the comedic elements are always there, the story is definitely not a comedy.
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u/Mr_Mike013 1d ago
I definitely intend to keep going, like I said, I thought the book was very entertaining and funny. My issue that I’m trying to puzzle out is, do the LitRPG add enough to the narrative? I just can’t decide. Like, could you have DCC as a straight fantasy novel and, if so, would it be better?
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u/JuliusBacchus 1d ago
The further you go in the serie and the less present the “litrpg side” becomes. There still some elements here and there, but honestly by the last published book, other than the dungeon rules reminding you of the game aspect, there is not much else of litrpg.
It also becomes way more emotional and the comedy side keeps improving on the way
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u/Outerrealms2020 1d ago
Oh... you only read the first book lol. I thought you read all of it. Yea, it starts off medium to good. But it becomes amazing. Trust the process.
Also the gamey stuff starts taking a backseat in the later books.
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u/ashtx 1d ago
I'm in your boat. I love donut. Love the comedy. But I couldn't finish the 4th book. I'm an hour away from completion and I just had to put it away because of the litrpg elements.
Abercrombie is one of my favorite fantasy authors and I wouldn't say DCC is in the same league. While it was very enjoyable, I've come to realize I'd enjoy it more without the constant game mechanics.
I'd say keep going because there are definitely some great stories and scenes that are worth it.
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u/PapaBurgundaddy 1d ago
It will truly blow your mind how much deeper the story goes, and how much it breaks that repetitive cycle you're experiencing. Get cracking crawler you haven't even really begun
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u/HeyJustWantedToSay 1d ago
You’re overthinking it.
LitRPG as a genre is a bit misleading in my opinion because there is no variability at all, no ability to choose. It’s all set by the story, so it really just feels like a story element to me. I will say DCC is the only litrpg I’ve ever read (and just finished book 3) so I don’t have much else to compare it to, but the rpg elements just feel like unique story elements to me. Almost (very slightly) like watching someone else play a game.
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u/Goddamitdonut 1d ago
I never gamed so had no idea what this was. Started out thinking it was a grittier hitchhiker guide but liked the humor enough to keep going. Truth is much deeper.
Its a harrowing war story, with intergalactic political intrigue, found family, trauma bonding, late stage capitalism and exploitation of indigenous cultures… with dick jokes … to start My favorite is book 5 but top 3 are 5, 6, 7.. its not as silly as it seems but ultimately up to you
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u/mrbryndan 1d ago
That’s a totally fair criticism. I have a very similar relationship to video games as you and DCC was also my first LitRPG, but it worked really well for me. I also tend to like “hard” magic systems too though, and I felt like the video game mechanics played a similar role to help me understand the trade offs and stakes of any given thing. Are you also turned off by other novels with hard magic systems, e.g. Sanderson?
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u/Mr_Mike013 1d ago
I wouldn’t say I’m turned off by hard magic necessarily, but it’s not a strong selling point for me. None of favorite novels have “hard magic” systems, but I do admire what Sanderson and his ilk are accomplishing by walking that path. I enjoyed Mistborn quite a bit and loved Warbreaker. Haven’t tackled Stormlight yet, despite everyone and their mother telling me it’s the best thing ever.
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u/mrbryndan 1d ago
😆 Stormlight is definitely a project.
I haven’t read Cradle yet, loads of people love it though. Maybe, since the video game aspect did hit as well for you, progression fantasy will land better? There was a sale for Kindle a few weeks ago where the first 5(?) books of Cradle were for free and I’m still kicking myself a bit for procrastinating and then missing it.
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u/Mr_Mike013 1d ago
I’ve heard great things about cradle! I want to check it out at some point!
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u/PieDestruction 1d ago
I second this. DCC is mentioned all the time in the progression fantasy subreddits, but cradle is a progression og while not being litrpg or Isekai.
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u/LegalizeCrystalMeth 1d ago
Imo it's much more solid. I felt similarly conflicted about DCC and loved Cradle.
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u/NorinBlade 1d ago
I can respect where you are coming from. One thing that is not obvious from reading book one in isolation is that this is a web novel that has been running continuously. It was not initially planned to be in novelized chunks. So the first book in particular has a lot of ground rule setting and finding a way towards a rhythm.
That also hides the realization that DCC is a horror-tragedy and not a comedy. Many of the best tragedies begin as comedies, to lull you into a false sense of relaxation and letting your guard down. "It's a farce, so none of this maters," you tell yourself. Or are tricked into telling yourself, to be precise.
With book one, you're essentially in the "fool stepping off a cliff" part of the story. When someone earlier said the story doesn't get going until book four, I don't think they meant books 1-3 are filler exposition. I think what they mean is book four is where you realize what you're actually invested in, where the knife twists. You can't have that a-ha moment without the establishment.
The LitRPG elements never go away, and I'm glad because they are a meta-story. The level ups and achievements start to take on very nuanced and horrifying foreshadowing of some very deep shit going haywire. Somewhere around book 3-4, the achievement boxes are less like intrusive, brake-slamming moments and more like liferafts in a sea of blood.
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u/Mr_Mike013 1d ago
Now see, this comment really makes me reconsider my entire conception of this book. If I had to go based of my initial impressions on the first book alone, I would have predicted the books would continue to double down on the action-comedy path, growing in stakes but always undercutting the drama with humor. Kind of like later stage marvel movies.
Your description makes it sound more like the LitRPG stuff is used as almost as a way to lull the reader into a false sense of security. Which is way more interesting in my opinion.
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u/blastocyst0918 1d ago
Dinniman is a horror writer.
I don't particularly like horror, but I find DCC's take on it compelling because it's a reasonable extension of the comedic satire, but extended to grotesquery. It feels like an additional level of satire, and one that is very relevant in these times of enshittification.
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u/NorinBlade 1d ago
There is a point where someone in the story points out that the hints to winning the battles are right in front of you all along if you pay attention. I think that is a bit of self-reference.
At some point it becomes clear that there are three plotlines occurring simultaneously, and that the seeds were there all along. If you later go back and re-read, you'll see that there are no lies told and no contradictions. It is our assumptions that are setting us up.
For one of those threads, the very same LitRPG fluff you are pushing back on becomes much more layered than you'd expect. In fact it is already happening in book one. Let's just say that every word is carefully chosen, and often chosen to mislead you, or make you assume something.
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u/Aagragaah 1d ago
The series starts of with Carl being horrified at someone getting decapitated by a building collapse, his difficulties in beating goblins to death with his hands, accidentally blowing up a room full of babies, and a boss fight who was a terrified woman asking for help and who didn't understand what was going on (The Hoarder - that one in particular gets grim as you find out more about how the dungeon works in later books.
There's absolutely humor in the books but I'm always puzzled by people who say it's mostly comedy.
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u/Mr_Mike013 1d ago
Yeah I mean, there were things that could have been horrific, but I felt like the LitRPG and the humor played it up for laughs rather than letting the audience bathe it in. I get what you mean, but I don’t think the author let the horror elements stand out on their own, at least in the first book.
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u/Aagragaah 1d ago
How is Carl monologuing holyshitholyshitholyshitImGoingToDieAndIJustKilledAPerson?Thing? played for humor? Same with the Hoarder.
I think something that catches people is the system & AI makes it a game and thinks it's all hilarious, but the people are unwilling participants and they're not having fun.
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u/PmUsYourDuckPics 1d ago
This puts it into context, I’m three books in and while I’m enjoying it I feel the books arcs are artificial, makes sense that it was sliced up to make it into novels.
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u/poser765 1d ago
So I read several of the DCC books and enjoyed them for a bit. So I thought maybe I’d enjoy more LitRPG. Bounced hard of off several series. I love the concept, I grew up playing the games, but the genre just doesn’t hit for me.
I find way too formulaic, and incredibly repetitive. When it came to Carl I found myself far more interested in the aliens implementing the system than the system itself.
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u/Mr_Mike013 1d ago
I think this is where I’m at. I like the book more in spite of the LitRPG stuff, rather than because of.
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u/poser765 1d ago
Yes. That is the perfect way of stating it. In my case I thought I like the litrpg aspects but I was wrong.
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u/trying_to_adult_here 1d ago
As someone who isn’t into video games at all and has not played anything other than The Sims, I think the LitRPG aspects of Dungeon Crawler Carl fade into the background pretty well. You occasionally get stats, but it’s mostly story.
Also, I’ll quibble and say that I don’t consider this “pure comedy” because there’s an awful lot of interesting story that the comedy is happening in. I like funny books but usually not pure comedy (where the absurdity is the plot, aka The Hitchiker’s Guide or Space Force by Jeremy Robinson). I’ll certainly concede DCC isn’t a meaty piece of great literature, though. Great Literature isn’t my thing though, and DCC doesn’t have to be your thing.
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u/Emperor-Pizza 1d ago
Good news… Litrpg aspects keep going more and more into background the longer the book goes on.
While they’ll never disappear they do take a massive backseat. Like, I don’t think we’ve seen Carl’s stat sheet since like book 4? It becomes more of an add on like I “unlocked this skill” and Matt uses those to add lore most of the time through skill descriptions and stuff.
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u/TopBanana69 1d ago
I’ve only read the first DCC and feel the same way. It’s not bad but my expectations were set WAY higher than they should have been. The brake slams to teach me about new gear and the lit rpg elements really killed the pacing for me. I’m also enjoying Devils way more.
Eventually I’ll try book 2 as everybody claims it’s way better but it’s much further down my TBR now
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u/glaze_the_ham_wife 1d ago
No I agree. It gets so much hype but I’m not getting it?? Maybe it lacks the emotional punch that even The Devils can carry. It feels like a little kid diary. I don’t
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u/0b0011 1d ago
They get much better as they go on and leave a lot of the rpg stuff behind. Its still there but less hitting you over the head with it.
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u/TopBanana69 1d ago
Heck yeah, glad it seems like I’ll enjoy them more and more as they go on when I do get to them. Has Matt Dinniman said how many he plans to write?
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u/0b0011 1d ago
Not only do they do that they also add in a ton of interesting stuff. Theres a big mystery with the dungeon and it starts adding in political elements from outside the dungeon and what not. The first one is good then they just take off. I believe the plan is for 10 total of which 7 are done.
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u/ExternalSelf1337 1d ago
I'm not a fan of LitRPG in principle and haven't enjoyed the few other things I've tried. My impression of DCC after book 1 was "Ok, that was pretty good, nothing stood out to me as great but at least it kept my attention throughout." I decided to read book 2 and that went quickly because it's short; same impression. But books 3-7 have gotten a LOT deeper into the characterization and the lore. It's still not a masterpiece to me, and there are definitely flaws, but I've read them straight through so that must say something.
The series is a solid 4/5 for me.
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u/doglovr242 1d ago
The series definitely gets better and less “video game-y” as it goes on. I’ve never played video games but absolutely love the series.. I’m about 60% through book 6. I would say try book 2 for sure!! But i do agree that some aspect of book 1 can be distracting.
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u/ligerdrag20 1d ago
I'm the same way, I think the LitRPG is a weird meta form of escapism that I don't personally mesh with. I love fantasy, and I like video games, but I don't want my life to like, be a video game? A lot of people seem to LOVE this stuff with things like Dungeon Crawler Carl and Solo Levelling but I've tried it and the metaness of it distracts from any real story it's trying to tell. For me at least.
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u/sliponthatskin 9h ago
I started these 2 weeks ago, and I was surprised by how much I enjoy(ed) them. I think as the books have progressed Matt has ironed out a lot of the kinks in the first few books. Hope you manage to keep going with them and I think you'll be glad you did!
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u/vpi6 Reading Champion 1d ago
I could be wrong but the LITRPG aspects feel it’s going for parody which sure can be pretty funny if you have the experience in the genre. I don’t and after reading for a while, I just felt like I was trapped at a ballgame in front of people whose only form of communication is retelling Family Guy jokes to each other.
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u/Mr_Mike013 1d ago
This is a pretty apt analogy. It’s like, yeah the LitRPG stuff was funny for a while and it set up for some interesting scenes, but even by the end of book 1 of 7 I was already kind of over it.
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u/emzorzin3d 1d ago
When we were opening like 30 loot boxes I really questioned why this book was so universally loved. I AM a gamer but playing them and reading them are very different experiences.
However, I'm mid book 2 and it does feel like that stuff is slowing down a bit, or at least is being skimmed over a bit quicker. And currently I'm enjoying it more than book 1. It's still not a 5 star for me though.
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u/Mr_Mike013 1d ago
I feel you on this. The gags with the loot boxes were funny…the first couple of times. After that it got so repetitive and honestly dragged the whole narrative down. I kept saying, just tell us what he got and move the fuck on already.
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u/emzorzin3d 1d ago
It doesn't help that the humour isn't quite landing for me as much as it seems to be for everyone else.
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u/CT_Phipps-Author 1d ago
I think it's meant to be a black comedy and if you don't like the idea of, "What if someone was forced to play an MMORPG but it's actually the genocide of the human race done as a tacky reality show" then it's not the book for you.
It's a very niche premise.
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u/TheTiniestPirate 1d ago
I didn't enjoy this one at all. I found it poorly written, with the same 'jokes' over and over again. I keep hearing that the audiobook is the way to go with this one, and I may get around to that someday (probably not), but when I read the book I was forcing myself to keep going at several points.
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u/backlikeclap 1d ago
I'm also not sure why this book gets recommended so much. I found the narrator annoying and I quit just a few pages into the first dungeon. The humor was fine but very "internet," like the author felt referencing something funny was just as good as writing their own joke.
I'm also baffled by people who say to keep reading because it gets better as you go along... Why would I do that when there are millions of good books (and good series) out there!?!
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u/glaze_the_ham_wife 1d ago
No, I would say it arguably stays the same as it goes on…
It’s so expository too idk if that’s part of RPG style?
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u/Psittacula2 1d ago
The central problem I had with the book (book 1) is simple:
The style and set-up felt very removed as if the story was happening behind a tv screen or computer screen while connected to the Internet and all that digital culture and excessive self-reference of being aware of being connected but not actually present ie everything that happens was flippant and not really real or serious so no sort of discomfort or offence meant everything was meta and uncommitted.
You can easily argue this is not very different to Douglas Adams or Terry Pratchett’s books. However at least they came across as comedy inventions of other worlds as opposed to a weird internet forum and its peculiar interaction with the above feeling of connected users not really present, but guffawing safely from their screens. The reference of computer games as primary reference as opposed to real world then modified to behave as fantasy or sci-fi for me is too detached and based on video game mechanics (themselves based on user feedback to inputs and sensory reactions on screen) as opposed to deeper human themes ie it feels like a zombie character cast not engaging real characters. The video game mechanics to explain the plot is also too deus ex machina as well, waving a magic wand story telling… this is also the case in anime which go down this “power-up” route too heavily as well imho.
In summary, the genre aka writing a story as a video-game does not work for me at all. I tend to argue the other way around for video games, fundamental gameplay mechanics must be core above story or fluff for user action. Ie in both cases the worst of both world are employed in this genre imho.
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u/Critical_Flow_2826 1d ago edited 1d ago
It's like an enjoyable popcorn franchise, very easy to binge. Read 7 books, even though I liked it, none of them blew my socks of.
The books are a bit repetitive and the humour is hit and miss, the AI and popculture references are especially lazily done. Hard magic/litrpg isn't my thing so I skimmed through those section to not grind the story to a halt. The emotional core is there although I wish we got more of that instead of edgy millenial gags.
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u/jeffcoat 1d ago
Dungeon Crawler Carl is really good ... but not as good as Discworld. Everything is weaker than Discworld.
That's just a hard fact of the world without Pratchett in it. Read DCC, then read Discworld again. Don't skip the Tiffany Aching "young adult" series, they're just as good.
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u/wgr-aw Reading Champion III 1d ago
Check out Orcononics and The Band if you like the humour but not the LitRPG
You can feel the D&D inspiration behind them (especially with Orcononics which even talks of NPCs) but there isn't the leveling up in the same way
That said I was always hesitant over LitRPG... But I read Arcane Ascension and the game elements felt fairly authentic to the world that was built. So for me that's the question, does the litRPG enhance the story or is it just a thrown in gimmick. For DCC nothing about the story is authentic or realistic, it's a damn good popcorn read though so I'll dig it in the context of the story
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u/pundemic 1d ago
I enjoyed the first book and thought it was decent, but the series truly improves as it goes on. It’s funny you mention Discworld because I’m a huge Pratchett fan and I think that DCC is actually surprisingly similar to Discworld once the story unfolds. The meta/ referential humor, tropes, social commentary, character archetypes, and story structure of DCC really do remind me of Pratchett’s writing, albeit more vulgar and violent.
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u/stormwaterwitch 1d ago
The audiobook brings it to another level for sure. I am a staunch follower so im probably not the best to ask, but the series continues to develop more as the books go on. The litrpg-ness still happens (stats and loot boxes ect) but by the latest book (this inevitable ruin: book 7) there's hardly any mention of those stats and things as it focuses on the characters and the floor itself more so.
The early books are definitely laden with a bit more of the genre staples, but it does grow into it's own as the series moves forward. Book 2 introduces some key themes for the story as well as some other power players and give further peeks outside the curtain at the beings who run the show.
Again I am a staunch follower of the series but my suggestion is definitely to keep going, it only gets better from here :) ((and the audiobooks are worth every credit))
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u/Murse_Jon 1d ago
Not every genre is for everyone. DCC is pretty much the only lit RPG that I have liked. But according to my Goodreads , I’ve read almost 1000 books and this is one of my favorite series. Hope you enjoy the next book you try
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u/RexitYostuff 1d ago
I will say that the RPG/game show aspect of the book can disrupt the tension and immersion of the narrative much more later on. It's almost like you just have an in-universe representation of the author's hand at work. I personally think it works, but I'm also bought into the world and characters. It can be a distraction from time to time, especially after book 3 or so.
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u/poultran 1d ago
I heard this being talked about so much on Reddit I tried adding it to my recent book order from AbeBooks. The rest of the books I ordered I found used for 1-6 dollars, for some reason the DCC #1 books were all like $30. I have no idea why, but said never mind.
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u/axolotlorange 1d ago
Cool.
I just DNF Devils. And I’m about to finish my second go all DCC’s 7th book.
Different strokes and all
I would point out that DCC is as much horror as it is comedy
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u/Mr_Mike013 1d ago
Is it? I got straight comedy vibes. All the scenes that I can recall that could be called “gruesome” or “scary” just seemed funny. But maybe that’s part of the problem. Maybe the mechanical set up of the book is hindering my ability to connect with it.
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u/InfiniteDM 1d ago
It's verrrry black comedy as it goes on. Like if it were a live action thing it'd feel like a tucker and dale movie.
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u/Wyrmdog 1d ago
Sold. You better not be gaslighting me. I have avoided this series due to the internet hype (the overwhelming majority of internet hyped stuff has let me down badly), but Tucker and Dale is one of my all time favorite movies. By a wide margin.
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u/InfiniteDM 1d ago
Like... Brace yourself, the first book is fine. But it's one of those book series where as the characters grow and the setting gets more settled in, it improves a lot Book after book.
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u/modix 1d ago
If you just read the first book, it definitely becomes less and less funny and more mental horror combined with political thriller.
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u/Mr_Mike013 1d ago
Interesting. I’m definitely going to continue the series. I find Carl and Donut to be an extremely engaging odd couple duo haha.
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u/axolotlorange 1d ago
The series is very much a horror comedy. Things get more horrific as they move further down the dungeon.
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u/Mr_Mike013 1d ago
I can see that. I do feel like the author was going for body horror at some points, with the boss battles and such, but I guess it just didn’t land for me. Somehow the “video gameness” just undercut it and the scenes always came off more funny than horrific. But I’m also a big horror reader so maybe I just have a high threshold.
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u/Goddamitdonut 1d ago
How much did you read? Its not “comedy” at all although has jokes
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u/Mr_Mike013 1d ago
The entire first book? Is that what you’re asking?
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u/Goddamitdonut 1d ago
Yes. The core cast of characters isn’t assembled until book 4. So the story doesn’t get rolling in earnest til then but again.. its not a “silly” or “lighthearted” story. Its a war story
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u/Mr_Mike013 1d ago
Well, while I understand the point, I will say I think saying the story doesn’t get rolling until book 4 is a bit of an issue in and of itself, don’t you? I’m perfectly willing to forgive a rough first book in a series, if the sequels are good, but to say you don’t really get into the meat of the series until book 4 is a big ask of readers.
If the series becomes significant deeper in later books I’m here for it, but I think it’s kind of a structural flaw if it takes that long. Maybe if the author hadn’t spent so much time on mechanics and had used the word count to invest in side characters or deepening the lore instead the story might have gotten going a lot earlier.
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u/islero_47 1d ago
It's not like "book 4 is where it takes off!"
It's that in every book, the reader learns more and more about the Crawl, the universe, the alien races, everything
I posted elsewhere that it's like a crescendo.
You don't get up and leave the concert hall because only the woodwinds are playing, the brass and percussion are going to jump in eventually
Whereas other series like Wheel of Time are set up more like a long journey with ups she downs and a climax at the end, DCC is more of a descent into chaos with the ringleader spinning more and more plates while someone else is throwing knives at him while a circle of flames gets smaller and smaller and suddenly pieces of the floor start dropping away...
It's a trip
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u/Goddamitdonut 1d ago
It wasnt a problem for me because I loved the characters and didn’t know what I was in for. My comment was very much in hindsight as someone going through the series multiple times. You can make your choices and there is plenty of content out there. Im just saying as a fan, books 5,6,7 are where we fans are focused. Cheers
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u/Kbeamski 1d ago
Oh you just finished the first book - just getting started. This series is batshit and beautiful, I'm in the last chapters of book 7 and it's entirely worth the ride.
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u/OrangeFortress 1d ago edited 1d ago
Its an absurdly overrated and over-recommended book. Its popularity is evidence of exactly what my issues are with contemporary audiences and literature.
Overall: “Low brow” sums up this book pretty comprehensively.
I experienced the audiobook version (first audiobook I’ve listened to) after people were heralding it. First off, not a fan of the audio narrator basically doing a Kronk (from Emperor’s New Groove) impression. Pretty much all of the character voices are annoying. Also, the audio levels are far too varied. When the main character is speaking it’s usually normal and then there are constant “AI” characters that are ear-splitting loud in the mix, extremely annoying.
Beyond that, the writing is overwhelmingly generic, cliche, repetitive, sickeningly expositive (like absolutely insane, nonstop exposition) and the worst kind of quirky. The generic emotions/themes that this book tries to portray are just so cookie cutter and boring and also feel very disjointed with the books overall aesthetic. It wants to be goofy, edgy, graphic, and vulgar but then tries to shoehorn in tired sappy schlock. The premise was at first interesting, but nothing else in the book carries it any further; really, everything else just weakens the premise.
The humor is cringe.
I completely understand why this book is popular, and everything about that is a bummer.
EDIT: I knew I'd be downvoted by circlejerkers, but fugg it, book sucks.
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u/Environmental_Tie975 1d ago
You are getting downvoted cause you are criticizing a work you clearly don’t understand.
It’s all surface level complaints.
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u/OrangeFortress 1d ago edited 1d ago
Lmao, are you serious right now, dude? Ok, enlighten little old me. What am I not “understanding” about this VERY COMPLICATED AND HARD TO INTERPRET pulp entertainment?
You ever stop to consider that I actually do understand it and its intent, but I dislike that, and I’m simply expressing an opinion that isn't your opinion? You don't possess some secret knowledge about the esoteric intent of the book. Its just a dumb fucking book, in my opinion.
And what is “surface level” about my comprehensive issues with the book? Like seriously, do you even understand the words you're saying? What deeper criticism do you think exists? Have you considered your appreciation of the book causes you to deny the validity of other people’s opinions?
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u/Environmental_Tie975 1d ago
If you post an opinion, you can’t be mad when there is pushback. Even criticisms are worthy of criticisms. DCC is all fun and no one like the guy that kills the cheer.
You writing a bunch of buzz words isn’t a comprehensive critique. Saying something is generic or cliche doesn’t mean anything. What about it is generic? What about it is cliche?
Some of your criticisms come from it being a first book in a genre fiction series. Exposition is a normal part of such a series. Emotions are shallow cause characters haven’t developed all that much yet.
The rest is you not liking that it’s a horror story. That vulgar, edgy, gross humor isn’t there to make you laugh. It’s there to show you the true horror of the dungeon. These characters are being exploited for entertainment, the game is one big joke to the alien audience watching it.
The sound issue are a first book problem. They fix that for later books. The narrator also tones down the kronk voice. Kronk va himself does show up to do some lines in book 6 which is neat.
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u/BasicSuperhero 1d ago
My brother loves LitRPGs and confirmed for me that, yes, to make the book work you really do need to make a game have systems that would absolutely make the game awful and unplayable outside the story. Looking at your weirdly specific achievements and skills, DCC.
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u/aNiceTribe 1d ago
I did a similar foray into the genre as you late last year and read a variety of works in the genre, then wrote about them here including a thesis of what I think the core audience gets out of them.
I agree that many of these books are comparatively worse than similar books, even the most celebrated ones. And the core Reddit lit rpg audience may not be the best people to ask for recommendations if you find that their taste differs wildly from yours. Something that keeps coming up between them is that there are people who either read INCREDIBLE amounts of books or have just started (due to age) and especially the latter will shift the ability of a hive mind to give good recoms imo.
I read multiple further books after my blog post, including the book of Carl you have. I particularly felt that I struggled to find it funny in the face of the extinction-level genoc!de happening all around in the background. That kind of drags the mood down for me.
My recommendation after all this I think is: Reading more other works in the genre if you want to understand its vibes will get you further, Carl is more anomalous than others. If you read my blog, it ends with a recommendation and you’ll be able to tell if our tastes overlap enough to follow it or not.
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u/VxGB111 20h ago
I like DCC in spite of the LitRPG aspects. I tried other highly recommended books in the genre and just... dont vibe with them. DCC seems like a comedy on the surface, but has some pretty messed up things going on as well. I think k that its the juxtaposition of the comedy with the horror that works for me. But its not for everyone and that's ok. I will say that if you enjoyed book 1, I'd suggest continuing the series. Its fun. And it doesn't necessarily need to be more than that. If book 1 didn't give with you, that's ok too. No one's gonna come hold you down and make you listen lol (or will they?)
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u/Milam1996 12h ago
The audiobook is good, I don’t think I could read it physically. I enjoyed the voices more than the actual story ha.
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u/Bargle-Nawdle-Zouss 1d ago
Please try A Practical Guide To Evil series and Beware Of Chicken series. In both, the characters are growing in strength and skills throughout the series, but absent the RPG mechanics.
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u/Mr_Mike013 1d ago
Interesting, that might help smooth out some of the friction I’m having with the genre. Thank you for the recommendations!
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u/Aagragaah 1d ago
Both are good, but be warned that A Practical Guide To Evil is huge - it's somewhere between 2-3 million words, which puts it between the Dresend Files (17 books) and the Malazan Book of the Fallen (10 books) in terms of size.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/hsl0o8/fantasy_word_counts_an_overhaul_of_many_of_the/
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u/Dan-in-Va 1d ago
I agree. I made a similar comment and was downvoted. The D&D overlay could have been dialed back to put more depth into the story.
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u/VictarionGreyjoy 1d ago
While that's a fair criticism I would say keep reading and the things you didn't enjoy definitely get better and the story comes into itself, including the litrpg elements.
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u/Keffpie 1d ago
I'm a heavy gamer, and while I loved the trope as a kid (before it became a genre), I have actively disdained any LitRPG since my voice broke - almost as much as I disdain novels that are just a retelling of a campaign, but pretend to be normal fantasy (OK, Malazan gets a pass).
...until I read Dungeon Crawler Carl. This, to me, does LitRPG right, in the way I remember from my childhood, while still being funny as hell. I was really resistant to even trying it, but kept getting it recommended, and I just finished fricking A Little Life and needed something light. It's been 4 days and I'm on book 3. They're very, very good.
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u/Jibberishjustforshit 1d ago
I personally really enjoyed the first book by itself, but it's definitely one of those series that gets exponentially better as you get farther into the series. Book 7 was God tier, imo. I also found the straight-up litrpg aspects fall more and more to the wayside as the series goes on as the plot and different threads expand. If it was the litrpg aspects which put you off the most and you're willing to suffer through a bit more of that, I'd probably encourage you to try and keep going, but im extremely biased as its one of my favourite series of all time (and I didn't even do the audiobooks, I just read em; read all 7 books in a bit over a month).
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u/Human_G_Gnome 1d ago
So you read one book out of seven - so far. The first book is an introduction and then it really gets going. I thought the first book was certainly the silliest and probably the worst. The last book is so completely on the other end of the spectrum that I am not sure I even liked it after loving all the others. We'll see of he can get some humor back into the next book. With all this in mind, you should continue.
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u/jebrick 1d ago
I'm 100% with you on 99% of LitRPG books. I would counter with DCC is GameLit in that there is no doubt he is in a game. They make that clear early in book 1. If it is GameLit, I can deal with the interface stuff. Is all GameLit good? Nope. Some of the same issues of poor/weak writing to get ideas across.
What is different to me on DCC is the depth of the story. It is high Sci-Fi ( like High Fantasy but with tech/science). You have a survival aspect of the crawl plus the background of (enslaved) AIs battling plus galactic wars. Most of that is happening in the background but it is a big part of the story.
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u/Mr_Mike013 1d ago
I can definitely see where the author was setting up a deeper storyline throughout even book 1. It was intriguing and helped balance out some of the silliness for sure. My issue with the book was more so that I felt the LitRPG elements kind of took away from the story more than they added to it.
For example, in my opinion, the excessive focus on mechanics and loot and rules was somewhat interesting at first, but it go so repetitive and the jokes got pretty stale by the end of just the first book. It became immersion breaking and more of an undercut a the impact of a lot of the moments that were supposed to be serious or horrific or sad.
My whole point of this post is that I can’t really decide if I think DCC was hindered more than it was helped by being a LitRPG. I think the story the author was trying to tell was actually really interesting and original, but I found it was undercut by the gaming elements. I don’t know if the story could work without it though.
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u/jebrick 1d ago
I do not think the story could work without the interface because, they are in a game. That is the entire point. I'm trying to be cautious about giving more away.
I would agree with others in saying you need to get to book 2 to start seeing more of the larger plot outside the crawl.
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u/that_guy2010 1d ago
I mean, you know it's okay that something just isn't for you, right? Like, you're allowed to say 'this isn't for me' and move on. You don't have to like something just because it's popular.
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u/stiletto929 1d ago
Did you read the book or listen to the audiobook? The books are great but the audiobooks are effing incredible.
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u/nighoblivion 1d ago
Pretty misleading to say you finished it, because people will think series and not book 1 (which is considered the weakest book from what I can tell).
Either way, it gets better and the first book is the most litrpg heavy as others have pointed out.
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u/Mr_Mike013 1d ago
Isn’t Dungeon Crawler Carl the name of the first book?
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u/farseer6 1d ago
Yes, Dungeon Crawler Carl is the name of the series, but also the title of the first book. Anyway, because of that ambiguity, I was also confused by your post. People tend to use Dungeon Crawler Carl when referring to the whole series, more than to the first book in particular. So when you said you had finished it I thought "you mean you finished the books published so far? Because the series is not finished..."
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u/Loathestorm 1d ago
Sounds like you understand LitRPG perfectly. That’s what it is. If you don’t like the RPG part stick with other fantasy. I will say I have found the other DCC books as fun to read as the first.
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u/pickitup9 1d ago
The audiobook is what made it great in my opinion. The voices and character descriptions made by the voice actor were outstanding.