Liz Cultivates | L.M. Fern

I read the book that seems to be on everyone’s minds lately!

Spoiler alert: I loved it!

Dungeon Crawler Carl is about a man named Carl (and his cat Princess Donut) who is unwittingly entered into a survival game that has turned the Earth into both an apocalyptic wasteland for humans and also the set of a wildly popular reality TV show for an intergalactic audience. Essentially, aliens have pitted humans against each other for their own entertainment, after wiping out most of the people on the planet. The idea is that Carl (along with all other remaining humans) has to descend to the 18th level of this underworld dungeon, fighting monsters and “bosses” and gathering power-ups along the way… much like a video game, except everyone you know has died and you’re now the pawn of intergalactic entertainment capitalism.

This is a fun book full of recognizable concepts, as someone who has spent a lot of time playing video games. Carl and Princess Donut pick up items and do a tutorial and level up as the book progresses and as they fight more monsters. It’s a familiar scene, and reminiscent of things like the anime Sword Art Online, which I watched and enjoyed several years ago. I can also tell that the story is going to have some more serious overtones later.

Now, I do think there are some legitimate criticisms of the book. A video I watched called them “specifically written for chronically online millennial men,” and I guess that’s probably true. The potty humor is pretty prevalent throughout.

However, despite the potty humor and perhaps unconventional narrative that includes all these item descriptions and boss fight mechanics . . . I think it’s an accessible read. My mom even read and enjoyed at least the first book! It’s fast-paced and easily digested, and while I know the humor isn’t for everyone, I enjoyed the pithiness of it.

This was a 9/10 read for me. I’ve already started the second book! What do you think? Is it worth the hype?