Dungeon Crawler Carl
by Matt Dinniman · first published 2020
60% recommend35% neutral6% critical
Why HN recommends it
Fun, pulpy LitRPG with a noir-ish narrator, a sentient cat, and Ready Player One-style worldbuilding. Suits readers wanting an easy escape; the voice-acted audiobook is often called the best way to experience it.
Common criticism: Some dismiss it as lowbrow, fan-fiction-style genre fare
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
The apocalypse will be televised! A man. His ex-girlfriend's cat. A sadistic game show unlike anything in the universe: a dungeon crawl where survival depends on killing your prey in the most entertaining way possible. In a flash, every human-erected construction on Earth—from Buckingham Palace to the tiniest of sheds—collapses in a heap, sinking into the ground. The buildings and all the people inside have all been atomized and transformed into the dungeon: an 18-level labyrinth filled with traps, monsters, and loot. A dungeon so enormous, it circles the entire globe. Only a f
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Mentions per year
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The Martian Ready Player One Project Hail Mary Name of the Wind Dresden Files Eye of the World (Wheel of Time) We Are Legion (We Are Bob) The Blade Itself (First Law Trilogy) Dungeon Crawler Carl The History of Ancient Egypt (Bob Brier lecture) Food: A Cultural Culinary History (Ken Albala lecture)
on “Ask HN: Favorite audio book for long drives?” ↗Glasshouse[1] by Charles Stross Permutation City[2] by Greg Egan We Are Legion (We Are Bob)[3] by Dennis E. Taylor Halting State[4] by Charles Stross Singularity Sky[5] by Charles Stross Dungeon Crawler Carl[6] by Matt Dinniman Zero World[7] by Jason M. Hough The Shockwave Rider[8] by John Brunner [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glasshouse_(novel) [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permutation_City…
on “Book Review: There Is No Antimemetics Division” ↗This year I discovered the Dungeon Crawler Carl series by Matt Dinniman, currently five books. I read them with my son and we also had the audiobooks, which are really the best audiobooks I’ve encountered because of the voice acting. At first I found…
on “Ask HN: What are some of the best books you have read in 2022?” ↗The Apology by Plato. Short but insightful. Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman. If you like LitRPG this series is just so good. Paul's "Works of the Law" in the Perspective of Second-Century Reception by Matthew J. Thomas. If you are a theology nerd this is just…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2023 and recommend for 2024” ↗…Nonfiction: Designing Games by Tynan Sylvester — I’m not a game developer, but I thought the book was really thought provoking about designing products in general. Plus, I love Rim World. Fiction Audiobook: Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman — I can’t recommend enough. Nonfiction Audiobook: Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams — read by the author, a first hand account of the early days of Facebook, Zuck and Sandberg.
on “Ask HN: What are your top reads and listens of 2025?” ↗The main thing I read was the Dungeon Crawler Carl series by Matt Dinniman. It requires even more suspension of disbelief than a usual sci fi / fantasy combo, but was worth it for the characters and laughs and “where will he take this next?!”.
on “Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?” ↗my favorites for 2025 Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler the whole Dungeon Crawler Carl series by Matt Dinniman
on “Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?” ↗…https://shepherd.com/bboy/my-3-fav-reads/login?next=/bboy/my... You get a cool page like this: https://shepherd.com/bboy/2025/f/bwb I read ~130 books this year, and my 3 favorites of the year were: Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman I kept seeing recommendations for this book on Shepherd, but I was reluctant to try it. Many years ago, I tried a progressive fantasy book, and it left a bad taste in my mouth. This…
on “Show HN: See what readers who loved your favorite book/author also loved to read” ↗…discussing its "cautionary tale" regarding power and idealism. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir: A favorite for both readers and audiobook listeners, praised for its engaging story and high-quality narration. Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman: Multiple users recommended this LitRPG series, particularly noting that the audiobook experience is exceptional. Mother of Learning by nobody103: This time-loop progression fantasy…
on “Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?” ↗My kid got me hooked on Dinniman's Dungeon Crawler Carl series. Super fun. It's of a genre called LitRPG. Exactly as you'd expect. And yet somehow Dinniman makes it work. I hate myself for loving it. h/t Joan Jett & The Heartbreakers
on “Sins of the Children (Adrian Tchaikovsky)” ↗Dungeon Crawler Carl (series) Sinusoidal Circuit Analysis
on “Ask HN: What's the "best" book you've ever read?” ↗…https://www.costco.com/p/-/berkshire-life-heated-throw/40001... I was very skeptical until my partner plugged it in, turned it on and put it on me and was like holy cow this is amazing. My best book of 2025 was Dungeon Crawler Carl, the entire serious.
on “Things and Stuff of 2025” ↗I second Dungeon Crawler Carl. I haven’t been this enthralled with a book series in decades. If you’re looking for a new series, I highly recommend it!
on “Things and Stuff of 2025” ↗Read something simple and fun after kids go to bed while you're staring into the abyss before you go to bed. Science fiction and fantasy work well. The Dungeon Crawler Carl books really help my brain take a break without actively disengaging the actual thinking parts.
on “2 in 5 Americans did not read a single book in 2025” ↗…gamers so the writing quality is pretty basic but various authors explore different gaming-related creative elements very well. Couple of books to start with in this genre are "Defiance of the fall" and "Dungeon Crawler Carl". The latter is even better as an audiobook vs regular book.
on “Ask HN: What should I read next?” ↗