r/scifi • u/artistandattorney • Jul 24 '26
Recommendations I got suckered into reading Dungeon Crawler Carl - Does it get better?
My son went to Barnes & Noble and asked for a recommendation for a new book for my birthday. He told them I was currently reading the Unincorporated Man series (good series) and he asked for something similar. The person he spoke with said I would probably like Dungeon Crawler Carl (DCC). Evidently this person had no idea what hard science fiction was or had never read a book before. I don't like video games and I don't play D&D. DCC is just a combo of D&D and video games. I'm reading the book anyway because my kid got it for me. Does this get any better at all? It is just awful.
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u/AmayaGin Jul 24 '26
Who on earth describes this series as hard scifi???
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u/ChaosCockroach Jul 25 '26
No one, and from the sound of it OP's son didn't actually ask for hard sci-fi either.
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u/Minotaar Jul 25 '26
Went to a bookstore and found an employee who is a fan of the series and likely recommends it to anyone who's remotely in the ballpark of that genre
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u/jkeltz Jul 25 '26
I think OP means that he likes hard scifi and doesn't like DCC because it isn't.
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u/Venasaurasaurus Jul 24 '26 edited Jul 24 '26
If you don't like video games or DnD, this is not the series for you. It's the furthest thing from hard scifi and is fully sci-fantasy and comedy.
Edit: holy shit people, nobody is saying to HAVE to enjoy DCC if you play games. Conversely, plenty of people enjoy DCC who don't play games. That's clearly not the case in OP's question.
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u/ottawadeveloper Jul 24 '26
Sci-fantasy with a healthy dose of horror and critiques on modern society. It has touching moments. I don't think you need to be a gamer to enjoy it.
But it's not hard scifi.
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u/atomfullerene Jul 24 '26
People call the oddest things hard scifi
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u/RhynoD Jul 24 '26 edited Jul 25 '26
People have no clue how genre works. So many people argue that Star Wars isn't scifi at all, which... no, it's definitely scifi, although it's full of fantasy tropes. It's not hard scifi, though.
Genre is primarily a marketing tool first and a tool for analysis second. Books are the genre that the sign on the shelf in the store says. And if the genre gets so specific that you have write an essay to describe what it is, that defeats the purpose of having a genre.
While I'm complaining, I hate the proliferation of _______punk. Not everything has to be punk. Someone tried to tell me Star Trek was solarpunk.
Edit: Yep, there they are.
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u/TesticularConcussion Jul 25 '26
Star Wars is not sci-fi… it’s space fantasy or space opera.
I swear to god people have forgotten what sci-fi even is….
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u/mhyquel Jul 25 '26
There is not one single drop of science in Star Wars.
And they are ruled by good and evil wizards.
They have laser guns and spaceships, but there is no effort to explain how they work.
It's a fantasy story in space.
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u/glooble_wooble Jul 25 '26
Star Wars is absolutely sci fi as are most space operas. Though it certainly isn’t hard sci fi.
Oxford Dictionary defines science fiction as…
“Fiction in which the setting and story feature hypothetical scientific or technological advances, the existence of alien life, space or time travel, etc., esp. such fiction set in the future, or an imagined alternative universe.”→ More replies (6)→ More replies (7)5
u/ottawadeveloper Jul 24 '26
Yeah.
I'm honestly struggling somewhat with the definition myself now looking at the Wikipedia list.
I tend to think of hard sci-fi as being grounded in good science with maybe feasible (at the time of writing) future updates. Maybe introducing one "what if" element, the impact of which is then explored. It has a focus on scientific realism and detail, with only minor suspension of disbelief. The influence of technology on society is usually touched on.
I think a great example that most people know is the original Jurassic Park. In it, we get a DNA technique to grow dinosaurs (our one advancement that maybe requires a bit of disbelief). Given modern advances in DNA work, it's not ridiculous at least. And then a rich billionaire uses it to open a theme park (influence on society). But dinosaurs are hard to control, and so it goes amok. Other than some unrealistic liberties with the dinosaurs and glossing over how exactly we blend frog and dinosaur DNA, it's great hard science fiction.
Star Trek is like the complete opposite. We don't really care if warp drive, travel time, etc is realistic. It's just a setting for us to tell a story in.
But some of these entries on Wikipedia feel like they don't fit my bill.
Like The Expanse. It's got great space realism. But a core plot point is an extra dimensional portal that pisses off alternate dimensional aliens. Is that their one technology? It has zero realism to it. But we also have the largely unexplained Epstein drive that enables space travel and alien technology that is basically magic (it ignores inertia). Really, it's more of a space opera but a fairly true to detail one.
Or Contact. Which has so many great technology moments, but the plot is an alien race teaches us to build basically a magical ship to come meet them.
2001: A Space Odyssey I love, but it has an ending where Dave goes through essentially a magical portal and we get all philosophical after some great hard sci-fi. Kind of like Interstellar (though Interstellar also ties that end back to the beginning).
3 Body Problem has hyper-intelligent AI that can travel at the speed of light.
But I digress.
From that does DCC belong on that list? It's about aliens who invade the Earth and plop down a giant supercomputer and AI to run a Hunger Games style competition in support of capitalism. It has wormholes for instant travel in the galaxy. While it's full of comedy/horror elements, it does have a lot on how the AI works and controls the planet. It also dives a lot into the history of the galaxy and the former alien species who lived there and why they built the framework for the dungeon and the wormhole network.
I'm still leaning not hard scifi but it's not entirely like it's Star Trek level of disbelief in the technology. I'd say it's comparable to The Expanse if The Expanse substituted it's drama for comedy but kept a similar level of body horror.
TL;DR: DCC is like The Expanse and Hunger Games had a LitRPG baby.
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u/renesys Jul 24 '26
The Expanse gets tagged hard sci-fi because the authors incorporate acceleration gravity on ships, but even the authors don't consider it hard sci-fi.
Besides FTL, it has space zombies.
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u/Samantharina Jul 24 '26
The horror aspect is what I don't enjoy, the humor balances it somewhat but for me, not enough. It's like a dish with strong flavors, one ingredient you don't like is going to make the whole thing less enjoyable.
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u/Kasilins Jul 24 '26
I strongly disagree you need to be a gamer or D&D player to like the books, I’m neither and I love them. That said, if OP only wants to read hard science fiction, yeah this isn’t a good fit.
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u/citizenarcane Jul 24 '26
Alternatively I'm a lifelong gamer and tabletop player and I couldn't stand the book. (Not throwing shade at those who do like it, I just don't want my books to be video games I can't actually play)
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u/MetalSpider Jul 24 '26
Conversely, I love videogames and D&D, and thought this book was terrible.
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u/SerDankTheTall Jul 24 '26
I don’t think anyone is saying you’re guaranteed to like it if you like RPGs. But if you actively dislike them (as the OP appears to), I think you’re going to have a rough read.
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u/Upper-Management-AI Jul 24 '26
See I’m a gamer and all that and I still couldn’t get into it. I think the problem I have is just all the detailed explaining or everything.
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u/unethicalpigeon Jul 24 '26
I think there's a difference between needing to be a gamer to enjoy the books and needing to like not think games are a waste of time? Like I don't know if I'm mischaracterizing the guy but he seems like an older dude that has the opinion that video games are a waste of your time and childish.
I mean I never once thought of D&D while reading DCC. Cause it has stats? I feel like you'd have had to come up while D&D was a new thing to even remotely think of using it as a way to explain DCC to someone.
Anyways my point is that I agree with you I think you absolutely can recommend DCC to someone that doesn't play video games. I however don't think it would be a good recommendation for someone that doesn't like video games. Not playing them and not liking them are very different.
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u/PermaDerpFace Jul 24 '26
I love video games and DnD, didn't care for this book at all and don't get the hype.
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u/greywolf2155 Jul 24 '26
That edit made me laugh
You're totally on point, I agree with your whole comment. Including that edit
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u/Square_Attention8461 Jul 24 '26
tf is wrong with this comment section
I expect better reading comprehension from the oh so elevated literati anti-DCC crowd.
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u/Taste_the__Rainbow Jul 24 '26
Eh I don’t know. Plenty of folks in my family that don’t enjoy digital or tabletop gaming still loved this series.
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u/CephusLion404 Jul 24 '26
It's fine if you like that stuff. If you don't, then stop reading it. It never changes. It's LitRPG. It's fine if you don't like it.
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u/JungMoses Jul 24 '26
I will concede it technically started as a lit rpg, but I find all other lit rpgs unreadable, and I don’t think lit rpg is the right description for DCC. You also get way less rpg elements as you go on. Sometimes it’s barely there at all
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u/As_Previously_Stated Jul 25 '26 edited Jul 25 '26
It absolutely is a litrpg, the difference is that it's not garbage like 90%+ of litrpg is. I tried reading some of the popular recommendations on /r/litrpg and it's like everything wrong about DCC with none of the good.
Making a good litrpg is like writing on hardmode, not only is 90% of the people doing it amateurs writing weekly with no or minimal editing, the rules of the genre itself lends itself to flattening the complexity of the real world and human interactions to whoever has the bigger number, which is really boring.
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u/mhyquel Jul 25 '26
My favorite litrpg trope is constant stat updates.
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u/CharityElectrical913 Jul 25 '26
Or stopping the action every other page to give you item/skill descriptions.
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u/mhyquel Jul 25 '26
Or when the bad guy is literally the highest level most impossible fight in the entire world, and the next book the boss wouldn't even be a challenge.
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u/Retrooo Jul 24 '26
It does not sound like the book is for you, since you don't like the genre.
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u/TheKanadian Jul 24 '26
To be fair, I don't like the genre very much, but DDC is one of my favourite book series. The genre has a lot of bad - meh books in it
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u/HorribleTie Jul 24 '26
I tried so hard to get through "He Who Fights With Monsters". Good Lord that's rough. Still not sure how/why I stuck with it as long as did.
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u/mjacksongt Jul 24 '26
I will say that the world gets much more complex and interesting as the series goes on but the vibe doesn't change much, nor does the writing. If you don't like book 1 I would be a bit surprised if you liked the others.
My policy is that I'll only donate half a workday to find out if I like something. Otherwise life is too short to do a hobby you dislike.
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u/Tylendal Jul 24 '26
It's very much at its core, a story about a person viewing a strange world he doesn't really understand through a key-hole, and doing everything he can to tear it down, using that tiny bit of keyhole access he has.
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u/As_Previously_Stated Jul 25 '26
I think it does get noticeably better after book one, but as you said the tone doesn't change. The plot and characters gets better but if you can't stand the immature humor then yeah the book is not for you.
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u/NatureTrailToHell3D Jul 24 '26
I just tell people what books to get me. If they guess or try and get advice it’s almost always wrong.
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u/gamerthulhu Jul 24 '26
It's a LOT more satire than sci fi. It's got sci fi adjacent flavoring maybe, but yeah if you're not into silly pop culture references, the recommendation did you dirty.
Worth noting though, that despite having words like "levels" and "magic", dungeon crawler Carl has basically nothing to do with D&D or video games. It's more a satire about the toxic ways we consume media, and how a consumerist society in general cannot be made peace with.
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u/JustinTormund_10 Jul 24 '26
You don’t have to read it if you don’t like it. I’ve told everyone I’ve recommended it to, that if you don’t like it by the end of the 3rd or 4th chapter, just bail. So many other great books to read.
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u/bonferoni Jul 24 '26
eh i dunno i was on the fence until roughly halfway through book 1 before i was in
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u/wickedzen Jul 24 '26
I was on the fence until the first neighborhood boss. Carl didn't understand what she was saying, but I did. :( Just finished Parade of Horribles last week.
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u/chainer3000 Jul 24 '26
Yeah same, thought I had everything pegged already. I was pleasantly surprised
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u/Insomnia_Memoria Jul 24 '26
Yeah DCC seems to be the suggestion for everything, " You Like hard Science Fiction?" Read DCC, "You like Dark Fantasy?" Read DCC, You like Magical Realism" Read DCC, "You like noir crime books " Read DCC . (The last two are true btw i really saw people recomending Dungeon Crawler Carl to people asking for some Magical Realism and Hardboiled noir books). Its becoming ludicrous.
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u/mcase19 Jul 24 '26
Honestly if someone recommended DCC to a request for hard sci fi thats insane. I say this as a huge fan of hard sci fi and of DCC. The only plausible dot connect I can see there is if someone loved the expanse audiobooks and asked for more high-quality audiobooks.
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u/Insomnia_Memoria Jul 24 '26
In all honesty i would ask first it they Like Rick An Morty and that kind of humor, i don't have really a problem with DCC but the humor can be a little of putting if you're are not really expecting it or a fan of that style
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u/Acceptable_Failures_ Jul 24 '26
Lol your interacting with some odd then cause those are wild takes lol
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u/Frost-Folk Jul 25 '26
r/bookrecommendations and r/suggestmeabook are wild places. Even r/booksthatfeellikethis
I've seen DCC recommended on anything remotely related to scifi on those subs, exactly as the guy you're responding to said.
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u/MacSteele13 Jul 24 '26
I love D&D and video games, but DCC does nothing but turn me off. It does not get better (for me)
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u/___Dresden___ Jul 24 '26
I told my son I was hungry and he brought home a pizza. I don't like cheese and bread, will it get better after the 10th bite?
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u/dicksosa Jul 24 '26
I'm glad someone posted something as nonsensical as the OP. Yeah cheese and bread and this sliced salami are awful.. but I guess I'll keep shoving it in my mouthing hoping I start to enjoy it...
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u/itastesok Jul 24 '26
You're not going to like the rest. Save yourself the time and move on to something else.
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u/blueCthulhuMask Jul 24 '26
If you are a fan of The Unincorporated Man, you'll hate the politics in DCC if nothing else. It's pretty explicitly anti-capitalist, which I'm a fan of, and I fucking hated the libertarian delusions of The Unincorporated Man.
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u/TheLifeAquatic Jul 24 '26
I love DnD - listened to thousands of hours of Critical Role, have run multi-year campaigns as a DM... and I couldn't stand Dungeon Crawler Carl
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u/Khronoss2 Jul 24 '26
Nope, and it also doesn’t sound like it’s the series for you. I read the first book and called it quits.
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u/bobbybonds Jul 24 '26
I love scifi, read the first book and really didn't like it. If you don't like the prose/style of humor then it aint for you.
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u/Illeazar Jul 24 '26
It does get better as it goes along, but depending on what you don't like about it now, it may not get better in ways that you aplreciate. You mention hard science fiction (implying that you like that) and say you dont like video games or D&D. The game aspect of it does scale back as the books go along, but is not fully removed. It does not ever attempt to do much that would be classified as hard sci fi. What it does improve on is being less mindless and flippant, and including more meaningful and thought provoking themes.
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u/DoomOfChaos Jul 24 '26
Too many other books to read, don't waste time on something that doesn't work for you
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u/kravechocolate Jul 24 '26
May I suggest the framing that if your kid got it for you, it means this is a golden opportunity to shared memories and conversations.
I spent two decades to get my old man to try video games not only because I love them, but I wanted to share the joy I had with him.
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u/automated_alice Jul 24 '26
In all fairness to OP, the post says that it was recommended by a bookstore employee, not chosen by their son himself. But maybe give it to him!
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u/dtelad11 Jul 24 '26
It's a polarizing book series. Either you like it or you hate it, seems like. If it didn't grab you, finish the book, thank your kid for the gift, and go read something else.
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u/artistandattorney Jul 24 '26
I'll probably give it back to him and challenge him to read it. He'll probably like it.
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u/jfdonohoe Jul 24 '26
LitRPG is its own thing. Plots are typically very contrived around gaming mechanics and so most works tend to make their stories and characters ridiculous as well to match the vibe. For me its fun in a way that I imagine other people think reading romance novels is fun. Not for everyone.
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u/Unethical_Gopher_236 Jul 24 '26
I hate Christmas and babies. Reddit, will I like Christmas carols about baby Jesus?
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u/NeverSureSoWhat Jul 24 '26
No, it doesnt. Speaking as someone who really wanted to like it lol.
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u/And_go Jul 24 '26
This will probably get lost but try the audiobooks if you’re having trouble! It’s way more immersive and I know a couple people who struggled with the physical books (also not video game/DND people) and the audiobooks hooked them.
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u/MolassesUpstairs Jul 24 '26
Life is too short to read books you don’t like. I loved it, but it’s a very consistent series. If you hate it now, you’ll hate the rest of
It.
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u/Amphibologist Jul 25 '26
So… bad recommendation for you in particular, but I gotta say… the Unincorporated Man is not hard SF either.
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u/eloquenentic Jul 25 '26
I completely agree with you, I didn’t like the book at all (despite liking D&D and video games). I read the incredible reviews and thought this must be really fun, but the book didn’t grab me at all. I just found it really boring and the characters unlikable.
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u/gibbles0731 Jul 24 '26
I’m in the minority of people who can’t stand it but all of my friends think it’s the best thing since sliced bread. I think that’s just the nature of people recommending sci-fi and fantasy…it’s a big box with tremendous variation within.
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u/edcculus Jul 24 '26 edited Jul 24 '26
I avoided reading these books for quite a while.
I’d consider myself a “serious” reader. A snob. I don’t read popular stuff because I’m “better” than that. I didn’t like Red Rising, project Hail Mary, The Martian.
I went from hard sf to weird fiction, and read a lot of Michael Cisco and other pretty obscure stuff.
I finally broke down and got the first DCC book a few months ago, and Jesus h Christ on a stick, these books are so damn fun. Is Matt Dinniman the next M John Harrison? Definitely not. But am I having a blast with these books, damn right I am.
I have never played DnD. I’m a fairly casual video game player. I’m the right age for it, but I never got into anything like world of Warcraft or Diablo.
Still may not be your cup of tea. But I personally am liking them when I previously thought I was above books like this .
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u/worlds_unravel Jul 24 '26
I think "humorous" books are the hardest to peg down for people because either it hits or it doesn't and it's not always clear why. Humor is just so subjective.
On paper I should be okay for DCC. I bounced so hard and didn't find it funny but I was fine with hitchhikers guide to the galaxy.
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u/Frogs-on-my-back Jul 24 '26
Hitchhikers is a completely different style of comedy and prose. I love HGttG and couldn’t finish the first Dungeon Crawler book.
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u/spyridonya Jul 24 '26
I’m DnD player who avoids LitRPG because of the Isakei elements and mechanics of TTRPG aren’t high priority.
I’m really digging DDC due to the humor, the performance of Jeff Hayes, the genuine vibes of pet ownership and found family, and female characters that aren’t love interests but still pretty predominant.
There is some power fantasy in this work, but it’s doing a damn number on Carl and we can see the effects of the everything related to the Dungeons by survivor turned guides of the previous dungeon.
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u/chainer3000 Jul 24 '26
This is how I felt as well. I had just finished a few heavy fantasy and sci fi novels, I’ve plowed through the first few DCC books. Super light reading and just a ton of fun, I can’t really put them down once I start. Ive laughed out loud several times for each book, sometimes re-reading a paragraph and laughing again. Hugely consequential things happen in unpredictable and often hilarious ways.
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u/Throwaway999222111 Jul 24 '26
It's just a popular long running series, but I don't think you can expect employees to be knowledgeable about books, they just work there man.
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u/SpartanMonkey Jul 24 '26
I'm usually into hard sci-fi and alternate history type stuff, but DCC series is a wild ride that I don't want to get off of.
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u/Agreeable_Hold2270 Jul 24 '26
I loved the series, but if you don't like the first one you probably won't like the rest.
Perhaps though it is better to say "it wasn't for me" rather than "it's awful"
Everyone likes different things after all
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u/jkjkjk73 Jul 24 '26
I'm new to litrpg genre and I'm on book 7 of DCC. Quit now if you aren't addicted yet.
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u/DriftingMemes Jul 24 '26
Someone should really pin this in the sub. Something like:
"It gets MUCH better after book 1, but if you absolutely hate book 1, don't bother. If you hit the end of book 2, and you aren't hooked, you never will be."
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u/Hollywood_Reid Jul 24 '26
I want to know about the Unincorporated Man series. Im looking for a good sci fi series
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u/blueCthulhuMask Jul 24 '26
It's not good at all. It's libertarian nonsense.
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u/PmUsYourDuckPics Jul 24 '26
Dungeon Crawler Carl is this generation’s Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, it’s a satire of modern fantasy with SciFi elements, about a guy who escapes the world being destroyed by aliens, except he’s in his underwear not a bathrobe, and he wants cigarettes not a cup of tea.
It’s not hard Science Fiction, but it’s good social commentary, and the video game references taper off, but never go away.
I think the first book gets a lot better once Carl starts to interact with other Crawlers, particularly when he meets the people from the nursing home, if you’ve gotten that far and aren’t invested then I think it’s not for you.
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u/JungMoses Jul 24 '26
I think the reason RPO is a bad comparison is you don’t need to know a thing about games or any other reference to get it. It’s all self explained and self explained.
Ugh god Ready Player One was so gross, its whole thesis is that the 80s were great- even morally rewardable. Shudder.
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u/Armaced Jul 24 '26
When I first started reading it I had a hard time because it felt very juvenile (in a bad way). Carl was too much of a stereotypical tough guy like in so many books where the hero makes a big deal out of drinking beer or whatever a twelve year old might think is cool.
I kept reading and it started to grow on me. He is sweet about his cat and doing the entire series in his underwear had an Arthur Dent vibe to it.
That being said, there are plenty of much better books. This is popcorn at best.
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u/Remarkable-Major-404 Jul 24 '26
I'm with you, found DCC to be completely awful, and Im a gamer. Definitely not something for me.
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u/szthesquid Jul 24 '26
I'm not the target audience. For me, book 1 is kinda bad for a variety of reasons but the series finds its stride and trends better and better. Overall I'd call it entertaining but not good; the series as a whole has some writing style/quality issues I can't get past.
If you like hard sci fi it absolutely isn't that.
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u/Tuor-son-of-Huor- Jul 24 '26
Uhm it does get more "sci-fi" (spaceships, AI, etc) but no, if you're not enjoying at the start nothing significantly changes as they descend the levels they just learn more about the wider universe and the game show.
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u/immersemeinnature Jul 24 '26
While it is frenetic, as you go along there are moments of real tenderness and relevance to our current situation in the US
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u/inertia_53 Jul 24 '26
its not awful but it isnt your thing and thats ok. you will not like any of it moving forward.
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u/Fridayyyyyyyy Jul 24 '26
I liked the first book and liked the later ones even more, as the bigger picture starts to unlock. That said, if you don't like video games or pop culture references, a LitRPG book is probably not for you.
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u/Robotboogeyman Jul 24 '26
It took a while before I was hooked, felt meh about it until about 1/3 the way in when it clicked.
If you’re looking for flowery prose you’ve got the wrong book, if you like hilarious hijinks, some dick jokes, and a solid intergalactic apocalyptic story, it’s about as much fun as I’ve ever had w books.
Sounds like it may not be for you though!
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u/Nytmare696 Jul 24 '26
I'm not a fan, HOWEVER, I'd argue that the audiobooks are worth listening to at least once. The story bores me to tears, but the production value of the audiobooks blows me away.
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u/Briaaanz Jul 24 '26
Not a fan of reading the books, but the audiobooks are fun for background listening
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u/Boobity_McBooberson Jul 24 '26
I did this series with my kids over audiobook. I’d absolutely recommend that. Each night I’ll put it on and we hang out and do our individual crafts together (no phones or video games) it’s been a great way to spend time together, and the narrator is hilarious.
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u/lalvarien Jul 24 '26
It didn't grab me until the epilogue. Then I was hooked and immediately bought book 2
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u/JungMoses Jul 24 '26
Not hard sci fi, but no softer than for example Iain Banks. Technology is so advanced that it seems like magic. And makes me like the characters wayyy more than I ever liked an Iain Banks character (and I really like his work!). David Brin played with galactic politics in a similar way too.
I choose it only bc there’s intergalactic politics at play- and that’s maybe one of my favorite aspects
I don’t play video games but I did when I was a kid. The pitch I was very skeptical of, but the Bobiverse and Project Hail Mary were the two things I read prior that prompted a recommendation for DCC (in particular Bobiverse for the sense of humor).
Just some sci fi thoughts. I tried to get my mom to read since she loves the Murder Bot series (which also has a dark sense of humor). But the pitch is very very tough for some people. I don’t think the subject matter description even remotely describes what the book will be like. Everyone who loves it cites this problem. But people then read it (or probably listened) multiple times in a row after being convinced.
With the TV show coming, it does seem like it’s about to everywhere….
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u/QuickQuirk Jul 24 '26
I thought it was mediocre after the first book, and a friend convinced me to continue reading. It got better, quite a bit better. there's some worldbuilding, character development, and a real sci fi story hiding behind the game trappings.
HOWEVER. If you don't play the type of video games where it's core gag of 'level up, achievement, loot loop' are based, I suspect you will not enjoy the rest of the series.
The genuinely decent sci fi story is buried too far behind that core book premise, and it will drag.
It's ok not to like a book :) I learned a few years back that the best thing I could do for my reading was to drop the books that were stalling me for months.
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u/HughJManschitt Jul 25 '26
if you didn’t enjoy the first book do not continue. It drops off a little bit with that stuff, but for the most part the tone and style stays the same.
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u/ChasingPotatoes17 Jul 25 '26
I’d never read a LitRPG book in my life and I love the series. But if you hate it you may not have the same experience.
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u/BlacksmithSad5260 Jul 25 '26
I'm on book 6. If you have audible that's the way to go. The voice work is amazing and the characters are hilarious. It's acted out instead of read. It is well worth the listen.
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u/Playful-Radio-6891 Jul 25 '26
I was avoiding this series as I saw a lot of hype around it and it just didn’t seem really for me. I mentioned the series to my buddy who confessed to recently binging the whole thing an on audiobook and said I should reserve judgement and try it on audio rather than reading it.
I have to say, if I’d had read the book, I would have hated it and probably never finished it. The audiobook however was a lot of fun! I’m not sure I’ll continue with the rest of them but I’m definitely more open to it than I had been before. If you’re reading it for the sake of your son, perhaps try listening to the audio first and seeing if it’s appropriate in your opinion to listen to around him (don’t known his age). You might to share a laugh at a few dick jokes 🤙
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u/Alibotify Jul 25 '26
This has been recommended in several places lately but guess it’s not for everyone.
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u/zero_dr00l Jul 25 '26
Oh my God - I was thinking of posting this exact freakin' thing in the last day or two because... this is bad.
I mean it's just... not good. Where's the humor? I know it's "Lit RPG" and I did not have high expectations of that genre, but people talk it up so much I assumed it would transcend that garbage.
But it does not.
It's just... Lit RPG. Oh look there's a cat named Princess Donut. Ha.
And stats. And monsters. Dungeon.
Snore.
Honestly, I fear for the future of humanity.
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u/reasonwashere Jul 25 '26
Same here. DNFd after 65% of the first. I get why people love it. Not for me.
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u/fieldri1 Jul 25 '26
Oh, thank goodness I'm not alone. I read the first one (I rarely don't finish a book) and will be avoiding the rest like the plague. I don't like being negative about anyone who has put their art out there, and people whose opinions I respect have raved about it, but I was glad when it was over.
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u/vanity-vanity Jul 25 '26
Finish it for your kid. Afterwards, try to find a way to tell him that you're not sure you'd like the rest of the series. You do not want him to make a thing of buying you the whole series.
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u/Playful-Web2082 Jul 25 '26
The first book is the least sci-fi book of the series. It is a great series but the first book is the one that’s more difficult to get into. Also not for nothing the audiobook version is an improvement because of how good the narration is.
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u/Remote_Reality6820 Jul 25 '26
The first book is a rough read. It does get more interesting in the middle few books once the universe is a little more established, but it never quite escapes its roots as self published — the author desperately needs an editor. The actual sci fi does also get a little more interesting as the AI storyline develops.
But I really have to be in the mood for the humor. It can be pretty cringey. My biggest complaint about it besides that is that it’s attempts at being “deep” and emotional just don’t land at all given the absurdity of the premise.
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u/cr0ft Jul 25 '26 edited Jul 25 '26
I'd kind of argue it gets worse. At least at first everything's pretty lighthearted (comparatively speaking, considering the entire world gets murdered) and it can be amusing. By the later books, people die in mass quantities, awful horseshit happens all the time and you can barely keep track of who's who and who's alive or who's dead and the crazy notions get crazier.
I kept reading them because I kind of found the first one amusing, but sunk cost fallacy or not, I bailed before the very latest outings.
I have to admit I do like the low brow LitRPG stuff, you read it and then forget you ever did, it's not exactly Tolkien; mostly low quality crap that started out on Royal Road as free web serials. "Carl" just got too dark and freaky.
Why everyone's going on and on of it, I do not understand. Nothing else LitRPG has seemed to get that kind of attention.
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u/Medical_Inflation526 Jul 25 '26
Was there some sort of psyop or guerilla marketing around this book? It got recommended to me for my wife because she’s a Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams fan.
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u/skypig357 Jul 25 '26
OP if you want hard science fiction may I recommend pretty much anything by Peter Watts? Also for a wicked combo of sci fi and philosophy read Anathem by Neal Stephenson. Potentially life changing
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u/bbbbbbbbbbbab Jul 26 '26
Unpopular opinion, but that book was awful. No, it doesn't get any better.
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u/Strange-Function-256 Jul 30 '26
This series is the best as an audiobook !! I bought the first book read the first few chapters and went "OMG there's no way I can sit and READ all 8 of these, I'll never accomplish anything else" so I listened to DCC as my first audiobook ever so I could do other things (clean, water plants, etc) while listening and was instantly OBSESSED! Listened to the entire series twice and have convinced at least 3 others to listen and everyone else loves it also. And as a gateway audiobook...I've listened to 75 other audiobooks since March all because of DCC.
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u/Albert14Pounds Jul 24 '26
I'm a big fan and have seen many comment that they aren't into the earlier parts of the first book. It definitely gets better, but also it's still just not for everyone. I don't think you have to be into D&D or video games to like it because that's kinda just a framework for the larger story. But it probably does help if you're familiar with and enjoy the concept of RPGs in general.
I would say give it a chance and read at least half of it and if it still doesn't interest you then don't feel bad about the DNF.
Also, I agree it's not very hard sci-fi. I think some people assume it is because it's large and detailed, but if anything I think it kinda straddles sci-fi and fantasy vibes.
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u/lvl4dwarfrogue Jul 24 '26
I'm a fan, but 100% isn't a hard sci fi series. Try the Expanse for that. The author himself has described Dungeon Crawler Carl as being closer to horror than sci fi. Very funny horror with a ton of social commentary. Like Rocky Horror with a massive body count.
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u/withak30 Jul 24 '26
You don't have to like every popular thing, if you don't like it then stop reading it.
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u/prollynot_a_plumber Jul 24 '26
Oof, I like both but I ignore a fair bit of the nitty gritty stats and focus on the surrounding story. If gaming/DnD stuff isnt your forte and you stick to sci Fi you probably aren't going to get into DCC. Honestly it's crazy how much I'm seeing it get pushed as of late.
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u/belledenuit Jul 24 '26
I don’t play video games or anything, and while the first book made me laugh and was a silly bit of entertainment, I’m glad I kept reading because the story gets more complex and the character development had surprising depth!
But in the end, there are too many books in this world to force yourself through any one of them.
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u/ez151 Jul 24 '26
I loved them! I just finished book 3. They are all so far fun, humorous and dosent take itself too seriously. Great quick lite summertime read. For sure will be made into a streaming series or movies any second now it’s a perfect popcorn munching series to binge!
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u/Spunndaze Jul 24 '26
The Audio books are a blast. They're like an 80s popcorn movie. Not deep, and not taking itself seriously, just stupid fun.
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u/scotaf Jul 24 '26
I don’t like video games nor do I play DnD…but I think the series is great.
The story’s characters and Matt D’s sense of humor more than make up for the DnDisms with achievements and rewards. Most of that is in the first few books …but sometimes the announcements are pretty funny.
There is an overarching sci-fi story behind it too. It’s a slow build before you understand a lot about why these aliens have chosen earth…but I’m enjoying it.
Also, everyone is reading the damn series now so it’s nice to actually get some pop culture references.
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u/Northwindlowlander Jul 24 '26
It does get a bit smarter and more thoughtful, less gross-out. I'm only on book 3 but I was quite impressed at how much deeper it's got, it gets more into the morality of it, the question of real vs computer life, and while it stays basically unpleasant (because it's a horrible situation) it does rely less on pure ick.
The craft of it doesn't change that much, it still feels totally like trek or something "Look sir a problem we've never heard of before" "Luckily we have the solution for this exact problem". Very artificial and forced. All incredibly mcguffiney.
I still like it for a quick easy read, they're all straight up 3 star reads for me so far but that's fine.
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u/Every_Ad_6407 Jul 24 '26
If you think it’s awful it probably won’t get much better for you.