The book follows Carl, a seemingly normal guy in the midst of a breakup with his girlfriend. He discovers she is cheating on him while she is on vacation without him, leaving him with her cat, which he both loves and hates. One night, the cat gets outside, and Carl chases after it, and that’s where things get interesting. Suddenly, every interior of the world is crushed, killing a majority of the population instantly. They then get messages informing them that an alien race has made a claim to the planet and that all the remaining survivors must enter and complete a dungeon to regain control of their planet. Carl, equipped with his girlfriend’s crocs, no pants, and a cat, enters the dungeon. The book follows Carl and Donut the cat as they navigate the dungeon, other crawlers, horny AI, alien culture, video game mechanics, and so much more that it’s kinda difficult to explain it all.

The book definitely was all the randomness I was expecting it to be, but not in the way that I thought it was going to be. It’s calculated and even makes sense in a weird way as you read it. Not only that, but it’s entertaining. This book didn’t necessarily have me laughing out loud, but it’s comedic in nature and a fun read nonetheless. The author does a really good job with the fighting scenes, with it being more problem-solving than straight combat. That and it does great at adding suspense; you, much like the alien watchers, are rooting for Carl to survive and win the dungeon. As a gamer myself, the video game elements add a fun layer to the already good book. This is the first in a series, and I am excited to jump into the next one and see what antics Carl and Donut will get up to in the next one.

I would give Dungeon Crawler Carl an 8.5/10