Dungeon Crawler Carl is a wild, fun ride through a chaotic Dungeons & Dragons-meets-video-game universe. If Guardians of the Galaxy, Rick and Morty, and The Hunger Games had a baby, this would be it. This book is a good time.

Most of the club loved it, though a minority found it a little one dimensional. A few people felt the character progression was a bit flat and the ending lacked a big dramatic punch, but keep in mind this is just book one of an eight-part series. For all but one person in the club, it hit the mark.

At its core, the book is a satirical video game adventure packed with sharp commentary on our absurd world in the decade of our lord, the 2020’s. Carl serves as a solid protagonist to lead you through the madness, while Princess Donut (yes, a cat) is absolute comedy gold and steals every scene she’s in. The author nails the tone, striking a great balance between lighthearted humor, gross-out fun, silly boss battles, and awesome supporting characters—never getting too ridiculous to care, nor too heavy to kill the mood.

When we dug below the surface in our discussion, everyone had totally different takes on the deeper philosophical themes. But just like Rick and Morty or The Matrix, you don’t need to overthink the underlying philosophy to have a blast; you can just kick back and enjoy the page-turner. Everything is crab. There's a weird amount of foot stuff... but hey, no kink shaming here.

If you like D&D, absurd comedy, or Judd Apatow movies, this book is a good time.

NEW ACHIEVEMENT: You read this review. Reward? You can read. Enjoy it while it lasts, because the robot revolution is right around the corner and you’ll never need to read again.

BUY THIS BOOK