stevenpiziks (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
stevenpiziks) wrote2025-12-26 02:47 pm
stevenpiziks) wrote2025-12-26 02:47 pm
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Dungeon Crawler Carl
I just don't get the tidal wave popularity of the Dungeon Crawler Carl books. What's up with this?
If you haven't heard of this series, it's a LitRPG story in which aliens kill nearly the entire population of Earth and transform the planet into a dungeon crawl game for their own entertainment. The Earth survivors are forced to fight manufactured monsters in strange settings in order to get to the next "level." I've read two and a half books, and can't go further.
The problem I'm seeing is that the plotlines and worldbuilding are nonsensical and impossible to follow. In the second book, in fact, the author includes a disclaimer at the beginning of the novel warning readers that they won't be able to understand how his fantasy railroad system hangs together. Each level is a different setting, and these settings seem to be a bunch of weird ideas thrown together into a ridiculous mashup. In the third book, for example, we have humanoid camels; psychotic gnomes; hot air balloons; a flying house; a mutual hostage situation at city hall with an incomprehensible system of magic to enforce it; a camel-people brothel; shapeshifters; a political faction fight between said shapeshifters and the camel people; another unrelated shapeshifter who used to be human; a minor god whose mind is divided between a sex doll made of glass and big pile of semi-sentient mold which is in love with an insane human magician; and a gateway between dimensions that has more rules than government agency. There's quite a lot more, and I'm barely halfway through the book.
There's no internal logic to any of it. When Carl gets into trouble, the author just whips out a new pile of unrelated ideas that conveniently allow Carl to solve his problem. I've heard that the author crowd-sources a chunk of the books on social media: "Okay, everyone--what should happen next?" I'm guessing his followers post whatever random stuff comes to mind ("camel people!" "sentient mold!" "sex doll made of glass!"), and he tosses it all into the pot.
Additionally, a LOT of stuff happens off-stage. The author uses the same method over and over to give readers the information: another character gives big hunks of exposition through conversation with Carl. This is also hard to follow. Info-dumps can be readable when they're well done. These definitely aren't. They're dry recitation of facts that are about as interesting as an operating manual for a refrigerator.
And the rest of the writing is so damned dry. It's mostly a dispassionate recitation of events. Carl does A. Carl does B. Carl does C. Carl listens while character explains D. Every so often, the author seems to say to himself, "Oh damn! I should put some emotion in here," and we get a paragraph or two of Carl musing about his tragic past. Then we get more dispassionate recitation.
The interaction between Carl and Donut (a talking cat who wears a tiara and can cast a variety of spells) is amusing, but it's definitely not interesting enough to carry the rest of the junk.
But the books are insanely popular. The author gets mobbed at cons. He has a publicist. Crowds of readers dress up as Carl and Donut. I don't get it.
I don't begrudge the author his success. I've read that he was in deep financial trouble and the success of the books came at just the right time to rescue him. Go him! I just don't understand how the books got this rabid following.
Am I missing something?
If you haven't heard of this series, it's a LitRPG story in which aliens kill nearly the entire population of Earth and transform the planet into a dungeon crawl game for their own entertainment. The Earth survivors are forced to fight manufactured monsters in strange settings in order to get to the next "level." I've read two and a half books, and can't go further.
The problem I'm seeing is that the plotlines and worldbuilding are nonsensical and impossible to follow. In the second book, in fact, the author includes a disclaimer at the beginning of the novel warning readers that they won't be able to understand how his fantasy railroad system hangs together. Each level is a different setting, and these settings seem to be a bunch of weird ideas thrown together into a ridiculous mashup. In the third book, for example, we have humanoid camels; psychotic gnomes; hot air balloons; a flying house; a mutual hostage situation at city hall with an incomprehensible system of magic to enforce it; a camel-people brothel; shapeshifters; a political faction fight between said shapeshifters and the camel people; another unrelated shapeshifter who used to be human; a minor god whose mind is divided between a sex doll made of glass and big pile of semi-sentient mold which is in love with an insane human magician; and a gateway between dimensions that has more rules than government agency. There's quite a lot more, and I'm barely halfway through the book.
There's no internal logic to any of it. When Carl gets into trouble, the author just whips out a new pile of unrelated ideas that conveniently allow Carl to solve his problem. I've heard that the author crowd-sources a chunk of the books on social media: "Okay, everyone--what should happen next?" I'm guessing his followers post whatever random stuff comes to mind ("camel people!" "sentient mold!" "sex doll made of glass!"), and he tosses it all into the pot.
Additionally, a LOT of stuff happens off-stage. The author uses the same method over and over to give readers the information: another character gives big hunks of exposition through conversation with Carl. This is also hard to follow. Info-dumps can be readable when they're well done. These definitely aren't. They're dry recitation of facts that are about as interesting as an operating manual for a refrigerator.
And the rest of the writing is so damned dry. It's mostly a dispassionate recitation of events. Carl does A. Carl does B. Carl does C. Carl listens while character explains D. Every so often, the author seems to say to himself, "Oh damn! I should put some emotion in here," and we get a paragraph or two of Carl musing about his tragic past. Then we get more dispassionate recitation.
The interaction between Carl and Donut (a talking cat who wears a tiara and can cast a variety of spells) is amusing, but it's definitely not interesting enough to carry the rest of the junk.
But the books are insanely popular. The author gets mobbed at cons. He has a publicist. Crowds of readers dress up as Carl and Donut. I don't get it.
I don't begrudge the author his success. I've read that he was in deep financial trouble and the success of the books came at just the right time to rescue him. Go him! I just don't understand how the books got this rabid following.
Am I missing something?