After seeing 2 Cannonballers more or less start the year with these, I was very curious. Add a narfna endorsement in the comments, and, of course, I was going to check it out. And then immediately burned through all the existing novels – I hear the audiobooks are incredible so might do a reread soon that way but I am not sure I would have had the patience for a 26+ hour audio book as a first read through (for some of the later books). As the game guide tells our players early on – Levels 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 and 18 all have special meaning so I am going to group my reviews in the same way – floor 1-3, 4-6 etc.
One final comment on the series as a whole – the amount of detail and attention is really great. Dinniman brings back things from much earlier books and holds on to plot points for later much longer than expected. And the books have been getting progressively longer but still feel like a breeze to read.
Book 1: Dungeon Crawler Carl – Floors 1-2
The novel starts with a bit of a Hitchhiker’s Guide to the universe kind of set up and from there goes into a world that is Dungeons and Dragons (the actual activities) meets The Hunger Games (the spectacle/reality TV of it all).
The Syndicate has arrived to claim its mining rights to planet Earth, and started by collapsing everything with a roof – houses, cars, tents, you name it. Even though it was nearly 2:30 am on a freezing winter night in Seattle, Carl was outside, trying to rescue his ex-girlfriend’s cat, Princess Donut, from a tree. Ill-equipped for the cold in a leather jacket, boxers and his ex’s crocs, he doesn’t have much choice when given the offer of remaining on the surface or descending into the dungeon to participate in Dungeon World Crawl: Earth.
Once he is there, he quickly finds a Tutorial Hall where he meets his game guide, Mordecai, a former dungeon crawler survivor who is on the final season of his contract (once crawlers reach the 10th floor, they can negotiate the terms of their release but they get better each floor they can wait), and gets a bit more of the context of what is happening. The Syndicate has done this to many worlds before, though there are a few different versions of the game. While they are mining Earth for elements and minerals, the government responsible for this season (Borant) is also making money off of the entertainment factor and streaming this as a show.
The set up is very much like a video game or role playing game, where Carl and the other crawlers have to go through different scenarios and adventures, kill things and gain experience. They receive achievements and rewards, some of which have very helpful gear. Before they even leave the tutorial hall, Carl receives a pet treat in one of his boxes that can have multiple outcomes, most positive, some very negative, when fed to a pet like Donut. She take the decision out of his hands when she pounces and eats it – the result: Donut is now categorized as “Crawler,” can speak and has better stats than Carl.
As horrific as the context of the story actually is, Dinniman keeps the novels incredibly funny and entertaining. Donut and Carl eventually stumble on a few other crawlers, and learn that some are taking different strategies to survive and can’t always be trusted. They also find groups that are incredibly inspiring in their commitment to care for others. Unfortunately, Carl and Donut don’t have too many early connections since there simply weren’t that many people out and about in their region when it happened. The daily recaps show much larger survivor groups from other areas. Still, some of the characters introduced here will continue to play a part further down the line in the series.
Floors 1 and 2 are the most similar, so it makes sense that they are grouped together – it’s Carl and Donut learning the ropes, making their first talk show appearances and also starting to get hints of the broader universe.
Book 2: Carl’s Doomsday Scenario– Floor 3
The floors that are multiples of 3 are some of the key ones for players and often have something extra to them. It’s the first time that quests are introduced, it’s when serial TV productions taking place in the dungeons can have their characters interact with crawlers (and of course Carl and Donut get pulled into one called “Vengeance of the Daughter”), and it’s when the players can choose their race and class. Historically, most of the crawlers keep their own race, but many also make the decision to change based on advice by their game guides (and as Carl realizes the further he goes, not all are nearly as good as Mordecai – some are negligent or outright malevolent, setting their people up for failure). Normally, this would be Mordecai’s last level, but Donut chooses a special class that gives her access to a manager for the remainder of her time. Some classes will also have options for specializations down the line. The monsters are getting bigger and more complex, due to the quests, there are also more involved story lines with the NPCs and Carl’s fame or infamy is growing as he and Donut are featured in more show recaps