Explore the New York Times bestselling LitRPG series Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman! Check out these explosive sci-fi books, all available to borrow on our catalogue.
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Dungeon Crawler Carl
Book 1
You know what’s worse than breaking up with your girlfriend? Being stuck with her prize-winning show cat. And you know what’s worse than that? An alien invasion, the destruction of all man-made structures on Earth, and the systematic exploitation of all the survivors for a sadistic, intergalactic game show. That’s what.
And now Coast Guard veteranarian Carl and his ex-girlfriend’s cat, Princess Donut, must try to survive the end of the world – or just get to the next level – in a video game-like, trap-filled, fantasy dungeon. A dungeon that’s actually the set of a reality TV show with countless viewers across the galaxy. So not only do they have to stay alive, but they also need to earn ratings based on their performance.
Exploding goblins. Magical potions. Deadly, drug-dealing llamas. This ain’t your ordinary game show. Keeping viewers entertained is essential. Survival, however, is not.
Carl’s Doomsday Scenario
Book 2
‘The training levels have concluded. Now the games may truly begin.’
The ratings and views are off the charts. The fans just can’t get enough. The dungeon gets more dangerous each day. But in a grinder designed to chew up and spit out crawlers by the millions, Carl and Princess Donut must work harder than ever just to survive. They call it the Over City. A sprawling, once-thriving metropolis devastated by a mysterious calamity.
But these streets are far from abandoned. An undead circus trawls the ruins. Murdered women rain from the sky. An ancient spell is finally ready to reveal its dark purpose. Carl still has no pants.
The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook
Book 3
Carl and Donut have survived so far, but this fourth level is unlike anything they could imagine. The Iron Tangle: an impossibly complicated subway system tied together into a knot of trains of all kinds.
The top ten list of most popular crawlers is now confirmed, and Carl and Donut have made it. But that popularity comes with a price. They each now have a bounty on their head. To get to through this level, they must solve the puzzle of the floor. The secret to unravelling it all may be hidden in the pages of a seemingly useless book.
If they want to come close to success, they’ll have to work with other crawlers.
The Gate of Feral Gods
Book 4
Surviving in a multilevel dungeon that also happens to be the set of the galaxy’s most watched game show has taught Carl and his ex-girlfriend’s cat, Princess Donut, that there’s only one thing they can count on apart from each other: they never know what’s coming next.
And this floor is no exception. A floating fortress occupied by warrior gnomes. A castle made of sand. A derelict submarine guarded by malfunctioning machines. A haunted crypt surrounded by lethal traps. It was supposed to be straightforward. One bubble. Four castles. Fifteen days. Capture each one, and the stairwell is unlocked.
Going it alone is not an option this time, so Carl and his team must rely on the help of the low-level, I-can’t-believe-these-idiots-are-still-alive crawlers trapped in the bubble with them. But can they be trusted?
The Butcher’s Masquerade
Book 5
A lush jungle teeming with danger. Savage dinosaurs seeking blood. A fallen princess intent on vengeance. And now a mysterious, end-of-floor celebration for the top crawlers, dubbed ‘The Butcher’s Masquerade.’
But that’s not all. Just when Carl and Princess Donut think they’ve seen it all as they compete to survive in the galaxy’s most popular game show, the latest floor level introduces a terrible new threat. The Hunting Grounds. As the remaining crawlers battle for their lives, outside tourists are finally allowed to enter the game, and they are ready to hunt.
Among them is Vrah, a famed and veteran hunter, intent on collecting the biggest trophy of her career. Carl and Princess Donut might her prey, but this season, the prey are fighting back.
The Eye of the Bedlam Bride
Book 6
It is bedlam on the eighth floor. Coast Guard vet Carl and his ex-girlfriend’s cat, Princess Donut, have survived longer and leveled up higher than anyone ever thought they could in the galaxy’s most popular reality show.
Now the stakes are the highest they’ve ever been, the rules are getting dangerously creative. The crawlers are given a new task: Find and capture six monsters, each of which will be turned into a card. The stronger, the deadlier, the better. It’s crucial for crawlers to assemble the toughest squad possible.
But, like always, there is a catch. There’s always a catch. If Carl and Donut want a winning hand, they’ll have to capture the most lethal and terrifying monster of them all: Shi Maria. She was once married to a now-missing god. Her special attack is known to drive one insane.
They call her the Bedlam Bride. Carl and Donut can try to capture her, but that doesn’t mean they can tame her.
This Inevitable Ruin
Book 7
The ninth floor. Faction Wars. Nine armies enter, led by rich and powerful aliens from across the galaxy. The winning team must capture and hold the castle at the very centre of the battlefield.
But thanks to Carl, Donut, and Katia, this season is different. For the first time ever, the crawlers have their own army. The NPCs, who are normally used as nothing but cannon fodder, have become fully self-aware and have formed an unprecedented team of their own.
And it’s not just the crawlers who are at risk this Faction Wars. Any combatant who dies on the battlefield stays in the ground. For Donut and Katia, the stakes are even higher.
No matter who wins the war, only one of them will be allowed to leave this level. If they all want to survive, they’re going to need a little help. This is it. This is what they’ve been fighting toward. This is war.
A Parade of Horribles
Book 8
As chaos and mass panic spread outside the dungeon in the wake of Faction Wars, Carl and Donut find themselves on the tenth floor, where they’re forced to compete in a surprisingly normal set of tasks. Well, normal for the dungeon.
Races. Get from point A to point B, and don’t come in last. After each race, they pick an upgrade for their vehicle and the track gets more challenging. It all seems a a little too simple.
Ignore those strange glitches that are occurring with increasing frequency. Don’t listen to those whispers about what’s happening on the mysterious eleventh floor, something the system AI calls A Parade of Horribles. Nobody, not even the showrunners, knows what that means. Just that the AI has ominously dubbed it ‘a coming-out party for the ages’.
Everything is fine, Crawler. I repeat, everything is fine. Carl hates that it’s business as usual. The rules of this floor have taken away his agency. That just will not do.