Obsessed With a Genre I Didn't See Coming
Another absolute banger in the books! Continuing our Dungeon Crawler Carl audiobook marathon together has been such a highlight. Experiencing these wild floors as a team—complete with pause breaks for D&D mechanic explanations whenever things get complex—makes an already incredible series ten times better. Watching my person get completely lost in a world he loves is standard 5-star material all on its own!
Honestly, I am still in shock over how much I adore this series. A litRPG sci-fi/fantasy dungeon crawl is very far outside my usual comfort zone, but I am completely powerless against these books. We started Book 4 on the 17th and finished it just two days ago—we literally could not stop listening.
Floor 5 drops everyone into a brutal, freezing wilderness where they have to hunt down feral gods while fighting off hypothermia, pushing Carl and Donut’s survival instincts to the absolute limit. Hands down, the standout star of this entire book is Samantha—a literal disembodied sex doll head who is endlessly thirsty, ridiculously chaotic, and wildly dangerous. She had us both laughing out loud and is such a hilarious, iconic addition to the group. The world-building and AI madness just keep expanding, the political stakes outside the dungeon are boiling over, and Carl’s strategies are equal parts genius and terrifying. Plus, THAT EPILOGUE! The ending left us completely speechless, and that massive twist has us dying to see how it all plays out in the next floor.
Jeff Hays remains an absolute legend on the narration, bringing characters like Samantha to life alongside Carl and Donut with unreal talent. Flying through this in just a few days was such a rush! My review backlog may be wildly out of control, but my love for this series—and our listening dates—is a solid, undeniable 5/5 stars. I am also so curious to see what ridiculous song Donut ends up singing in Book 5! At this rate, I’m pretty sure I’m just going to keep slacking on my review backlog so we can dive straight into the next book!
Dungeon Crawler Carl: The Gate of the Feral Gods by Matt Dinniman
