I used my free Prime trial to get the current free 3-month trial of Audible for Prime members. This is my first time using Audible or listening to an audio book. I chose the book Dungeon Crawler Carl, which is currently #5 on the best seller list and rated 4.9 out of 5.
The premise is all manmade structures on Earth are suddenly collapsed for materials by an alien race. Surviving humans who were outside during the collapse are given the choice to enter a dungeon or try to survive on the desolate Earth surface. The collapse occurred at 2AM during the blistering cold while Carl was outside in his boxers, trying to get his girlfriend’s catshow winning cat Princess Donut out of a tree. To avoid freezing in the cold, the duo is forced to go in to the dungeon.
The dungeon is part of the “Dungeon Crawler World” popular game show watched (more like Twitch where viewers can share live experiences of any crawler at any time) by quintillions of aliens across the galaxy/universe. There are 18 levels to the dungeon, the first of which is nearly the size of the Earth’s surface. The dungeon has complex RPG type game mechanics, with players having a wide array of stats that increase with experience. Most persons entering the dungeon are quickly killed by monsters/traps, and only a slim minority of players descend to each subsequent level.
However, the book doesn’t feel dark/depressing. Instead it’s often funny, with the satirical/snarky AI comments (" New achievement! Why aren’t you wearing pants? You entered the dungeon wearing no pants . Dude. Seriously? Reward…"), dungeon based on exaggerated tropes about humans, and generally amusing things that happen to the group, including Princess Donut developing the ability to speak and having higher intelligence and overall stats than Carl.
The book is nothing like I have ever read/listened to/watched before. I can see elements form Running Man, Hunger Games, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Shangri-La Frontier, Tower of God, … but the combination is original. I am really enjoying it so far, much more so than the podcasts I usually listen to during my walks. I sometimes am so interested that I keep listening after I am done walking. It’s at times laugh out loud funny, but I also connect with the characters and care what happens to them. I also want to explore and understand the world – how the dungeon works and larger purpose. It’s easy to put yourself in the scene and consider what you would do in the situation. The audio book element works well, with each character having their unique voice that is fitting to the personality.
After 3 days, I finished the first half of the book, which concludes with descending down to 2nd floor after defeating the borough boss and the Royal Court of Princess Donut / Medowlark Elder Care parties team-up.
I like how they didn’t take the usual anime tropes for this type of genre. For example, I like how they do not take the power fantasy trope with a bland personality protagonist that starts out overpowered or best in universe. Instead when the first episode of the Dungeon Crawler World show airs, Donut and to a lesser extent Carl were excited to see if they were on the show and gain potential sponsors after having defeated a neighborhood boss (caricature of a hoarder). Instead the show talked about human anatomy and featured an adolescent girl from Ecuador with 2 Rottweilers, one of which shoots lightning when it barks, as well as a large group from Africa that was tearing through the dungeon with AK-47s. The book acknowledges that Carl and Donut were initially nothing special, among the millions (at the time of first episode) in the dungeon. The same happens for next 3 airings. This makes it all the more rewarding that after completing the first half of the book, someone with the equivalent of an online/television presence finally wants to talk to them at start of Part II.
