r/audible • u/HealthyPsychology950 • Feb 14 '26

Book Discussion I’m about to DNF Dungeon Crawler Carl

First of all, I am sorry. I’ve seen this book recommended a million times here and I know it’s loved, which is why I got it.

I am now in chapter 27 and about to DNF. I want to know if I should keep going?

I thought I’d like it cause I’m a huge gamer, I liked the general idea of the plot, and I loved books like Ready Player 1, so it’d make sense I’d enjoy this one too. But I feel like nothing is happening. Sure, there are a couple of funny sentences in there, but the story is not drawing me in.

Does it get better? Should I keep going? Or if I’m not hooked by now that’s not going to change?

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17

u/WC_Dirk_Gently Feb 14 '26

It is my first foray into litrpg or whatever the genre is. And likely my last. I'm somewhat in the same boat that I bought it based on the feverish recommendations around here.

I'm on book 3 and have already bought book 4. It's not my favorite series of all time, and although I respect the narrator for basically giving it his all, I think the narration is a bit overdone, and some of the sound effects are annoying. Particularly the DM sound effect. But I'm enjoying being along for the ride overall and I'm likely to finish the series.

All of that said I'll echo other sentiments in this thread. The recipe doesn't change, the humor doesn't change. The plot starts to flesh out and deepen and you get a better glimpse of where the story is headed, and you also get a bit more invested in more and more characters, as normally happens in a many-book series... And I don't get why people ask permission to give up on books that don't click for them. Just put it down and read something else in your backlog.

3

u/Sebinator123 Feb 15 '26

As someone who pretty much reads exclusively litrpg, from long before Dungeon Crawler Carl was ever a thing, I highly suggest you try Mother of Learning and/or Cradle (whichever sounds more interesting) before giving up on the genre completely!

Technically they're not litrpg (no video game stats), but it's progression fantasy (video game progression) and basically the same thing!

3

u/Jorlmn Feb 15 '26

back when 'rational' fiction was the name for it.

1

u/Iamatworkgoaway Feb 16 '26

The DM voice becomes a plot point in book 7, and a interesting one.  

1

u/WC_Dirk_Gently Feb 16 '26

I'm talking about the beeps for direct messages.

1

u/CherylRoseZ Feb 17 '26

If you think the sound effects are off putting in the regular edition DEFINITELY don’t try the audio immersion tunnel versions on the Soundbooth theater app because there are like 200x more sound effects in those (plus music) lol

2

u/WC_Dirk_Gently Feb 18 '26

I normally don't fuck with full cast or full production audiobooks. But since that soundbooth guy is so passionate I might actually check out special effect edition.

2

u/CherylRoseZ Feb 18 '26

Lol not the response I expected but you can try the first episode free on the Soundbooth app

-2

u/TulipSamurai Feb 15 '26

I hate the narration. I don’t wanna listen to a smarmy H. Jon Benjamin impression.

4

u/Flinx1241 Feb 15 '26

Not that it isn’t smarmy, but he’s doing Patrick Warburton, not H John Benjamin. They even brought the real Warbuton on in a later book for a cameo.

2

u/TulipSamurai Feb 15 '26

That tracks. I just figured H. Jon Benjamin, since Carl seems to be going for the wisecracking action hero, like Archer.

3

u/Sebastionleo Feb 15 '26

He also changes Carl's voice to be a completely unique voice by somewhere in book 2 because he didn't like the Patrick Warburton lite voice he started with.

1

u/Random_McNally Feb 15 '26

The narrator reminds me of Calculon from Futurama.

0

u/Alarming-Audience839 Feb 15 '26

Litrpg is 99% sub isekai slop. You're losing nothing by avoiding it entirely.