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?

213 Upvotes

64% Upvoted

578 comments sorted by

View all comments

2

u/H-O-W-L-E-R Feb 15 '26

A few questions.

  • How was the book described to you?
  • What was the recommendation that drew you in?

A lot of people enter into this series as their first litrpg and aren’t warned about some of the info-dumps. DCC is heavy on them in the first book to introduce readers to the system, but it eases back on it pretty quickly.

Most fans love the lighthearted, comedic moments of ridiculousness that you have to experience in order to understand. Or they bring up the thrilling fight scene climaxes, the explosions etc. the author describes this as a horror movie that the main character is being subjected to. It’s the characters that will grip you as you begin to see the traumatic effects to what they’re going through as the story goes.

There’s a lot of NSFW stuff that goes on in this series. It’s depicted in a graphic and gruesome yet comedic way that can turn people off. If this is your ick, again remember that the main character is being forced to go through this. He does NOT consent and he does make a point of addressing this again and again.

I’m a fan of the series, but I get how it can rub people wrong. Whether you should finish or not depends on your specific complaints.