Reading order
Matt Dinniman's Dungeon Crawler Carl series: 8 books + 1 novella. We've reviewed 4 of them.
Read them in the order they were published
Coast Guard veteran Carl is stuck with his ex-girlfriend's prize-winning show cat, Princess Donut, when every human-built structure on Earth collapses and sinks into the ground. The survivors are trapped inside an 18-level dungeon that circles the globe, forced to fight monsters and navigate traps for a sadistic intergalactic game show. Survival depends on entertaining alien viewers and building a following to earn loot drops.
The training levels have ended, and the games truly begin. Carl and his ex-girlfriend's cat, Princess Donut, enter the third floor of Dungeon Crawler World: the Over City, a ruined metropolis prowled by an undead circus. As murdered women rain from the sky and an ancient spell nears fruition, they must fight harder than ever to survive.
SpoilersAfter surviving the training levels, Carl and Princess Donut enter the third floor of Dungeon Crawler World: the Over City, a ruined metropolis prowled by an undead circus. As murdered women rain from the sky and an ancient spell nears fruition, they must fight harder than ever to survive.
Carl and Princess Donut reach the fourth floor, a tangled railway maze where popularity has put prices on their heads. They must join other crawlers to solve the level’s puzzle while watching for betrayal. A forgotten manual may hold the key to unraveling the chaos.
SpoilersAfter surviving the first three floors, Carl and Donut enter the fourth, a knotted rail system where their top-ten fame has made them targets. They team with other crawlers to crack the floor’s puzzle, and Carl finds a dead anarchist’s manual, turning him from contestant into saboteur against the dungeon’s system.
Carl, Princess Donut, and Mongo reach the fifth floor of the dungeon, where they must capture four castles inside a single bubble within fifteen days to unlock the stairwell. This time they cannot manage alone and must cooperate with low-level crawlers trapped alongside them.
Carl and Princess Donut enter the sixth floor of the dungeon, a lush jungle called the Hunting Grounds where dinosaurs roam and tourists are permitted to hunt the remaining crawlers. A famed hunter named Vrah seeks the biggest trophy of her career, but the crawlers refuse to be prey. A mysterious celebration for the top crawlers, the Butcher’s Masquerade, awaits.
Management reels from the seventh level's conclusion as surviving crawlers reach the eighth floor and scatter. The map mirrors Earth's final days, where intangible ghosts of humanity relive their lives, unaware of doom. Monsters from Earth lore inhabit the regions. Teams must capture six legendary beasts to turn into battle cards before facing enemy decks.
SpoilersAfter the unexpected conclusion of the seventh level, surviving crawlers reach the eighth floor and scatter. The map mirrors Earth's final days before the collapse, where intangible ghosts of humanity relive their lives, unaware of impending doom. Monsters from Earth lore inhabit the regions. Teams must capture six legendary beasts to turn into battle cards before facing enemy decks.
On the ninth floor, Carl and his allies join Faction Wars as one of ten armies battling to capture a central castle. The AI's decline has made the game deadly for real, and the NPCs have gained self-awareness and formed their own team. Donut and Katia face a cruel rule: only one may leave the level.
SpoilersWith the AI in rapid decline, the ninth-floor Faction Wars turn genuinely lethal: fallen players stay dead. Carl and the crawlers fight back as one of ten armies, while the newly self-aware NPCs field their own team. Donut and Katia must confront the rule that only one of them may leave the level.
Carl and Donut reach the dungeon's tenth floor, where they must compete in an elimination-style racing gauntlet. The system AI calls it "a coming-out party for the ages." Carl chafes under rules that strip his agency and secretly devises a dangerous plan he cannot share with anyone, because failure would mean consequences far beyond himself and Donut.
Not part of the numbered series, and not needed to follow it.
This short story collection follows seven characters connected to the Pineapple Cabaret, a venue in a dystopian science-fantasy world. Each installment centers on a different figure: Rory, Grandma Llama, Growler Gary, Cock-A-Doodle-Do, Willow Joy, Jelly Bun, and Larry.
Looking for Matt Dinniman's other books? See every series and standalone.
