Carl's Doomsday Scenario

In my review of Dungeon Crawler Carl, I mentioned that I've always believed that LitRPG books were not for me. Still believed that, even though the time had come to finally give Matt Dinniman's series a shot. I'm glad I did, for it was the most fun I've had reading in a very long time! For anyone looking for a palate cleanser, or anyone looking for pure comedy gold featuring a talking cat and a man with no pants, that novel will definitely scratch that itch!

Dark, bizarre, humorous, insanely imaginative; that was Matt Dinniman's Dungeon Crawler Carl in a nutshell. I was hoping that Carl and Princess Donut's journey through the lower levels of the dungeon would be as entertaining as the first volume turned out to be. Alas, though it's another fun read, the magic seems to be gone in Carl's Doomsday Scenario. Hopefully it's a case of the second book syndrome and the author will up his game in the third installment and the rest of the series.

Here's the blurb:

"The training levels have concluded. Now the games may truly begin."

The ratings and views are off the chart. The fans just can't get enough. The dungeon gets more dangerous each day. But in a grinder designed to chew up and spit out crawlers by the millions, Carl and Princess Donut need to work harder than ever just to survive.

They call it the Over City. A sprawling, once-thriving metropolis devastated by a mysterious calamity. But these streets are far from abandoned. An undead circus trawls the ruins. Murdered prostitutes rain from the sky. An ancient spell is finally ready to reveal its dark purpose.

Carl still has no pants.

They call it Dungeon Crawler World. For Carl and Donut, it's anything but a game.

As mentioned in my previous review, LitRPG is a literary genre blending science-fiction and fantasy with video game and computer RPGs mechanics and conventions. Think character stats, experience points gained by battling creatures and completing quests, numerical rules, and a structure focusing on progression and character advancement. Expect character sheets, levels, and loot earned by killing enemies and bosses. It's all progression-oriented, with the plotlines heavily emphasizing on leveling up in order for the story to progress. As such, everything about this is unappealing to me. I feel that it's an inordinate amount of gimmicks getting in the way of the storytelling.

Although it featured all of these gimmicks, somehow Dinniman's Dungeon Crawler Carl, through its humor and originality, managed to sidestep numerous pitfalls and keep everything fresh and entertaining. Whether or not the author could sustain this level of interest throughout multiple books remained to be seen. And even if I found the first installment to be an often laugh-out-loud wild ride that made me go through the whole thing in just a few sittings, those RPGs elements were already getting a bit repetitive. Not enough to truly get on my nerves that first time around, but I could already see this becoming a bit of a problem as I continue to read the series. I was hoping that Dinniman could keep the plot fun and interesting enough for me to overlook the gimmicks that would normally force me to DNF a novel. Trouble is, Carl's Doomsday Scenario is nowhere near the novel that its predecessor was. Yes, the story keeps moving forward, but the plot is not as engaging as it was in the first volume. As a result, the RPG mechanics are a bit more in the forefront and hence are more annoying.

The worldbuilding continues to be completely absurd. Once again, this second volume appears to contain a lot of foreshadowing for what will follow. Time will tell if that's the case or not. In any case, forget about conventional SFF worldbuilding. Indeed, in order to enjoy this series, you must be willing to embrace the ridiculous. Ultimately, it's the absurdity of it all that made the first volume so compelling. You never knew what to expect and that's what made Dungeon Crawler Carl such a fun read. It appears that Dinniman struggled to keep things as interesting in Carl's Doomsday Scenario. True, everything is as silly and over-the-top as before. But it's not as interesting. The circus quest was fun, yet the "dead hookers falling from the sky" plotline was particularly boring. Moreover, the entire Over City floor was kind of monotonous. Here's to hoping that the lower dungeon levels will be more imaginative and captivating.

As I said before, chances are that your sense of humor might be what will make you love or hate this series. Like its predecessor, as a self-published work Carl's Doomsday Scenario didn't go through any sensitivity reading before being released. It is thus filled to the brim with quirky, dark, and often juvenile humor that won't appeal to everyone. Once more, there is an amount of snark throughout that I really loved and found refreshing. The obnoxious AI that announces the Achievements and provides details to Carl and Princess Donut remains one of my favorite aspects of these books.

First-person narratives are always tricky, yet Carl remains the perfect point of view for such a batshit crazy series. Though he can be crass, he also shows a level of compassion that makes him quite endearing at times. Being forced to go through this ordeal with his ex-girlfriend's cat continues to be hilarious. This unlikely duo is what gives the Dungeon Crawler Carl novels their unique flavor. Other than Mordecai and Odette, the supporting cast doesn't play much of a role in this second volume. Dinniman goes out of his way to provide information about other popular crawlers, which seems to imply that their worlds will collide with that of Carl and Princess Donut at some point. Once again, there seems to be a lot of foreshadowing that hints at a lot more to come for the protagonists, things that go beyond the game and have to do with the politics of the various factions that comprise the universe. How this will affect the game and the crawlers remains to be seen.

Although not as thrilling as the first volume, Carl's Doomsday Scenario is still a fun read in its own right. Having said that, it failed to recapture the magic that made Dungeon Crawler Carl such a special read. It makes me wonder if Matt Dinniman is just a one-trick pony. When you rely on absurdity the way he does, things will almost always be hit or miss. I'm hoping that the author can step up to the plate and prove that the first installment was no fluke.

The final verdict: 7/10

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