Posted by I was in the mood for LitRPG and this book had been recommended to me many times in various places. I do pay attention to your guys’ recommendations when you make them, I just don’t always follow through immediately. Sometimes it takes me a few months… or years… but I do try and get around to them. Thanks to the many of you who recommended this book because it’s become one of my favorite series. The audiobook is next level amazing, too. Do give that a try if you like audiobooks at all, you won’t/can’t be disappointed by it.
Carl, our MC, is introduced as he was outside at 2 a.m. trying to get his ex-gf’s cat back inside after she escaped through a window…only to watch as most of humanity was eliminated instantaneously. All of the buildings around him vanished, sucked into the earth with all the people inside them. So did cars, airplanes, trains et cetera, and since it was 2 a.m. where he was in Portland, Oregon, that means that nearly everyone he knew died within seconds.
He and the cat head towards a portal like thing because he sees no choice. It’s super fucking cold outside, and he’s in boxers. He was at risk of freezing and decided he would go ahead and check out what was inside this portal-esque thing. Turns out, it’s a reality tv show created by aliens and he just stepped through into the dungeon.
To get out of the dungeon each Crawler has to reach level 10, and each level gets progressively more difficult. Carl meets a rat-man (yes, kind of like Splinter from TMNT) and the rat-man is part of a tutorial guild and he gives Carl the rundown of what’s happening and how to survive. There’s a pretty large info dump at the start because of that, but it was an entertaining info dump and made sense in context. Carl learns that survival isn’t just based on a Crawler’s base skills, but it also depends on how much the audience enjoys watching each Crawler. Your view count, number of people who mark you as a favorite, and “sponsors” can send you gifts and other items to help you survive the levels. So, having an “it” factor is a definite boon in this dungeon game that’s televised to trillions.
Donut the cat become sentient and she is by far the best part of the book. She’s so cat-like but also very people-like and it creates a great foil character for Carl. They are opposites but they both need each other to get through these levels. Donut has a following as large or larger than Carl’s and her decisions greatly impact Carl, for better or worse.
The world feels real, too. After the long info dump at the start most of it is introduced naturally in the moment as Carl and Donut are making their way through the levels. I really enjoyed how many classes of characters there were, how people level up, how different races an effect your personality (Crawlers can pick a race other than human to play as once they hit a certain level) and a lot of small details that make the bigger picture feel like it has a ton of depth to it. With each level Carl and Donut reach there are new things added which kept my interest going at an even pace from start to end.
What makes this book pop is the emotional depth it gets to by the end. This book has a lot of death, mostly of the gruesome variety, and some of those characters that you’ll probably like will be gone in a blink of an eye. The fact that things can get pretty serious and emotional helps highlight and accentuate the humor, at least in my opinion. I always appreciate a comedy that’s “more than a comedy” and has some harder hitting moments mixed in with the jokes.
I need to take a minute to talk about the audiobook. Anyone who has followed this account or my blog for any amount of time knows that I love aduiobooks. It’s how I read most books or if not that, then I TTS because I don’t have time to physically read anymore. I’ve listened to literally thousands of titles. I have spent over a year of my life, according to audible stats, listening to audiobooks. This is one of the best ones I’ve ever listened to. The characters are on point. The humor delivery is on point. The light use of sound effects is on point. Literally, all of it was amazing. It’s skyrocketed this series into my favorite series ever. It’s just a fun romp and it feels so immersive when you listen to it. Amazing.
GOD DAMNIT DONUT!
9/10 or 5 stars on Goodreads