I’m not sure I’ve ever written a DNF post before, but I guess there’s a first time for everything. Both of these books were highly anticipated, so DNFing them is a hard pill to swallow. I also want to mention that both books are getting rave reviews from lots of readers, so they might work for you too. Here are my thoughts and why I decided not to finish them.
Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman
Just about every blogger I know gave this book five stars, so it’s painful to admit Dungeon Crawler Carl just wasn’t the right book for me. This is LitRPG, and for someone who doesn’t play video games, I just didn’t see the appeal. At first things were great. The set-up is a lot of fun, a bit audacious and over-the-top, but I was curious to see where the author was going to take things. Everyone on Earth who happens to be inside a structure is killed in an instant by aliens, but Carl was outside at 2:00 a.m. in the freezing cold, wearing nothing but jockey shorts and his ex-girlfriend’s too-small-Crocs, chasing his ex-girlfriend’s cat Princess Donut after she jumped out the window. Lucky Carl, he didn’t die, but now he has to participate in a fight-to-the-death, televised game. I loved Princess Donut the cat (who ends up being able to talk soon after they enter the dungeon), a snarky and entitled fluffball who has funnier dialog than Carl, to be honest. Carl, though, didn’t make much of an impact on me, which might be one reason I struggled to finish the book.
And while I did enjoy some of the LitRPG elements, like the achievement levels and rewards that keep popping up as Carl and Donut make their way through the tunnels, it got old very fast. The game is comprised of eighteen levels, starting one level down and getting deeper as you go, and all I could think was that by page 143 (where I stopped reading), they were still on Level 1. There are seven books in the series, I believe, and I don’t know whether those eighteen levels are spread out over all seven books, but hell if I’m going to stick around to find out, lol. The story is already repetitive with Carl and Donut running through tunnels, meeting something dangerous (trolls, rats, weird alien creatures, etc) and killing it, being rewarded with various magical spells and weapons (which they digitally add to their digital inventory) and then doing it all over again. In between there are flashes of more interesting fare, like a couple of other characters that keep popping up, but I was just too bored to keep going.
Too bad, because the worldbuilding was so cool, and I wanted to learn more about the big picture. No doubt I’m missing out on a lot of fun stuff, but my time is just too precious right now to slog through a story that might get more interesting later on.
Sorry, Carl, that’s it for me.
The Last One by Rachel Howzell Hall
I only made it to page 50 in The Last One, although I wanted to give it more of a chance to get better. Last year I read and really enjoyed Rachel Howzell Hall’s What Never Happened, a contemporary mystery that takes place on Catalina Island. Hall’s writing style worked really well for that genre, and I have to admit I was a little nervous going into The Last One, which is fantasy. I was worried about the author’s bold, breezy writing style translating to a fantasy setting and characters, and I was right to worry—it didn’t work at all. This basically reads like a fantasy book written by an author who’s never written fantasy before (and maybe hasn’t even read a lot of it). Not only is the plot confusing, but the characters’ contemporary way of speaking, their use of slang and swear words, etc. just didn’t lend itself to a fantasy vibe.
Basically the story is about a woman named Kai who wakes up in a strange land without any memories, and she meets some people who try to help her. It’s clear she’s going to be someone important, maybe a chosen one (ugh), and of course right off the bat she meets a tall, handsome and very annoying man who will become her spicy love interest. I don’t have much more to say about The Last One, simply because I just couldn’t read one more page. The story never grabbed me and those first fifty pages were bor-ing. I’m sad because the cover is so pretty, and of course it’s possible I’m missing out on a lot of good elements by quitting early.
Life is too short to read books we’re not enjoying so sometimes DNFs need to happen. I had two this year which is less than I thought lol
I hope to have more next year! Well, maybe “hope” isn’t the right word, but you know what I mean.
Oh no, I hate contemporary speak in high fantasy. Thanks for the heads-up. Lots of love
Me too, unless the author is writing satire, it just pulls me out of the story.
Ahoy there! I love your DNF posts. I find them to be so interesting and helpful when I am deciding to read something. In this case, I wasn’t sure if I was going to read either and the answer is nope. Saved time. Hooray! I have to admit that I continue to be curious about Princess Donut because talking cats are one of my jams. Otherwise that book doesn’t interest me at all. I am glad lots of other readers enjoy it though. Arrr!
Princess Donut was definitely the highlight of what I read, but there are too many pages and probably not enough Princess Donut:-)
Yeah, gotta say I am unsurprised. I really didn’t think DCC was gonna be your jam. There’s so many good books, no sense reading the ones that don’t appeal, right? Great move DNF and thanks for sharing.
I was a little hesitant but based on all the bloggers I follow who loved it, I thought it might work for me. Oh well!
Definitely not going to read either of these! Thank you for sharing, and saving us the pain of having to DNF these ourselves!
Hey, I’m here to help;-)
Definitely understandable with Dungeon Crawler Carl. I see a lot of people raving about it (I’m guilty of this as well, haha), but I really don’t think it’s going to be for everyone. I often wonder if I would have enjoyed it as much if I had read the physical book instead of listened to the audio because I can see it getting tiresome to read all that, haha. Also good to know about The Last One as well, I’d been curious but a bit hesitant, and I think I’ll pass on it for now. I appreciate hearing why people choose to DNF books, so I appreciate this. I’ve become a big DNF person these days because I just don’t want to spend my time reading things that aren’t grabbing me.
I am curious about the audio for Carl, maybe it’s better in that format. I’m going to DNF more next year, plus it’s sort of fun to write these posts, lol.
By far the best audible experience I have had. Jeff Hayes is the narrator and he truly brings all of the characters to life, especially Princess Donut. He’s incredibly talented. I would definitely recommend giving it a shot, if you are willing and able.
Thanks for the tip!
It might be controversial, idk, but I’ll say that a major reason for the books popularity can be attributed to the studio that created the audiobook. Sound booth studios is owned and operated by Jeff Hayes. It got so big that in later books they brought in not only one of the industries best current narrators in Travis Baldree, but also Patrick Warburton. Many people who have very little interest in the genre of lit, RPG or fantasy in general have been captivated by this audiobook for obvious reasons, once listened to.
I don’t think I will read either of these Tammy!
Good choice Sophie!
I was curious about the first book being also the first in a series – I thought, how on Earth has the publisher planned things so far ahead? but then I went on GR and I realised that it’s a reprint, and the other 6 are already out…also, it says on GR that in the 7th installment Carl is still on level 9…O_O
“It’s clear she’s going to be someone important, maybe a chosen one (ugh), and of course right off the bat she meets a tall, handsome and very annoying man who will become her spicy love interest.”
That would have bothered me more than the writing style LOL. But I hear you!
OMG really?? So the series isn’t finished I guess. When I saw “18 levels” I almost didn’t pick up the book, lol.
I’m picking up the latest book in the DCC series. I love it so far and I really hope they don’t make it to lvl 18 ! There are clues as to why in book 1. Also, Princess rules!
I’m glad you’re loving it:-)
The author’s plan is for 10 books, give or take. Book 5 basically sets up the end game, and the 7th book really feels like the big opening of that endgame, substantially accelerating a change in power dynamics within the plot. Book 9 will deal with the Ascendancy Game on the 12th floor, and I expect the series to conclude with book 10.
As regards the levels of the dungeon, while they all take place within the same dungeon and deal with overcoming the levels and their game design, aside from the first two levels (in book 1) they are all very unique and have radically different stories. The author does not lack crazy ideas.
Better to cut these short so you can find ones that work much better for you. I do look forward to trying Dungeon Crawler Carl, see if it works for me, but I’m still confused by what LitRPG even means so no clue yet if that will appeal to me or annoy me. When younger I played a lot of paper-based D&D, and then some of the D&D computer RPGs, but beyond that I’m not the biggest video game player. We’ll see.
I’ll be curious to see if it works for you. I just didn’t have any patience for the repetitive plot.
I have a hard time with lit rpg in general! If I wanted to play I would just go play a game… I don’t need to read about it in mechanical form I do agree about Carl though it took a very long time to get going
I’ve heard from some gamers that they loved Dungeon Crawler Carl, so I guess it’s an individual thing. I have a feeling I’m missing out by not sticking with it, but oh well!
I’m so sorry that both of these didn’t work for you. Hopefully your next read will be much better. I’ve got to admit that I didn’t think the first one sounded like my kind of read anyway (I have enjoyed a RPG before but I can’t imagine reading about one) but the seconds on my TBR so the struggles you had are pretty worrying. It’s so frustrating when the way people speak doesn’t fit within a fantasy world.
You just never know when a book isn’t going to work, even if it looks good on paper.
You really don’t need to be a gamer or interested in gaming to enjoy Dungeon Crawler Carl. My 73 year old father has listened to the first 6 of them on audible and absolutely loved them. The real treat of these books is Jeff Hay’s narration. Give them a shot on audible if you really want the full experience.
I have heard they are really good in audio, great suggestion, I may have to try again!
So DCC gets really good the further you get. There is sooooo much more than Carl and Donut fighting through generic tunnels. Every floor (after 2) is a whole new world being built. And underneath all of it is intergalactic intrigue and politicking, themes of humanity and friendship and family. The first book really just introduced the dungeon mechanics. After that it gets so much deeper and cooler. I almost put down the first book after a few chapters, and I’m so glad I didn’t.
Good to know! You aren’t the first person to tell me it gets better, so now I may have to reconsider
Not that I think I’ll get to it anytime soon, but I’ll be on the fence about the first one. It sounds good, but your issues with it might be a problem for me! Only 2 DNFs for you this year? Lol, I have so many more, probably at least 2 a month. In fact I need to go back and figure that out for sure for my end of the year wrap-up. The second one has such a pretty cover, but I’ve come to find that often means it will be too much fantasy for me, lol.
I’m sure I have more DNFs, but I haven’t felt like writing about them. Maybe next year I’ll keep track better.
Aw I am VERY sad about Dungeon Crawler Carl! I was interested in that one too, but was also worried about the gaming aspect. Idk if I will ever give it a try at this point honestly- especially with SEVEN books, my goodness. Maybe if I find it on sale or something. The Last One… well I do think I’ll just avoid that one like the plague heh.
Lots of people love it, so you might too!
I wondered if this was your first DNF post until I started reading. I’m sorry these didn’t work out. I’m also surprised to see Dungeon Crawler Carl on here since it’s been getting so much praise.
I do feel like the only person out there who doesn’t like DCC. Sigh.
Haha I just finished DCC book 4 in audio and the characters just completed level 5. I don’t know think the series will actually covered all the levels or this is going to be a long haul. I think he’ll defeat the “dungeon masters” before that happens.
I have heard audio is the way to go:-)
As a former book blogger/reviewer. We always used the 100 page rule. Self explanatory. And trust me I wrote a column which was mainly cheap pulpy like reads. And all I’ve heard has been praise for the DCC book. But after finding some actual reviews like yours. Glad I’ve not wasted my time. I don’t mind snarky or cynicism. Hell my cousin was that. But to be this sounded like someone really loves RPGs and pop culture. And I’ve played RPGs since I was a teen. It sounded like a variation of the video game Smash TV and Ready Player One. Maybe I’ve just aged out of current fantasy books.
I am sorry that these two didn’t work for you! This is the first time I heard about the second book you reviewed but I am not so interested in learning more. I think I would have the same problems too!
Definitely pass on that one!
It’s a shame when books don’t work their magic for you. I’ve had a few DNFs this year – I should probably try and do brief posts for them really – just to explain my thoughts.
Lynn
I actually enjoyed writing the DNF reviews. And it is a great way to explain why you stopped reading them.
You need to listen to the audible version of dungeon Crawler Carl. You are missing out. And I feel sorry for you.
Lol! Everyone’s been telling me this. I may have to give it a listen. Glad you love it so much