Carl's Doomsday Scenario
Ratings260
Average rating4.4
9/10
Goddamnit, Donut. These books are incredible. Today, I actually had to make the very hard choice of whether to play Baldurs Gate with my friends or keep reading about some other guy “playing” an RPG.
I have also stolen about half of this book for my dnd campaign.
WELL, THAT WAS A LOT OF FUN. Just as good as the first one, but with slightly more world-building which was helpful considering...everything. Still fun, still popcorn fantasy. Nothing better happen to Princess Donut, because she's my favorite and I love her.
ONTO THE NEXT.
This book series continues to be spectacular. The audiobooks are real delight to listen to. Somehow you get really immersed and the humor is great
I really enjoyed this story I fell right into the world of Carl and Princess Doughnut. I will continue this series/journey until the ends!
4.5! The gory silliness continues, and it's almost as entertaining as the first. I keep telling myself I'll start another book inbetween these, but I probably won't.
Contains spoilers
This series is nonexistent in the library systems I have access to, I had to request this and the 3rd book in the series via interlibrary loan. I received this book after the 3rd.
I didn't enjoy this floor as much as I did those in the 1st and 3rd books. The story took place in just 1 town and there weren't as many battles, I don't think. Which is strange because the hardcopy is incredibly thick and not alot of white space on the pages. There should be a really long story here but there's not.
The characters continue to be interesting in all 3 books, however Mordecai is a bit weird in this 1. Either I missed something in the 1st book or there was a drastic change in how the character related to this floor, with some settling in by the 3rd book.
There's still a lot of technical and political information mentioned and I just zoned out on most of that, choosing to "go with the flow" rather than try to memorize something I'd forget by the next book.
4 stars, Metaphorosis reviews
Summary
Carl the human and Princess Donut the cat survived the destruction of the Earth, but only by entering a dungeon competition created for the amusement of the planet's new alien owners. They've done well to survive so far. But that was only the first two, introductory levels. Soon, it will get tough.
Review
I liked Dungeon Crawler Carl, the first in this series. Apparently it's part of a litRPG subgenre I'd not encountered before, and I wasn't too sure the joke would keep on being funny throughout the series. To the end of this second book, though, it still works.
There's a fair amount that's hard to follow, but also unnecessary to worry about – the details of Carl and Donut's fights, the galactic alien politics behind it all, how the ‘magic' works, and even the mechanics of the game system they're all immersed in. The good news is that none of that really matters. It's diverting and entertaining scenery, and there's a lot of leveling up that goes on, but the core of the story is Carl and Donut's relationship and general adventure, and that's where Dinniman has done a good job in this second volume. It's just fun to read – undemanding and diverting.
It's been a while since I read a book that kept demanding to be picked up, but this is one.
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.
I've heard several times now that this is the weakest book in the series and if that's true I'm so excited to keep reading. I had so much fun with this one. The cast of characters and the world around them continue to grow and change and we keep getting all these little chunks of info that really just add more depth than I had expected when starting the first book. Can not wait for book three!
3,5/5
The audiobook is a big step up from the physical copy of book 1 that I read. The narrator does an amazing job!
I still don't know what I think about this serie. Some parts are really awesome, but other parts are boring. There is too much repetitiveness for me and I'm more interested in the underlying world building, conflicts, ... then in all the fighting that is happening.
There also seems to be less humour in this book than in DCC.
I will finish this serie at one point. It's just not high up on my list.
3.50/5.00
Carl's Doomsday Scenario, an action packed adventure through the Dungeons with Princess Donut, his loyal companion and sidekick and starring the pet dinosour-chicken Mongo. A wild ride that started with a bang in Book 1, Carl's Doomsday Scenario suffers severly from the sequel syndrome. While the AI's hilarious comments and jam-packed action blends with Donut's witicissim elegantly, the plot fails to impress in any way. The major quest-plot of this book seems beneth this book and is largely uninteresting. The inter-galactic plot is part way between funny and melodrama and fails to do either one of these properly. Overall, this book is a mixed bag.
Carl and Donut's character development takes a few good steps ahead. While these two pop-heros lambast with action, there are any moments where the characters struggle with decisions or learn any important lessons. This feels largely like a filler book in terms of character development. The series really needs interesting villains. This is a major shortcoming of this fun filled adventure.
The audiobook is highly recommended.
Overall - 8/10
Plot - 7/10 Characters - 7/10 World & Concepts - 8/10 Prose - 6/10 Theme - 7/10 Narration - 10/10 Enjoyment - 9/10
Suffers a bit from middle book syndrome but is still a really solid read.
While I love the heavy handed way Dinniman fosters consistent interest and narrative drive through big plot twists and dramatic cliff-hangers, one thing I've noticed more throughout this entry is the more gentle handed, subtle approach he uses for character development and dramatic elements. It's a really well coordinated two-pronged attack that works incredibly well. The pathos is surprisingly effective and grounded for what is ostensibly outrageous and ridiculous and for me that's the quintessential core element of what makes this series work for me as well as it does.