Pete's Log: Carl’s Doomsday Scenario by Matt Dinniman
Entry #2686, (Books, Writing, n such)(posted when I was 46 years old.)
I just completed Carl’s Doomsday Scenario by Matt Dinniman, the sequel to Dungeon Crawler Carl. I came close to not finishing it. While book 1 featured levels 1 and 2 of the apocalyptic RPG dungeon, book 2 was level 3 of the dungeon. Despite how fast I got through book 1, book 2 immediately felt like a chore.
I don't think it's any worse than the first book, it's just that the book got straight into the action and since this dungeon is supposed to have 20ish levels, it became clear to me just how much more of the gore and juvenile humor of the game runners I'd have to put up with. So it was slow going. But I got through it. And like the first one, it is "funny and silly and fast-paced but also dark and bleak and violent." But while there were some interesting new elements to the plot, I just don't know if I can do the full series. It's already at seven books and counting.
The book does have good reviews. And the author does try to make it clear that the juvenile humor and the cruelty is the nature of how the game is run, and our protagonist is fighting not just to survive the game, but also against its creators. Yet I don't know. I'm going to give the series a break for now.