This is an E-book series I stumbled across last year written by Matt Dinniman and Narrated by Jeff Hays. I was looking for a new book series to listen to while I was driving and I have to say that it was a great find. There are 6 books out so far and the seventh is coming soon.
Book 1 begins the adventure into the dungeon.
Book 2 Carl learns to play with explosives.
Book 3 Carl gets a book of secrets.
Book 4 Did I mention gods are real in this dungeon?
Book 5 Bugs, bounty hunters, and a possessed sex doll head named Samantha.
Book 6 Yes, there are card battles now, and yes…there is an Uzi Jesus.
This is a fantasy series and the basic premise is that aliens have smooshed everyone on the planet except those who happened to be outdoors and the remaining people are forced into a game of life and death called “The Dungeon” and they are known to the universe as “crawlers.” The object is to stay alive long enough to reach the bottom level and you can get out.
The premise seems simple enough, but as the crawlers progress through each level the challenges become harder and the decisions become almost impossible to make. The main characters of this story are Carl and Donut, but as you go on through the series it gets to where almost all of the characters feel important and you end up having your favorites and rooting for them. This series is hilarious to listen to because some of the stuff like the characters, environmental settings, and occupations is so outlandish, and the dialogue that takes place between characters had me laughing out loud several times.
The series does turn to a more serious overtone though and decisions become, as I said above, almost impossible to make for our heroes.
If I did not include something here about Jeff Hays, then I would be a fool. All I can say is that this narrator is freaking talented beyond anything I’ve ever heard. This narrator does all of the voices in this E-book and let me just say that before I found that out, I believed that there must have been a huge cast for this, as there are many characters here to include males and females, several different dialects, and even robots.
The guy is an incredible talent and made all of the characters that Matt Dinniman created come to life and tell the story masterfully. This series is not done yet and the seventh book is due out toward the end of 2024 as of right now. I look forward to the continued journey of Carl and Donut and encourage anyone to give this series a try and I hope that you enjoy it as much as I have.
I listen to this series on Audible https://www.audible.com and it can also be found at Soundbooth Theater.
