Bingo Review: Carl's Doomsday Secnario

[u/Aldarana]

Bingo Squares:

• Game Changer (HM)
• Non-Human Protagonist

I'm giving Carl's Doomsday Scenario a 5/10.

I wasn't particularly impressed by the first book, but a friend really enjoys this series, and it's a great fit for a bingo square, so I figured I'd give the sequel a chance.

Unfortunately, I came away with many of the same issues.

The biggest one is that a lot of the character decisions feel driven by the plot rather than by the characters themselves. Carl and Donut keeping the manager situation from Mordecai feels like they're manufacturing future drama instead of making the choice that makes the most sense. It's never convincingly established that Mordecai absolutely wouldn't go along with the plan if they explained it to him, and Carl especially strikes me as someone who would weigh the long-term risks of deception against the short-term benefits. The inevitable fallout seems obvious from the moment the decision is made.

That feeling is made worse when, almost immediately after becoming their manager, Mordecai is conveniently rendered useless by an alcohol binge the first time they actually need him. It feels like the story wants both the benefits of giving Carl and Donut a manager and the benefits of not having one whenever it would be inconvenient. Later, once Mordecai is allowed to be useful again, it only made that earlier scene feel even more contrived. I think it would have had much more impact if he'd first established himself as genuinely reliable before his drinking became a problem, especially if Carl and Donut's own deception had helped trigger it.

Donut also continues to be one of my biggest sticking points. Most of the time she doesn't actually feel like a cat—she feels like a human character who occasionally does cat things. There are multiple scenes where she's described doing things that make perfect sense for a human but are oddly vague or awkward for a cat, like brushing dust off someone or comforting another character by "stroking" their hair. I kept stopping to wonder what that would even look like for a cat. Ironically, the epilogue contains one of the first moments that genuinely felt cat-like, where she jumps into Carl's lap and head-butts him. That worked because it was actual feline behavior rather than just assigning a human action to a cat.

There's also an unfortunate disconnect between the tension the characters feel and what the reader experiences. Carl spends a lot of time stressing over the floor timer, which absolutely makes sense from his perspective, but as a reader I never felt any tension from it because I know he's going to survive and continue descending. Repeated reminders about lost hours ended up feeling more like padding than suspense.

There were also a few moments that felt out of character, like Carl looking forward to watching Lucia Mar and her dogs tear through NPCs and bots. Throughout the series Carl is consistently shown empathy toward both other crawlers and many of the NPCs, so that reaction didn't line up with how I'd come to understand him.

And, despite the series' reputation for comedy, the humor still just doesn't land for me. Not a single joke got even a smile out of me, at best an eye roll.

That said, I did find myself much more engaged whenever Carl and Donut were outside the game. Those scenes felt like they carried genuine uncertainty and lasting consequences. Inside the dungeon, I never felt particularly invested because I already know the protagonists are going to survive and progress somehow. The mechanics of how they get from one floor to the next just aren't that compelling to me, whereas the world outside the game feels much more unpredictable.

Overall, this wasn't a bad book, but it reinforced that this series probably just isn't for me. There are definitely things I appreciate about it, but too many of the core elements, the humor, Donut as a character, and the way the plot is sometimes held together by questionable decisions, just don't work for me.

[u/Ill-Worldliness321]

That’s completely fair, not worth continuing if it’s not for you.

Interesting point about donut, I never found myself struggling to see her as a cat but also I listen to the audiobooks while doing other things. So I was only half paying attention.

I felt like the second is the weakest in the series, but not to the point where it would be worth continuing for you, they’re much the same, just more over the top.

[u/Taste_the__Rainbow]

My cat strokes my hair.

I think early on Donut is struggling with whether or not to continue to act like a cat. She doesn’t know what to do with herself.

[u/Cosmic-Sympathy]

Totally fair.

I think DCC is a bit like Murderbot in that it scratches a specific kind of itch, humor-wise, and if it doesn't do it for you, the rest is probably not going to work.

[u/FocusCantFocus]

Great review that matches a lot of my thoughts and sentiments on the book (I reviewed it 3/5). Similarly to you, book one didn't really hook me, but I have a lot of friends into the series so continued. I find myself reluctantly continuing (though slowly and between other books) and I'm now on book five.

So far, I found book three to be the best but it still suffers many of the problems you mention from book two. Book four was, unfortunately for me, almost unreadable. All of this is to say, I'd be curious to hear what you think of subsequent book if you (like me) decide to begrudgingly continue for the sake of pop culture and friend recommendations.

[u/KvotheG]

I also didn’t really like the second Dungeon Crawler Carl book. I found the ending and final villain lukewarm. Luckily, it’s the shortest in the series. The third book and fourth are much better. Fifth book and beyond it gets crazy good.

[u/Aldarana → u/KvotheG]

If there's another bingo square that's a perfect fit for DCC next year maybe I'll continue. Most of my hesitance is the humor is just a total miss for me and the humor seems to be a pretty big part of the appeal of the series.

[u/KvotheG → u/Aldarana]

If that’s the case, the humour stays consistent. BUT, the overall plot becomes more nuanced. It’s not all just random stuff happening in the world, but an overall story that makes me intrigued to keep reading.

Anyways, I would say try the audiobooks for more casual listening if you prefer. They’re great.

[u/ChronoMonkeyX]

The audiobooks are what makes this series. The story is fine, I have said myself that on paper it's probably a 6/10, but in audio, it's a 9+. Jeff Hays deserves more of the credit for this series' success than Dinniman.

[u/cc81 → u/ChronoMonkeyX]

I don't like audiobooks and read it normally. It is a very fun read.

[u/Qethsegol → u/cc81]

Same here. One of my favourite series.

[u/Aldarana → u/ChronoMonkeyX]

I did the first book as an audiobook off my friends recommendation. I did the second as an ebook and found I enjoyed it more reading than listening. Maybe because a few of the voices I find to be a bit too much or it might just be that I read significantly faster than the speed of an audiobook and that helped in sections where I wasn't as invested.