Season 7 Episode 1: Dungeon Crawler Carl Book 1

Welcome to But Are There Dragons, a podcast where two friends pick a book at least one of them has not read, and talk about it. For our seventh season, we're reading Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman! This episode covers part 1, with, new achievement, Jessica as the vet and Kritter as the first timer!

Don’t forget to follow us at But Are There Dragons on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok, and But Dragons Pod, just one t, on X, formerly known as Twitter.
You can find Kritter at Kritter XD on YouTube, TikTok, and X, and at Kritter _XD on Instagram.
You can find Jessica by searching Shelf Indulgence on TikTok, Instagram, and X.

Music credit to: Frog's Theme by Nobuo Uematsu, Noriko Matsueda, Yasunori Mitsuda
ReMix: Chrono Trigger "Theme of Frog's" - OC ReMix

Transcript

Welcome And Episode Scope

SPEAKER_00 0:18

Welcome to But Are There Dragons, a podcast where two friends pick a book at least one of them hasn't read and talk about it. I'm your host, Critter. And I'm your host, Jess. And today we're going to be talking about the first half of Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinneman. A series of books that could not have been more hyped to me. Like in my direction. The world was so excited about this, at least my world, including Jessica and Mr. Jessica. So this is an exciting time for me now that I've read half. And we're gonna be talking about it today. Very exciting, Jessica. Very exciting. Okay, so what are their updates? Before we talk about the book, we are going to talk about something new that's happened that we want to talk about. And that new thing this week is the fact that Apple TV has secured the rights to the Cosmere, or at least to the Stormline Archive and Mistborn trilogy. Deep deep breaths. Deep breaths! So they're saying Mistborn is going to be a series of movies, like the trilogy of movies, presumably, although, like everything, it'll probably split the last one into two because that's how it goes. We've all seen the Hunger Games. I hope. I hope. Um, but anyways, and then the Stormlight Archive is going to be a television series. So that makes sense. Those books are bulky. It would be really tough to fit them into movies. Um, so yeah, Jessica, when you heard this news, what were your thoughts?

SPEAKER_01 2:06

Um my thoughts, no thoughts, just squeeze, which is kind of my baseline. Um however, when rational thought did re-introduce itself into my environment, um I was a little contemplative about the fact that it's nice to have new hype. Um I am a squee girl, in case anybody who listens to this doesn't know that. Um, that's what I bring to the party, is I get excited, and I'm always excited when IPs I know are getting the treatment. And Brandon Sanderson was brought to me by uh the Wheel of Time fandom family. So it's near and dear to my heart, and I'm excited to see it get the treatment. I do know a little bit about the fact that Brandon has held close to those rights because he wants to preserve his input uh based on interviews I've seen with him and things. I'm not did I call him Brandon like I know him first name basis?

SPEAKER_00 3:08

I mean, is it better than Brando Sando or Brandan? Because I get that like Branderson Sanderson.

SPEAKER_01 3:14

Yeah, but you're cute and flashy and you can get away with that stuff. I'm just over here going, yeah, Brandon, we hang out. Uh but at any rate, uh, I know based on interviews that I've seen that he has held on to the rights to make sure that he is comfortable with the way that it's going to be treated creatively. And I also heard uh unsubstantiated, right, on social media, that he at least for a hot second had a title as executive producer on IMDB associated with one of these titles. So that's you know, kind of further supported by what I've seen him say in past interviews. So all exciting, right? Like just yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:55

The announcement article, I think it was on Variety, actually said that that was a big part of the deal, was that he wanted to retain creative control. So he's going to be writing. He's going to, he's actually, it's on his website now, like the progress of the Miss Bord movies. Um, he's gonna be writing. He's he's retained uh the right of approval, which is insane. Because a lot of times, you know, they'll be like, sure, you can consult, but we're not gonna listen to you, which is apparently something that happened to George R. Martin with several of the things that he's been consulting on that are his originally. Um, so I think that is probably my guess how Apple TV secured the bag, because I imagine that Netflix, HBO, everybody else was kind of less inclined to be flexible. Whereas Apple TV makes incredible content. I don't know if you have it, but oh my god, everything I've seen from them is incredible from murder bot to shrinking, like it's runs.

SPEAKER_01 4:49

It was kind of a pew pew, right? Like it's a beloved IP for me going forward into a new medium. And it was picked up by a house that I think can do it justice, which is just super exciting. Uh, you know, with talking about save what and things like that, where like Apple would be great to pick it up because they do such incredible content and they take risks and they and they uh they treat, they don't treat it like a money wheel necessarily, or at least it doesn't feel like it by the time it trickles down to us as much.

SPEAKER_00 5:22

Yeah, no, I think they're great. The one bittersweet thing about this is like I kept holding out hope that if anybody was gonna pick up the wheel of time, that it would be Apple TV. So I'm not saying that's not gonna happen, uh, but it is, it does feel like, okay, well, that's where their money's going. But let's all remember that Apple, I believe, is the richest corporation in the world. So if they can afford Stormlight and Mistborn, they can still afford the Wheel of Time. So Apple TV, please hashtag save what. Hashtag save what. But I am very, very excited about this. You mentioned like there being fresh hype. Whenever I got the news, my jaw dropped, first of all, and then I was like, oh my god, this is something that I can make a TikTok about. Like, this is something I can talk about on the internet and be hyped about. Like, this is my bread and butter. Like, I love reporting on fantasy news, and it makes it so easy to create content because I'm just like in it in the moment and just as hyped as everybody else, and so excited to tell people that didn't hear the news. Like being the person who tells them is just like, I don't know, it gives me great joy. And so having that again, because that was like that was my thing during the Wheel of Time era. Uh, anytime there was show news, I'd be straight posting, like ready to talk about it, super excited, and I don't see that being different for these. Um I yeah, I'm just really hyped to start this ball rolling again, even though I would love to continue the Wheel of Time ball if possible, also.

unknown 6:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:47

I will just say on a personal note, I was a little late to the Watt family hype. So it is kind of neat to be here on the front end, which adds a little bit more um savor to me to be able to be here. Uh, you know, I was never treated any different for joining in late. Like get in here and party with us was always the vibe. Yeah. Uh, but it is nice to be like at the beginning stages, and I I really hope that it comes to fruition.

Creative Control, Fandom Hype, And Hopes

SPEAKER_00 7:16

Me too. I'm I'm hyped. So I think that does it. I think we did a good little beginning segment. But are their updates complete? Let us know in the comments or on Discord if you are as hyped as we are, if you're skeptical at all. Um, the one thing I am curious about is if Brandon Sanderson can write screenplays like he can write books, or are they two different? Is it gonna be weird? Is it gonna be a big learning curve for him? So if you have any thoughts about this announcement, let us know because we'd love to talk with you about it. Okay, time for Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinneman. So I read the audiobook as always. Fabulous so far. And I've heard it only gets better, and I can't even imagine that because it's like already so fun.

SPEAKER_01 8:02

Um so I'm gonna take us back just a half. Oh, sorry, sorry. That's okay. So we're gonna we're swapping roles. I'm gonna be the vet this time, which is so funny. Uh and but I'm gonna try and do it properly. So I wanted to start by I I stole shamelessly from the interwebs this discussion bullet. Um, what is Dungeon Crawler Carl about? Uh, in case anybody who is kind of doing a read-along or a listen-along and doesn't know. Um, book follows Carl, a Coast Guard vet navigating a post-apocalyptic world turned into a game like Dungeon, accompanied by his ex-girlfriend's cat, Princess Dona. The duo faces absurd challenges in a televised survival game run by aliens. It's a mix of humor, bizarre adventures, and unexpected twists. I thought that was a very good elevator pitch on what Dungeon Carler Carl is. Um, and so to kick us off properly, because it is the first book in a prolonged series that we may potentially read, I thought I would kick us off with the origin story for each of us. So you did a great job in the beginning saying that lots and lots of people are very excited that you're reading it, myself included. I think Mr. Critter was also excited. Um did you have? So my question is how did you hear about the series and how much did you know about it going in? And I'll say that I heard about the series from Mr. Jessica, and the only thing I knew is that there was a wildly charismatic character in it named Princess Donut. That's all I knew going in. So, how about you?

SPEAKER_00 9:45

Um, so I want to say it was either like at a con or on Discord, and I want to say it might have been Mr. Jessica and or some of the other people like collectively on my Discord, being like, because we have a book recommendations channel. I I think it was that. And at first, I will admit, I kind of wrote it off because I was like, it's D in a book. Like, what are we talking about? And granted, I enjoyed Vox Machina, which is DD in a show, but it just I wasn't immediately sold. I was just kind of like, okay, that's cool. I'm glad you like it, you know. Maybe I'll get there someday. Uh and then it just kept happening. It just kept happening. Friends of mine who I hadn't talked about the series with, who don't even read that much, read it, loved it, like from all areas. One of them recently was like, oh my gosh, I just I, you know, it's a fun book series, but it also just made me cry. And I was like, Wow, what are we talking about? So uh, you know, as I mentioned, the hype, it's been all-encompassing and it's been it started as a slow trickle, and then it really picked up into an absolute, like torrential downpour of enthusiasm about this series. So then it became inevitable. I think it was like, you know what? I have to know. Like, what's one book, right? Because we don't have to continue it if it's just something I'm experiencing, and uh, and so I I it was it was time.

SPEAKER_01 11:12

Yeah. Well, that's a great segue. So I had written down that when I first started it, I was like, so what is this genre? What genre is this technically considered? It's referred to is lit lit RPG. And I know that for me, this is my first book that's uh classified that way. Would you say this is your first lit RPG read that you know of?

SPEAKER_00 11:36

Probably, I think the closest thing that I have read to this is Ready Player One. Have you read that?

SPEAKER_01 11:43

I have not. Uh, that's another one that Mr. Jessica has said, hey, you should really read this. Um I would say that if I think you read Kith and Kin for Vax and Bats.

SPEAKER_00 11:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:55

I think technically that would be Okay, but that was written very differently.

Switching Gears To Dungeon Crawler Carl

SPEAKER_00 12:01

But you're not wrong. Like it is two DD characters, it's just their story, but it doesn't feel as much like a And it might be borderline because it was almost like it was it was generated after the campaign as backstory.

SPEAKER_01 12:15

So it's a little wishy-washy, but that was the only thing. When you just mentioned Fox Mach and I, I was like, oh, that's right. We do kind of read that.

SPEAKER_00 12:23

I did read Kith and Ken. It just felt very much a story, you know. It's as if like uh, you know, Legend of Korra is a TV show and they made like graphic novels out of it. Like that's kind of but obviously it's different because Legend of Korra wasn't a game. But yeah, um Ready Player One is it's very video gamey, it's very nostalgic. There are times when the main character is in a game, um, but I don't know if it's technically classified as lit RPG. So I'm actually yeah, yeah. That's but this is this is wholly unique. It's you know, the it's they're a little similar in some ways, but it's very different still.

SPEAKER_01 13:03

Okay. Um I would agree with you that this series is kind of caught fire even in the time that I've discovered it. So again, setting the origin story background, I am only about six months to a year ahead of you. I think I I think I actually started reading the series about a year ago and just finished up through the completed book like November or something. So I only had one full read-in before you. Uh, but technically that gives me my vet status. So here we are. Uh, but it is a very devourable series.

SPEAKER_00 13:38

That's what I mean. In my opinion. That it's fast, it moves fast. Also, I looked it up. Ready Player One is indeed classified as lit RPG on Wikipedia. So your girl is not a lit RPG newbie in that sense.

SPEAKER_01 13:51

And I do feel like Dungeon Crawler Carl is lighting up my TikTok feed these days. It hasn't caught me yet.

SPEAKER_00 13:58

It hasn't caught it yet. Yeah.

What The Book Is About

SPEAKER_01 14:01

Beware. Okay. Um yeah, so that's fun. So getting into part one, I would also like to say that going into this as our seventh season, we yet again picked another phenomenal breaking point where it just so happened that the book is broken into part one and part two. And I think we had a hella cool um cliffhanger. Would you agree?

SPEAKER_00 14:28

Oh my gosh. Well, you know that I agree because I texted you the moment that it happened. The text, the moment that it happened, I literally was like, oh my god, I just heard the the awful words like part two, meaning I have to stop. They ended it right at the time where they got pulled out of the game for an interview. Like, this is the Caesar Flickerman moment. This is this is the time that Princess Donut is going to thrive, and they cut us off. I couldn't keep reading uh in order to preserve my newbie status. It was hard, it hurt. It was like I'm so proud of you. It was like five days ago, and I I've been like, I'm in slight pain ever since, wanting to keep reading.

SPEAKER_01 15:11

But tonight you're gonna be so happy.

SPEAKER_00 15:13

I'm so like I literally read um System Collapse by Martha Wells. It's like a shortish um murder bot book. Um, after I finished this part one, because I was literally like, I can't just sit here not read. I have to distract myself, but I just finished it last night. Perfect timing. It's time to start part two.

SPEAKER_01 15:31

Nice. So I am interested. Uh I'm throwing back to like even all the way back to the beginning for our Lord of the Ring days, you and I have both discussed that we struggle for for sometimes the same reasons, sometimes different reasons, with battle scenes. And I find that with the way battles are done in this book, it is still challenging for me. And I'm wondering, how was it for you? Wasn't it as hard as it was with Lord of the Ring saying different how?

SPEAKER_00 16:03

So I think these to me were possibly more visualizable. That's a word. Um because it's they're smaller scale battles, right? They're they feel very video game oriented, right? They feel like bosses that you would encounter while playing, you know, Diablo 2. Or what you know, I'm thinking of the like Belch Lady or whatever. Like there, I feel like I've fought that boss somewhere, you know, in some zombie game or what Left 4 Dead. So, you know, there are certain things that are just so familiar that I can kind of visualize what's happening, which helps because in big scale battles, it's like, you know, this front is over here doing this, this person's over, and I'm like, okay. And you're glazed, they're fighting. But and these are like fast enough and familiar enough for me that I I think I did glaze probably for all of them, but only briefly, but only for a little bit, you know, like I I caught the main parts for for sure.

How We Heard About The Series

SPEAKER_01 17:10

Nice. I had made a note that you're a bit more of a gamer than I was, so I was wondering if that was gonna work in your favor in this situation. Yeah, I'm not surprised to hear that. Not that I wasn't, you know, I did definitely get jazzed every time I'd hear like a DD reference, and I'd have a moment where like I understood that reference, and that got me very excited. But you have played more actual video game gaming, and so I I felt like those dynamics were probably a little easier for you to weather.

SPEAKER_00 17:41

Yeah, yeah. Oh my gosh, you know what the I have to say, like my video game knowledge really kicked in with the the pig ball, or I can't remember the name of this, but uh the tusklings, the tusklings, and then it's not exact, but it sounded so much like something that you would find in Borderlands because it's like this extremely irrelevant. This whole thing actually, the book itself really reminded me of Borderlands give because of the humor. Like Borderlands has this kind of like cutting, you know, uh what is the word? It's it's um irre irreverent, it's just really like funny. I like the humor in Borderlands, and it's got like absurd things that happen and absurd bosses and uh and the pig ball just made me think of it for some reason.

SPEAKER_01 18:26

Nice, yeah. Um, and I did mic down that you know, we've established that you are an audiobook queen, you have way more audiobook hours than I do under your belt. I have a lot. Um, but just as a reminder for you and for anybody who might be listening or watching, this was my first audiobook. This is the book that um sent me and spoiled me a little bit. Um, because this is this narration was so good that I was like, oh, I really do like audiobook uh narration. So as a general rule, do you like it so far?

SPEAKER_00 19:02

The book or the narration?

SPEAKER_01 19:04

The narration.

SPEAKER_00 19:05

Yes, yes, absolutely. I I really appreciate whatever it's not just reading. And in this case, it's not. They add like sound effects. So, for example, when it's new achievement and they add like reverberation and stuff like that, like that. Those are like the tiny touches that I think are so fun and just add a little something something to an audiobook um that elevates it above the run-of-the-mill audiobook. So, yeah, I'm definitely I'm into it. I don't have any clear complaints, nothing like pinged me as being like, uh, this could be better.

SPEAKER_01 19:38

Nothing took you out of the story, like talking about throats or anything.

SPEAKER_00 19:43

Sliding a tongue down a throat. No, sorry, fourth wing reference.

SPEAKER_01 19:46

Yeah, throwing back for some old butter dragons reference.

SPEAKER_00 19:50

Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, nothing like that happened. It was all just good vibes.

SPEAKER_01 19:54

Awesome. Awesome. Um, so sorry, I went out of order and I never should have done that.

SPEAKER_00 20:02

That's okay.

SPEAKER_01 20:03

Um so we talked about you know the battle scenes. I feel like left to my own devices, I would say the two most people, the two most important characters that get introduced in part one, us apart from Carl, are Dona and Mordecai. Yeah. I find them both to be very entertaining. And I thought, you know, do you agree? Was there anybody else that really jumped off the page at you as it is, or were those the two big ones?

SPEAKER_00 20:33

I mean, jumped off the page would have been the the guy who was killing people, like peep people. Um that was really yeah, that was creepy, and obviously he had like a partner or whatever, but I just he was were he was the worst. I don't know why, just like his whole vibe. I hated it, you know, the fact that they discovered the body first and it had been looted and like stripped down. I just got these really like seedy vibes. Um, interestingly, how it was like they they attributed them to like ice or whatever, like customs and border patrol, which was like, oh, so timely. I wonder if they wanted us to feel some kind of way about that. Um yeah, uh, but anyways, yeah, that was like it's because I just recently read uh Stephen King, a series of Stephen King novellas, um and called under the It Bleeds, they're like packaged, and there's like certain characters in that one in particular that's like just really it'll make he makes your skin crawl, like truly makes your skin crawl. And I got that same thing from him. So like obviously Mordecai Delightful, Princess Donut, perfection. Carl, super fun. That guy was the guy that like felt like comp like a villain to me. I don't know. I hated him. I really hated him.

LitRPG Labels And Comparisons

SPEAKER_01 21:51

Yeah. So I will say that when I got to that part of my first read through, that was really a turning point in the story for me because up until now, this had been a bunch of bad stuff that was being done to humans by other races. And this is the first time in the story that we hear them overtly, uh, that the author overtly introduces humans being awful to humans in this. you know, actual apocalypse.

SPEAKER_00 22:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:16

And and you're taking the time to kill other humans.

SPEAKER_00 22:20

Right. Right. Not unrealistic, but tragic in the sense that it's not unrealistic.

SPEAKER_01 22:26

Right. So yeah, he definitely he stood out. Frank Hugh definitely stands out. Um there are a couple of things in part one that are uh kind of intense like uh a room full of goblin babies might be a thing that yeah is an elephant in a room I I had honestly I had blocked that one out of my memory.

SPEAKER_00 22:52

I was thinking the uh the fact that at least the gym bro and the trash bag lady were both humans that got transfigured into beasts and were like there against their will doing those things.

SPEAKER_01 23:06

I remember being very horrified at that.

SPEAKER_00 23:09

Yeah and like the fact that Carl recognizes it and is also horrified by it makes you sympathize with him more as a character, right? He's not just like this is the final boss I have to fight him. He's like this sucks. I hate this why do I have to do this? Like so I did appreciate that about him.

SPEAKER_01 23:25

Yep there are a couple uh there are a couple moments like that even in you know the first half of book one um the the goblin babies thing for me so again that was the boss that they the first boss that they battled and in order to kill the goblin boss Dona gave him the thumbs up and she's like oh he was just sitting there reading a book and then you know Carlson's in his bomb and oh maybe he was reading to all those kids and it's such a it's such a it's not a fun moment that sounds terrible. It's such an interesting moment uh because even as many times as we discussed it Mr. Jessica and I were just talking about it last night and for us the debate is a friendly debate but a debate nonetheless is that a product of donut becoming more becoming a sentient creature or is it a lack of empathy? Because I feel like I feel like there's a progression in Donut's empathy and she is not there yet and so I feel like she's a little underdeveloped in her own way still okay um or is it her ruthlessness because there are definitely times where donut can just be ruthless.

SPEAKER_00 24:49

So yeah I mean she's or some other thing she's a cat there's a yeah there's a couple ways to look at it right because like she says things that hurt Carl all the time casually without even presumably thinking about it. Though maybe she does think about it and she knows that it hurts him and he she says it anyways you know about the fact that her her master was cheating on Carl constantly like was she dropping and referring to him as her manservant like yeah well that I take is like ribbing I hope but the other stuff is like she's just like oh yeah is that why that guy came and like you know was you know you know what I'm talking about where she I do I know exactly what she constantly told Carl about how bad his ex-girlfriend was um yeah I don't know it's interesting like are you suggesting because she just now developed like humanoid characteristics that like because of that she doesn't have the human empathy developed yet and that that's like a thing that will be a progression or I mean that's how I took it in the moment.

SPEAKER_01 25:52

So going trying to throw back to the first time I read it and then rereading it this time and trying to think about that I in the at the time I kind of just attributed it to she's still a child in mentality in some ways because empathy is a learned trait and I would assume that as a cat you don't spend time worrying about other people's I am making assumptions but you I would assume that cats don't spend a lot of time worrying about other people's outcomes other creatures safety like it's survival of the fittest and you look out for yourself.

Part One Cliffhanger And TV Vibes

SPEAKER_00 26:32

Yeah yeah I guess I didn't think much of it I just you know she's either well obviously I would think that we can say that it's definitely not that she was not smart enough to think of it because of her stats like she was definitely smart enough to know but you know whether she doesn't value the goblin life uncle is goblin a life to value right yeah maybe that's her calculus and her opinion is no I don't know so yeah just there were a couple moments like that where I was like ooh I wasn't expecting to have to think and those were moments that kind of gave me pause on the first time through I didn't even I didn't think much of it honestly but now that I'm thinking of it it's like was that a donut trolley problem? Was she like don't throw bomb in don't kill boss don't get recognized possibly die because I haven't gotten recognized or kill boss but also kill a bunch of goblin babies right yeah she had maybe she just made that calculus and it was like you know what I'd rather we survive I'd rather we get sponsored boom so yeah I just thought I'd bring it up to see how that went for you in terms of whether it registered on the scale for you. It did not ping me that hard I obviously the fact that it was like after the fact I was like oh Jesus but I didn't really think like oh donut what are you doing that was not something I didn't I don't know because she's a cat.

SPEAKER_01 28:10

Yeah can't you can't blame a cat cats can do no wrong um so in general the first time I read this through some of the references some of the humor some of the scenarios feel uh not just irreverent but like just kind of out there kind of wild especially given the context of what our most recent reads have been so how was that for you is it was it a big departure do you did you feel like wow this is really kind of out there or or was it just all in good fun or somewhere in between um I gosh I think this book does such a good job of putting you on the train right out of the gate and then not kicking you off of it.

Combat Scenes And Game Design DNA

SPEAKER_00 29:01

And so for me it was like boom chapter one apocalypse we're going into the dungeon it was literally like okay let's do it you know oh there's a game great let's go you know and so I was just like I was just on board right they didn't they didn't give me a second to be like what or like what's what you know it was just so believable. They they just made it you know like this is what's happening here we go and so I didn't um the zaniness didn't throw me because not only that not only was I firmly on the train but stuff was familiar enough even though it's wild it's like okay this is the Hunger Games that's actually a it's like Mario because you're going through it's a platform or you know there's like there's things that I'm like okay this is what it is and Mordecai's like Splinter but not really because he's like the guy that you meet at the you know one of the one of the NPCs in the game that you have to talk to to get your quests and like there's so many things that I was just like the neurons were firing everything was connecting nothing was hard to believe and so I was just in it man I had no no regrets nice I like that right on the train um again I jumped around uh do you have any thoughts about the AI the AI I'm trying to remember what we're talking about with that so the AI is the voice that says things like new achievement and talks to them about what their loot boxes are okay right right so in my notes I had written that like for example when we read Lord of the Rings the narrator kind of threw me off for a hot second and I'm wondering did the AI give you any pause? No honestly I think it adds to it. I think it gives it video game vibes. It's just all a part of the package um and it's and it's one of the more consistent sources of humor in this book for me the like the ribbing that it gives them you know like it's I don't know I I can't think of a specific oh I was gonna I can't think of a specific example but like the keep squishing people I like it like stupid crap like that that one is one of the least funny but like there's so many that are so funny that I really like um so no I'm into it the fact that the audiobook really does it up zhuzh it up very of a big fan also I didn't mention this before but the fact that he's got an interface that has an infinite inventory of you because we've had our conversations about inventory management the good the bad the ugly um and so uh even just tonight I think I was re-listening at like double speed during dinner or whatever um which I never do I was taking a page out of your book for a change.

SPEAKER_01 32:05

And it was talking about he got a new achievement for having over a million pounds or something in his inventory.

SPEAKER_00 32:12

And I just I couldn't help but think of you um like you just you pick up everything you know that's me and the fact that the like I don't know if it's the AI whatever the inventory system is it automatically like classifies it and organizes it for you oh my god why can everyone not do that that is the dream I would be doing exactly what Carl like uh yeah I think I wrote a note that was literally like uh can you pick it up it goes in the inventory goes in the inventory exactly me we are one in the same if you've got unlimited storage the answer is yes the answer is yes yep um that's great I had so you and I we are very aligned very often but every once in a while your brain goes down one path and I go down another so I didn't know if based on what you've heard so far through part one if you have any theories thoughts or threads things you think you might see in part two in part two okay so I wrote down one theory it's not for part two it's for the end the whole story oh okay one of my first things it wasn't as much a prediction as a question but the moment they said that a monarch would be crowned if they get to level 18 or whatever it was will donut win the dungeon and become the regent of earth and that was before she could start talking because it was literally like the first person to complete level 18 and I have cats I know how ridiculous they are I could see her jumping off of Carl's Agni Agni. You can see her jumping off of Carl's shoulder at the 11th hour and crossing the finish line first. And so that was my first instinct and then we found out that she can talk like she got the ability to talk and is like fully sentient now and she's actually royalty. So all of those things were like it's all lining up it's gonna be princess donut which I think is hilarious. Um and I have to mention oh no actually I'll save this for later. Yep that's anyways uh so that's my biggest prediction what's gonna happen the rest of the book so I guess my big question is because I don't know the how these books are structured are all of the books a single floor like are we you know although no they did they they they were going down to the second level at the end of part one so I am gonna raffle you on that. Yeah okay yeah so I'm just like I don't know how fast we're gonna be getting through these levels because they said that they get smaller too but more difficult. Um so my biggest question is going to be the pacing are we gonna slow down are we gonna speed up or there's gonna be 18 books because that seems crazy.

SPEAKER_01 34:50

And to be fair that I had the same exact question like is it a book a level or yeah um I will tell you that it's public knowledge that the author is intending 10 books.

Audiobook Production And Interface Humor

SPEAKER_00 35:03

Okay so it's not gonna be a book well I guess it depends I I guess they don't have to complete all 18 levels. It's if it's giving you know hot spoilers for Hunger Games book three book two they break the level they like don't they don't complete the games um so the question is is that gonna happen or is Carl gonna get to level 18 something that literally no one has done yet I don't know that I would like that because you know then he's like playing into their game. I think I would prefer him to break the wheel as they say um but I can't I couldn't tell you if it'll go one way or the other because it would be pretty badass to do something that no one had ever done. Also I kind of want to predict and I'm slight I want to say I'm slightly spoiled on this but I don't know which cover I've seen so I don't know how long it's going to last but I don't want Carl to ever get pants he can get shoes but I don't want him to ever get pants I think it is so funny that he's running around in boxers and like greaves or you know whatever the like like or one yeah one set gauntlets something yeah gauntlets bracers bracers bracers yeah the fact that he's running around in boxers a cloak and random a bracer is such a fun visual and I've seen like one book cover and I can't remember which one it was for that he's wearing boxers and honestly it could be the first one. So like they he could get pants tomorrow but that's my hope that he never does. Maybe because because the gifts are catered to the person he'll get like boxers with armor levels I would love that.

SPEAKER_01 36:46

That would anyway so yeah let's uh I those those are gonna be my predictions my hopes predictions hopes that's awesome uh if nothing else is very validating to hear you be right along the same path as I was when I ran it the first time it's very validating to hear you have very similar uh you know thoughts and feelings and and concerns I was like it's like diehard all over again he's just gonna go barefoot through the whole thing. Okay. Sure. Okay. Yeah um that's fun. Uh this is we definitely buried the lead with this one but how did you feel about donut coming to life? Were you surprised? Were you excited? Was it fun?

SPEAKER_00 37:28

This is the thing that I was I almost said earlier but reserved because I figured we'd talk about it the moment that they read out Princess Donut's stats I literally guffawed out loud. It was a loud laugh it was uh like this it was my favorite moment I think just because of how much delight it gave me because I I'm a cat I'm a cat lady I've always been a cat lady like cats are me and cats we you know we get along if you're not if you're listening and not watching I'm gesturing towards my headphones which are cat ears. Yeah it's uh it's so funny that like her intelligence is off the charts and Carl's is like slightly below average which I kind of dispute because he's come up with some really brilliant plans but like yeah I digress. No, I loved the Princess Donut transition into the fact that she can talk and you know has a crown and is incredibly powerful.

SPEAKER_01 38:30

Perfect no notes amazing I yeah I remember I knew that there was Princess Donut because I had heard enough things about Princess Donut being a character in it I did not realize that she was going to become sentient and speak. So even knowing that she existed I did not note expect that so it was a true surprise so I was kind of excited about that.

SPEAKER_00 38:54

Yeah um I I have to give a shout out I didn't know anything about Princess Donut either but an artist friend of mine her name's Anne Kastecki she did like a fan art of Princess Donut and it's actually hilarious. Yeah and so I yeah all I knew is that people were obsessed with this cat yeah and I didn't know why and uh now I know why.

SPEAKER_01 39:13

I just saw TikTok today which you're not allowed to see uh but uh it does appear that uh dungeon crawler Carl Merch is starting to hit hot topic which will make my day if that's a thing because um yeah I would I would love a princess donut t-shirt.

SPEAKER_00 39:33

I love a good oversized T. Yeah I'm gonna have to check that out for sure.

SPEAKER_01 39:39

So we're running to the end of my notes just if there were any top moments you wanted to share or any notes you had to share um I liked the sequence of bosses.

Donut, Mordecai, And Moral Gray Areas

SPEAKER_00 39:55

I thought it it gave us a like a wide variety and um the pigball was just like so weird but the way they solved it was cool which you know like there's always there's always a hint or whatever the Mordecai clue and then Carl who I think deserves a higher stat in intelligence um solved that problem and like engineered it used used his resources resources which I really appreciated but the Jim Bro one was the one that I was just like uh the fact that this used to be a human is so sad but I have a feeling I know what kind of human they were we would not be best friends but whatever. But yeah the um the narrator doing like Bro Bro the way he did it I thought was really funny. Um so and the fact that they're like throwing barbells again it just reminded me of video games so like there's this video game that my sister just reminded me of because I went on this quest to find a game um in the last couple of days that I had I knew an audio clip from but I couldn't remember what it was from. I digress. One of the games my sister suggested it could be is called Joe and Mac. It's this old game where you're playing two I think it's cavemen but you're like to play you're like throwing crap around or maybe the bosses like throw crap at you. It's like a 2D hand drawn like very yeah old old game. But that kind of because because Joe and Mac are like these like cavemen dudes and you're like walking around with them it kind of just reminded me of that boss battle because I can just see that happen you know like that you go to the end of the the level and there's this boss that's throwing dumbbells at you. It's like it's perfect old school arcade style video game.

SPEAKER_01 41:36

Nice. Yeah it was it it was something else and I I kind of I could tell that there was more no not even that there was more happening I just was like critter's gonna love this because she's gamed so much harder than I have like that's just all there is to it but I like I've done you know 10 hours here and there like I I did a stint with God of war I did a stint with Final Fantasy I did a stint with Mist I'm a chronic quitter at games I enjoy them for a hot second. I might even binge them but then just I wander away and I never make it back. So so you mentioned the boss battles you still glazed is so you were so that was like probably your least favorite part of the book were the boss battles yes but even that like to your point it's it's a very immersive story so it it wasn't as bad um as as talking about troop movements across a valley amen that's all I'm gonna say I mean it's true no it's way easier to follow for me too for sure some of my favorite moments were um I had uh so you talked about donut when she ever opened that crown and immediately put it on and goes it's purple it's my color I just I paused the audio book and I looked at Daniel and I went am I donut um which obviously got me a big laugh yeah yeah so that was fun um Mordecai you mentioned that he's like Splinter uh that was a direct teenage mutant ninja turtle reference so I loved that my my gen X heart was like I got that reference I got that um so those those kinds of things uh almost feel tailor made for somebody you know between your age and my age I'm like yes yeah yeah give me more of that although splinters sorry mordecai's um like don't talk bad about the company like don't use their name that kind of stuff to me I was like oh it's giving big brother it's intense it's like oppressive even so yeah it's such a lighthearted overall story but then there's stuff in the back like overlaying it where you're just like oh this is we gotta fix this you know there's there's something there's some stuff that needs to go down turns out there might be some ick.

SPEAKER_00 44:09

Yeah for sure yeah there's a bad there's a big bad there's a big bad that we gotta We gotta take down.

unknown 44:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 44:18

So uh realistically, that was all I had. Did you have any other final thoughts or things that you'd like to add before we go into uh MVP?

SPEAKER_00 44:31

We haven't really talked about this other than like the vague reference to the to the pig battle, but at the end, we roll up on a group of caregivers and a bunch of elderly people. That was like not on my bingo card for this book. So far from it. So now I'm really, really worried about the elderly people. I know that Carl and Donut are like, they're gonna help them. They resign at least they said they were gonna help them. But I am just so nervous for how that's gonna end. I mean, my best case scenario is that they get separated from each other so we don't find out how they die, because they're they're gonna die, I think. But it's just like it just gives it just makes me really nervous. It makes me really nervous. It was really heartwarming, right? How like they they beat the boss, and then you know, I guess the doors opened up, and then some old guy comes in, he's like, Hey, you guys doing okay in here? You know, that was like really cute, and like the fact that they're sticking together, the fact that the um the stairs turn into a ramp to accommodate them, all that stuff is like fun, but they're just literally setting us up for devastation.

SPEAKER_01 45:46

Absolutely. So um so the metal lark, the meadow lark story, especially there for that last bat uh boss battle before our break for part two, gave us one of the more tender moments for me in part one, which is Jonah and Carl have an aside conversation about what they're gonna do. And Jonah essentially says to Carl, um Carl asks Jonah, you know, what do you think we should do? And and she's like, What do you mean? And he's like, you know, do we do we help them or do we just go? Or do and she's like, Oh, it's so crazy that I already know what you're gonna do, but you don't. Yeah um, and so I love those little heartwarming moments with Jonah and Carl for all that she is snooty and um does some say some really wild stuff. Yeah, um the the real sentiment uh comes through, and that's that's that was a nice moment right before we took our break for part two.

Predictions, Pacing, And Level Structure

SPEAKER_00 46:49

Yeah, yeah. I uh Princess Donut is a multifaceted character, let's put it that way. She's not just a just a single beat cat. I don't know how to put it, but no, I like how complicated she is and how much she knows Carl.

SPEAKER_01 47:07

She's got layers, she's like an onion, that's the word. So I think with that, that we would go into the next phase of what we typically do, which is to pick our MVPs and runner-ups. And critter, why don't you set the stage? Because you have the spiel down pat.

SPEAKER_00 47:28

Okay, okay, I'm setting the stage. All right, so every episode we pick an MVP and a runner-up MVP, and by the end of the book, we will put all of their scores together and come up with an MVP for the book itself. So, MVPs are worth two, runner-up MVPs are worth one. We do not always agree, and if you disagree with us or agree with us, let us know on Discord or in the comments how you feel about our choices and who you would pick because we love to hear from you. So, Jessica, who is your runner-up?

SPEAKER_01 48:05

Okay, so for part one, going into runner-up, I'm gonna pick Mordecai. I think that he is bringing some really key information to try and set them up in a completely foreign world scenario situation.

SPEAKER_02 48:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 48:26

Uh, so I feel like that's a real easy choice. I'm gonna go with Mordecai for my runner-up.

SPEAKER_00 48:33

Okay. I very much respect that. My runner-up is Princess Donut. Mainly because I remember that she finally overcame her um aversion to using her claw attack, and she meleeed a boss or a monster or kid, whatever, um, in order to save Carl. Because Carl, it was the gym bro, because Carl was about to die, and she finally overcame her qualms and did it and rendered extreme damage and allowed Carl to allowed Carl to win. So I I mean without Princess Donut making that move, Carl would be dead. And this is Dungeon Crawler Carl, so Princess Donut gets my runner up.

SPEAKER_01 49:21

Nice, solid work.

SPEAKER_00 49:23

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 49:24

So, with that, I will go ahead and go first. I will pick my MVP first, which I really dislike doing, but I'll do it anyway. Um in an unprecedented move for me, I am going to pick the protagonist as my MVP. For the first half, I'm gonna give it to Carl. Um, coming back to book one, reading him in this. This is some wild ride stuff that he is coming through. And he is keeping the boat afloat for more than just himself. And I love him. I forgot how much I just really dig Carl. So I'm gonna give it to him right out the gate.

SPEAKER_00 50:07

Well, I'm gonna follow up on that immediately and say hashtag same. Um Carl. Yeah, no, no, like Carl, like, and I didn't want to give away my final answer, so I will say, like, Mordecai was a close, close third. Like, he obviously gave them super vital information, but it's just he didn't necessarily save their life quite like Princess Dardot did. But Carl coming up with solutions, killing baddies left and right, saving the old people, like outsmarting the bad humans, you know, because he remembered the rules of the safe zones, which to me just spoke to me because I'm such a rules lawyer in games that it's like, of course, he remembered that Mordecai mentioned one time that you can't hurt other people in the safe zones, and that's how he's gonna win this. Like, I love that. He's a like, not only is he a big burly, you know, ex-military electrician, but he's also got a really soft heart and he's smart. And so I think he's a really, really great protagonist. And I'm I have not gotten tired of him yet, and I don't see myself getting tired of him, frankly. I think he's great.

Donut’s Reveal And Stat Delight

SPEAKER_01 51:15

Amazing. Well, I think that that does it for part one for Dungeon Crawler Carl book one. Yeah. So, with no further ado, I'm gonna go ahead and say thank you on behalf of both of us for joining us in the first episode of season seven of Butt Are There Dragons, brought to you by your hosts, Jessica Sadai and Critter XD. Uh, don't forget to follow us on But Are There Dragons on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok, and Button Dragons Podjust1T on X. You can also find your hosts on social media on Critter XD as CritterXD and Shelf Indulgence. We are gonna be back with the second half of the book for our second episode. Look for that episode on March 3rd. Sorry, yep, March 3rd. That's it for today. New achievement you can read. Now let's see if you can actually finish a book rather than stopping halfway.