Welcome back to Worth the Read! For weeks now, I've been afflicted with something that's completely derailed my productivity and kept me up at all hours. Don't worry, it's not the parasite that's forcing us all to abstain from berries and bagged salad. It's Dungeon Crawler Carl-itis. I can’t stop reading and talking about this bizarre sci-fi series. And I’m far from alone. (Seth MacFarlane is even turning it into a show.)

This series first caught my eye at BookCon back in April, where it—and the author, Matt Dinniman—seemed to be everywhere. Then it kept popping up. One of my closest friends became obsessed. Then another. What was it about this formerly self-published phenomenon that had everyone in a chokehold? I usually don’t read sci-fi, and I don’t consider myself a gamer, but I had to find out.

Reader, I'm officially converted. I never thought this series would be for me. On paper, Dungeon Crawler Carl (DCC) sounds like the exact kind of book I'd, um, politely admire from afar. But it won me over anyway, and I think that's the secret to its success: it's not just for gamers or sci-fi/fantasy fans. It's for anyone who needs a laugh, anyone who's found themselves rooting for an underdog during the World Cup, and anyone who could really use a win right now.

One of fiction's newest genres, LitRPG, brings the experience of playing a video game into the sci-fi and fantasy space. I mean, it literally stands for Literary Role-Playing Game. At its core, a LitRPG novel follows characters who level up, unlock new skills, complete quests, and become stronger according to a clearly defined set of game-like rules. Basically, think of it as reading the novelization of a video game. 

If you’ve never heard of this genre, don’t worry, it’s still extremely niche. But as DCC continues to grow in popularity, I have no doubt we’ll see a whole lot more soon enough.

DCC’s premise is simple…ish. Basically, aliens obliterate Earth, forcing the survivors into the wildest RPG game/reality TV competition show imaginable. Our hero is Carl, a Coast Guard veteran who finds himself trapped in the game with only his ex-girlfriend's cat, Princess Donut, for company. (More on her in a minute.) If Carl wants to make it out alive, he’ll have to make it through 18 increasingly dangerous levels by gaining powers, attracting viewers, and taking down goofy yet terrifying bad guys. (A Kraken who runs an MLM? Meth-dealing llamas? A big rolling ball made up of aristocratic pigs in bondage gear? Yeah, sure, why not?)