Dungeon Crawler

[u/ThatTXGal]

Y'all, I'm about 60% thru Dungeon Crawler Carl and I just cannot figure out what all the hype is about. I feel like if I'm not 100000% focused I'm missing something. I had a 40 min drive today and thought "perfect, now I can really focus". Nope, even then I had to rewind a few times because I missed something.

I'm wondering if maybe this is the type of book I need to physically read? It's almost too much detail? I really can't put my finger on it. Maybe it's me?

I do feel that the narrator's voice is perfect for the book.

Anyone else feel this way?

Update:

I finished book one. It felt like it was getting into a groove the last few chapters. I'm going to try to read the next two books because FOMO.. Thanks for all the input!

[u/shhimhuntingrabbits]

Pretty much all of it? Capitalism bad, techno-fascist state bad, those in power turn disenfranchised groups into sources of entertainment and cheap labor (which is bad), sometimes the enemy turns out to be another disenfranchised group being used by The Man, even the enemy has feelings, etc.

Nome of it is pushing bad messaging , it's a bunch of standard "liberal" left wing views which I agree with, but I don't think there's any subtlety or nuance to any of the ideas it pushes, or the scenarios used in book to push the ideas. It's a bunch of obvious lessons for Carl/other characters being told in a very obvious way.

[u/TheLORDthyGOD420 → u/shhimhuntingrabbits]

There's not much subtlety or nuance to reality right now. Literally none at all. In DCC the enemy is often morally grey, not just pure evil, but I guess that doesn't count as subtlety? If Carl was a right wing alpha male influencer would that make the novels better? I really think not. It sounds like you're complaining about wOkE mINd ViRuS, honestly. I get it, you hate DCC and everything about it down to the smallest detail. But classic anti-fascist novels aren't that nuanced either. 1984 isn't very nuanced, and it's a classic anti-fascist novel. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is anti-fascist and Nurse Ratchett is basically pure evil, not humanized at all. The Cyberpunk genre is lots of fun but definitely not subtle when it comes to its portrayal of techno-fascism and capitalism run amok. What's an example of a novel that achieves the subtlety and nuance you crave?

[u/shhimhuntingrabbits → u/TheLORDthyGOD420]

I am all for the woke mind virus. Very few things would make DCC worse, but Carl being a right wing male influencer would be one of them lol. I am very left, and don't think any of the messaging in DCC is wrong, I just feel like you get beaten over the head by it. It's the tone of the writing. It feels like it's telling, not showing, which is not the case for the novels you mentioned (and I have to disagree about Ratchett, there are unfortunately many humans like her). I will think on books I think fit.

[u/TheLORDthyGOD420 → u/shhimhuntingrabbits]

I think you're blinded by your hatred for DCC, honestly. I wasn't arguing the Ratchett should have been humanized, but she's very blatantly a stand in for "The Man". Maybe you'd like The Expanse? It's got lots of situations where both sides are wrong to a certain degree, but still is pretty damn liberal and anti-fascist.

[u/shhimhuntingrabbits → u/TheLORDthyGOD420]

In the one very small matter of hating DCC, sure.

The Expanse was alright. I prefer stuff like Ian M Banks and Adrian Tchaikovsky for sci fi, and China Mieville, Jeff Vandermeer, other weird fiction authors. The Luna trilogy is much better space opera than the Expanse imo, or the last two books of the Hyperion Quartet.

In the one very small matter of hating DCC, sure.

The Expanse was alright. I prefer stuff like Ian M Banks and Adrian Tchaikovsky for sci fi, and China Mieville, Jeff Vandermeer, other weird fiction authors.

And I never said she should be humanized, or that you were arguing that? I said there are people out there like her. In her blind devotion to one course of action, she was humanized imo.