“One of the worst things that can happen to an artist is that their first thing hits and becomes really popular,” says Matt Dinniman during his panel at New York Comic Con (NYCC).
The Dungeon Crawler Carl author, now in his 50s, is so popular that the thousand-person room is overflowing. Some fans are turned away before the place is totally overrun, while others have to steady themselves, whispering, “You can do this,” before asking him a detailed question about his work during the open Q&A portion.
But it certainly wasn't always this way. Dinniman published his first novel, Every Grain of Sand, in 2003. Shorter work was published in a national magazine in 1998. Even before that, he was writing what he calls GI Joe fanfiction in grade school. His friends thought the stories were weird. And while the LitRPG horror novel has drawn some comparisons to a Dungeons and Dragons campaign, Dinniman said he never had a group to play with him. Instead, he wrote stories based on the rule books.
After toiling in isolation and something like obscurity for decades, Dinniman found his breakthrough. Dungeon Crawler Carl published in the fall of 2020. The story follows the titular Carl as he navigates an alien invasion that leads to an apocalypse… and the sadistic game show that ensues. He's accompanied by his ex-girlfriend's cat, Princess Donut, as they try to survive the world's deadliest televised competition.
It struck a spark in readers. From the writer's voice in Carl's first-person POV to the narration of Jeff Hays, readers and listeners alike can't get enough of this hellish world. To date, the series has sold more than 14 million copies. Peacock is developing the TV adaptation, and all sorts of graphic novels, card games, and tabletop role-playing games are in the works.
Dinniman's entire life has changed in the past few years. While much of the change is largely positive, there are certainly downsides to newfound fame. He notes he's had to move to a gated community because fans started seeking him out at home. Others have contacted his family members to get noticed.
He's had to learn to write on planes and from hotel rooms, rather than his home setup, due to the busy press schedules. “I want to say yes to everything,” he says. Dinniman attended conventions like NYCC for years as a fan, and it's a remarkable experience to be on the other side of it.
One thing that remains unchanged, however, is the doubt of those early days. “It doesn't matter how successful you are,” Dinniman says. “Imposter syndrome never goes away.” Though Dungeon Crawler Carl currently enjoys a fantastic 4.42 average on a whopping 688,521 ratings, Dinniman says he and other authors too often focus on the negative feedback. While some criticism is certainly warranted and can help writers improve their craft, he believes it's also important not to be bogged down by reviews who cling to minutiae as reasons for dismissal.
It's only fitting that an author with such a surprising trajectory finds himself similarly unburdened by a plan or outline. Dinniman describes himself as an “extreme pantser,” as opposed to a plotter, who doesn't know how a book or even a chapter will end until he writes it. While this can lead to roadblocks, he's learned workarounds, including writing chapters from other characters' points of view, even knowing he'll eventually have to rewrite it in Carl's first-person voice eventually. He says this method of discovery (which is similar to George R.R. Martin's preferred writing style) allows his work to better reflect the shifts and changes that take place through writing.
“If someone plots a book,” he says, “that outline represents who they were for a few days or weeks. If you have to write yourself out of corners over the course of a year, you see real struggle.”
Dinniman's career has seen plenty of struggle, and it's one reason why his success feels all the more rewarding now. Take a look at the Dungeon Crawler Carl books below to see what all the fuss is really about.
Dungeon Crawler Carl
An alien invasion is pretty bad, especially when it brings the apocalypse. If that weren't enough, these sadistic extraterrestrials have decided to make a game out of the last few survivors by televising their demise. Now, Coast Guard vet Carl has to find a way to persevere armed with little more than his ex-girlfriend's cat, Princess Donut.
Carl's Doomsday Scenario: Dungeon Crawler Carl Book 2
Book 1 introduced readers and Carl to the Dungeon Crawler World, where humans must combat exploding goblins, magical potions, and drug-dealing llamas. But that was only the training levels, and now Carl and Princess Donut find themselves in Over City, a once-thriving, now-ruined metropolis where the undead circus reins.
Carl needs to find a way through, and just as importantly, to finally find a pair of pants.
The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook
Carl and Princess Donut must enter the next level of the Dungeon Crawler World, the Iron Tangle. This labyrinth of subway tunnels offers monsters in every train car, and to escape it, Carl and Donut will need to trust their fellow crawlers. But how can they when their newfound popularity has placed a target on their backs?
The Gate of the Feral Gods
Carl and Donut are practically dungeon crawling pros at this point. However, to survive the floating fortress occupied by warrior gnomes, they'll need a secret weapon. Too bad that secret weapon happens to be the low-level idiots trapped with them. It's a miracle any of them have made it this far, and they'll need more miracles to keep going.
The Butcher's Masquerade
If the alien overlords and idiots from The Gate of the Feral Gods weren't enough, Carl, Donut, and the crew must now contend with the worst sort of person of all: tourists. When outsiders are allowed to enter the game as hunters, one veteran finds herself intent on collecting the biggest trophy of her career. But her prey is far from harmless. This season, they're fighting back.
The Eye of the Bedlam Bride
Book 6 of the series returns readers to the beginning. As Carl finds himself in a map based on Earth's final days, he must find and capture six legendary beasts, including Shi Maria. No ordinary beast, she was the bride of a god and her attacks can drive men mad.
But as Carl and his crew know all too well, just because someone's been captured doesn't mean they've been tamed.
This Inevitable Ruin
For the first time ever, Carl and his crew might actually have the aliens on the back foot. As wars break out between factions and the artificial intelligence governing the Dungeon Crawler world continues to decline, Carl has a chance to turn the tables, and he's not about to let the opportunity pass.
A Parade of Horribles
In comparison to Faction Wars, the tenth level of the Dungeon Crawler world seems downright simple. The seemingly normal tasks seem easy enough: All you have to do is get from point A to point B without being last. And so long as you ignore the strange glitches in the system, or the whispers about what's happening on the floor above, you might be able to convince yourself that everything's fine.
