Finally finished this, and I will preface by saying I have mixed feelings about this book.

Two elements I liked were Buehlman’s prose and world building. There were songs interspersed throughout that I thoroughly enjoyed and felt that they really added to the culture of the world.

However, I had difficulty getting through this book and had to pause for a bit to read a few other books because I didn’t really care for the main character. Kinch felt a bit sexist at times and it was hard to root for him when challenges arose.

I initially picked this up because it was recommended to me as someone who enjoys D&D. There is an element of a D&D styled adventure for the main group of characters, but Kinch’s “wittiness” felt cringe most of the time, and some of the world building felt like Buehlman took Irish culture and language and slapped a sticker on it to call it his own. Other elements felt like a gross continuation of long used Irish negative stereotypes which felt wild to be reading in the big 2026.

The horror elements were done quite well, I will say.

We’ll see if I continue the series.

This was much better than the movie, in my opinion. Danny felt like the real main character, whereas in the movie he felt like a glorified extra. The pacing felt more realistic, especially with Jack’s descent into madness. Also Hallorann is a goated character, why was he barely in the movie.

I had a difficult time getting into the world of Dungeon Crawler Carl. I’m not sure if it’s because I’m in unfamiliar territory when it comes to LitRPG or if I just struggled with this book. It’s very evident why it deserves the praise it has gotten. The themes of friendship, community, self-actualization, and perseverance were strong and enjoyable. But on the other hand, some of the jokes came across a bit juvenile and corny.

It eventually won me over towards the end giving it a realistic rating of 3.8. I think the dialogue and character work was strong, though, I’m unsure if this is a book series for me.