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Looking to get lost in a fun series this summer? Elizabeth Foster of 

 in Minneapolis says the books that keep flying off her shelves are the novel-meets-video-game series "Dungeon Crawler Carl" by Matt Dinniman. 

Here's the scenario: Aliens have come to Earth and taken control. If you want to live on as a citizen of the universe, you must survive the levels of a video game they've created. 

The novels themselves read like video games, with characters' stats at the start of each chapter, skills, quests, levels and prizes (which often contain Easter eggs and hints to the reader as to what is coming next).

Our hero, Dungeon Crawler Carl, enters the video game with his ex-girlfriend's fluffy show cat, Princess Donut. Like other animals who enter the game, the cat becomes sentient and, naturally, has a great deal to say. 

"I am a Princess Donut posse fan for life," says Foster. "She's my favorite character because she's not written like a person in a cat's body. She's written like a sentient talking cat. So there are certain moments where she just goes off on this total rant — this  tangent, hilarious moment [where it's clear] that this is a cat talking. This is a cat with a beef against cocker spaniels, and it is beautiful." 

You don't have to be a gamer to love these books. Along with the engaging characters, Foster says she was drawn in by the excellent world-building and bursts of dark humor that bring perfectly timed moments of relief from the end-of-the-world scenario. 

She first started reading the series in 2020 when Dinniman began publishing in e-book format. As the books grew in popularity, Penguin Random House picked them up and published them in hardcover. The eighth book came out in May, with books nine and 10 in the works.  

Foster's advice? Definitely start with book one, since the books build on one another as the characters level up. 

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Emily Bright

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A Minneapolis bookseller recommends Matt Dinniman's bestselling "Dungeon Crawler Carl" series for readers looking to dive into an immersive summer read.

Ask a Bookseller: ‘Dungeon Crawler Carl’ series by Matt Dinniman

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