Dungeon Crawler Carl Books in Order
The complete reading order — with the grade I gave each book and where it's worth starting.
Dungeon Crawler Carl is the rare LitRPG series that broke all the way out of the genre — from a Royal Road serial and self-published Kindle books to an Ace print deal, 800,000+ copies sold, and a TV adaptation in the works. It's also a series you genuinely have to read in order: the story is one continuous descent through an 18-level dungeon, and skipping around will spoil deaths, reveals, and the slow-burn relationship between Carl and his ex-girlfriend's increasingly famous cat.
Below is every book in publication-slash-reading order (they're the same), each with the letter grade I gave it and a link to my full review. I've read and reviewed the first six; books seven and eight are out and on my pile. I've also flagged one book that almost every other "in order" list gets wrong.
The reading order
1. Dungeon Crawler Carl (2020)
BEarth's buildings collapse into a planet-spanning dungeon and a televised, galaxy-wide death game begins. The setup is absurd and the tone swings from slapstick to genuinely bleak. A strong, strange opener — readable and fun even if it didn't fully floor me.
2. Carl's Doomsday Scenario (2021)
BThe crawl widens out into the third floor's open world. More factions, more game systems, and the supporting cast starts to deepen.
3. The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook (2021)
BOften a fan favorite. The world-building turns sharper and more political, and the stakes the series is really about — exploitation, audience, survival — come into focus.
4. The Gate of the Feral Gods (2021)
BThe set pieces get bigger and the emotional beats start landing harder. The series is firmly in its stride here.
5. The Butcher's Masquerade (2022)
BThe sixth-floor hunt is one of the most talked-about stretches in the whole series. Plenty of carnage, plenty of payoff.
6. The Eye of the Bedlam Bride (2023)
B-The most sprawling entry so far, and for me the point where the scale started to outrun the momentum a little. Still very much worth reading — just the one I graded a notch lower.
7. This Inevitable Ruin (2024)
Not yet readThe eighth-floor war book. It's out and on my to-read pile — I'll add my grade and full review here once I've finished it.
8. A Parade of Horribles (2026)
Not yet readThe newest book, published in 2026. Review to come.
Is the series finished?
Not yet. As of mid-2026 there are eight published books, and Matt Dinniman has said the series is heading toward its conclusion within the next book or two. Because it's one continuous story, it's worth knowing going in that you're starting a long, still-running saga — not a set of standalones.
One book that isn't a Dungeon Crawler Carl book
If you've seen Operation Bounce House listed as part of this series, that's a common mistake. It's a 2026 standalone science fiction novel by Matt Dinniman (published by Ace), set in an entirely separate universe — not a Carl spinoff. It happens to be the highest grade I've given Dinniman: an A. So read it, just don't slot it into the dungeon.
What to read after Dungeon Crawler Carl
If you've torn through Carl and need the next thing, the books that scratch a similar itch — dark humor, real stakes, a system that actually matters — are He Who Fights with Monsters, The Primal Hunter, and Mage Tank (which shares Carl's exact brand of crude, fast comedy). I've got a full ranked rundown in my best LitRPG list.
FAQ
- Do I have to read Dungeon Crawler Carl in order?
- Yes. It's a single continuous story told in chronological order, so reading out of sequence will spoil major plot points and character deaths.
- How many Dungeon Crawler Carl books are there?
- Eight as of mid-2026, with the series planned to wrap up in another book or two.
- What's the best way to read the series?
- The audiobooks, narrated by Jeff Hays, are widely considered the definitive format — the voice work for Donut in particular is a big part of why the series took off.
- Is Operation Bounce House part of the series?
- No. It's a standalone science fiction novel by the same author, set in a different universe.