Dungeon Crawler Carl Live @ Home Manchester - Review

The Dungeon Crawler Carl series from Matt Dinniman holds a special place in my heart, it got me back into reading and since I started the audiobooks, I have expanded my collection to include the hardbacks (audio book trophies FTW) as well as venturing into Matt's other releases as well as the LitRPG genre as a whole.

The Dungeon Crawler Carl series is a darkly comedic, high‑energy LitRPG saga that follows Carl, one of Earth’s few survivors, and his ex‑girlfriend’s pampered show cat, Princess Donut, after an alien corporation destroys the planet and forces humanity into a massive, televised dungeon crawl for intergalactic entertainment. Blending video‑game mechanics, science‑fantasy worldbuilding, and sharp humour, the books track the duo as they battle monsters, navigate deadly traps, and level up through increasingly bizarre and dangerous floors, all while millions of alien viewers watch their every move.

When I saw there was to be a live event here in the UK I rushed to get tickets to what would be a whole run of sell out shows across the UK featuring author Matt Dinniman plus the voice of DCC in audiobook format Jeff Hays. I luckily booked tickets for the 16th March Manchester show and have been looking forward to it for months! Well, that day came and went and it didn't disappoint!

Prior to the show starting there were stacks of signed novels, as well merchandise! I grabbed the remaining two hardbacks I was missing from my collection, along with an awesome t-shirt, princess donut sticker and a USB audiobook of one of Matt Dinniman's other novels Kaiju: Battlefield Surgeon (which ironically then showed up in paper back the day after!).

Matt was mingling around meeting fans and signing books so I managed to queue up and get some of the books I brought with me signed too (including the Operation Bounce House with the exclusive foil cover and edges which I love on my shelf!). I am actually rather anxious around people/social environments so I didn't say much to him, which I'm kicking myself for (Matt if you ever read this, I would love to interview you for the site BTW) but he was super friendly despite the constant stream of folks wanting to meet him. I also managed to grab a photo with Jeff too and get him to sign one of my books as well!

One thing I want to shout out were the amazing costumers who came along to the event too! From Carls, Donuts and Prepotentes, the outfits were amazing and showed off the huge love of the fans. The atmosphere was amazing and everyone was in such good spirits!

The venue HOME, was really nice, a spacious entrance area, with food and drink available and a really nice theatre. The staff were also fantastic, the woman in the green jumper who spoke to us a few times was nothing but helpful and friendly and the other staff we interacted with were very polite too! Drinks cost £7 for two pints of coke, which isn't bad compared to some of venues I've been to recently and they even had a little snack vendor on hand at intermission too!

The actual show itself was great. Lasting around an hour and a half with a short intermission in the middle. It was filled with question and answer sessions, a live reading from the upcoming DCC Book 8: A Parade of Horribles, a selection of games and was finished off with the Donut "Wonder Crawl" cover of Oasis's "Wonder Wall". It was full of laughs, audience participation and hilarity. There was something for everyone, whether you were a fan of the book series or had never read them before and seeing Jeff flit between character voices on the fly was honestly a wonder to behold! There's a reason that once you listen to a soundbooth theatre audiobook, all others seem inferior, this man is an unbelievable talent.

Maude Garrett was an amazing host, she brought tons of energy to proceedings and although I had honestly never heard of her prior to the show, I have since subbed to her youtube for some great book related content (Including some DCC stuff)!

Overall the Dungeon Crawler Carl Live show was an amazing experience for me! Not only did I get a hugely enjoyable evening of entertainment, I got to get some of my favourite books signed by their author, interact with other fans of the series and introduce someone new to series as well as a convertor! If you get chance to get to a live event like this in future I highly recommend it!

XPN Rating: 5 out of 5 (PLATINUM)

Check out Maude Garretts book club and QnA's on youtube HERE!

Check out Dungeon Crawler Carl on Soundbooth Theatre HERE!