★★★★☆ Dungeon Crawler Carl, by Matt Dinniman, Jeff Hays (narrator)
** spoiler alert ** Second time through the series, this time in audio format
Dungeon Crawler Carl
Matt Dinniman, Jeff Hays (narrator)
** spoiler alert **
Second time through the series, this time in audio format
I have already read the first seven novels of Matt Dinniman's Dungeon Crawler Carl series in kindle. Here is my review of the first book. Having read several reviews praising the audiobook, and being in the market for an audiobook, I decided to reread in audio format.
The reread was different from the first for two reasons: first because it's an audiobook, and second because I now know where the story is heading.
About the audio experience, I am left puzzled by the extravagant praise it receives from so many reviewers. I grant that narrator Jeff Hays is good at producing distinct and recognizable voices for the different characters. (The contrast between his Carl and Donut voices is striking.) If I had never listened to another well-narrated audiobook, I would have been impressed.
But I have listened to other audiobooks. Performing different characters with different voices is just table stakes in audiobook narration! I remember when I first started listening to audiobooks I was astonished that one narrator could do such a spectacular job of performing distinct characters. Lenny Henry's performance in Anansi Boys, Indira Varma's in Discworld, and Gideon Emery's in the Laundry Files are extraordinary. I wouldn't say they put Jeff Hays to shame, but they certainly dilute, in my opinion, any claim to his being especially good.
As always, Your Mileage May Vary.
The reread bonus, in contrast, was striking. It is clear that already at this point Dinniman had figured out where he was going. For instance, in this first novel we have the spectacle of crawler Maggie My killing her own daughter Yvette. It appears completely senseless -- Carl certainly thinks so. Yet, if you've read the series, you realize that Maggie had a reason for the act. This kicks off a long-running plot thread concerning an artefact called the Ring of Divine Suffering, which will become more central as we go on.
My most important observation on reading the series for the first time was that this is that rare example of a series in which each subsequent book is better than the previous one. On starting this reread, I am learning that that didn't happen by accident.