Tag: dungeon crawler carl

Whatcha Reading, Geekly: August 2026

Published on by KyraLeave a comment

Happy Wednesday, Geekly Gang! Kyra Kyle here, and today, our writers share what they’ve been reading over the past month. Feel free to share what you’ve been reading over the past month, because we’re all part of the Geekly Gang. I’ll get things started by sharing what I’ve been reading this past month.

Dungeon Crawler Carl Book Cover

Kyra’s Fiction

I’ve been catching up with various novels I started but never finished. Dungeon Crawler Carl is one of those novels. Yep! I may need to lower the number of novels I begin at once. I should’ve read Dungeon Crawler Carl straight through. Like The House in the Cerulean Sea, I picked up Dungeon Crawler Carl’s sequel, Carl’s Doomsday Scenario. Dungeon Crawler Carl is dumb fun. I can see why it has a massive following. Sometimes, you just want to laugh. I love Princess Donut. She’s a talking Persian cat who can fire off Gandalf-level magic missiles. The dungeon’s bosses are puns in the best possible way. I belly laughed during Carl and Donut’s fight with The Juicer, a roided out lizard man. “I’m proud of you, bro,” he said. “You fought through the pain.”

Dungeon Crawler Carl reminded me that writing and reading can be fun. Does it have a larger message to share? Probably not. I’m sure some readers will find some meaning in the text, but that doesn’t matter. This is a fun book, and I hope, a fun series, because I intend to read the next novel in the series. It also doesn’t hurt that Princess Donut is a tortoise shell Persian. My cat, Cinder, was the exact same breed and coloring. And if Cinder had magical powers and could talk, she’d most likely sound like Princess Donut. Donut is my queen.

I Got Abducted by Aliens and Now I'm Trapped in a Rom-Com Book Cover

I said that this past month featured numerous finished novels that I started earlier, and I Got Abducted by Aliens and Now I’m Trapped in a Rom-Com continues that trend. This one didn’t stick the landing. I loved the earlier three-quarters of the novel, but quickly remembered why I put down the book: the sex scenes. I still marvel at how well Lemming writes sex scenes. I don’t know if I could pull off scenes like hers. And I had fun with these scenes during the earlier portions of I Got Abducted by Aliens and Now I’m Trapped in a Rom-Com, but the scenes came out of nowhere, detracting from the action Lemming had set up. The book didn’t have “too many” sex scenes. But I couldn’t suspend disbelief with a sex scene occurring during the middle of a dinosaur chase scene. What?

And of course, I Got Abducted by Aliens and Now I’m Trapped in a Rom-Com included a large sex scene after the events unfolded, but by this point, I grew tired of the scenes. Again, these scenes are well written. I just wanted to see what would happen next on the planet.

Speaking of a story not sticking the landing, I finally read Scott Snyder’s Batman: The Court of Owls Saga. Snyder is notorious for writing an amazing first three-quarters of a story, and then the story falls apart. I enjoyed most of Batman: The Court of Owls Saga. This graphic novel features a lot of interesting storytelling methods. At one point, artist Greg Capullo turns the panels ninety degrees, not once, not even twice. This simulated Batman’s disorientation. I won’t say any more than that and risk spoiling the story, but this was highly effective. And Snyder’s writing up to this point was solid.

And then an M Night Shyamalan twist occurs at the three-quarter point of Batman: The Court of Owls Saga. I groaned. Out loud. Ugh! The worst part was that I could see the twist coming. Still, I enjoyed most of this graphic novel. The Court of Owls is a great addition to Batman’s rogues’ gallery. So much was working at the beginning of the graphic novel. I loved the opening. The ending doesn’t ruin the entire graphic. I’d still recommend Batman: The Court of Owls Saga.

Batman: Gotham by Gaslight has an interesting premise. It sets Batman’s story in the turn-of-the-century United States. Weird. I wanted to like Batman: Gotham by Gaslight more than I did. The art is fantastic. Mike Mignola lends his Hellboy style to Batman. What’s not to love? But again, the stories (there are two short stories in this collection) left me wanting. The Jack the Ripper story was odd and clunky. The second story was slightly better. The Master of the Future is a bombastic take on Ra’s al Ghul. The two aren’t a perfect one-to-one, but they share enough similarities that I wondered if The Master of the Future was one of Ra’s’s children. He has more children than Talia. As far as I know, The Master of the Future doesn’t have a connection with Ra’s.

Despite the Jack the Ripper cringe of the first story and the goofy Ra’s wannabe in the second story, I can see why Batman: Gotham by Gaslight was a huge Elseworlds (alternate universe) hit. Batman: Gotham by Gaslight predates DC Comics’ concept of Elseworlds. This is one of the comics that started alternate reality versions of DC Comics characters. Without this graphic novel, we may not have the excellent line of Absolute DC Comics.

That’s what I’ve been reading over the past month. Season and Skye are taking this month off for watcha reading, so feel free to share what you’ve been reading over the past month. Thank you for reading, and wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.

Whatcha Reading, Geekly? September 2025

Published on by KyraLeave a comment

Happy Wednesday, Geekly Gang! Today’s post is Whatcha Reading, where our writers share what they’ve been reading over the past month. Feel free to share what you’ve been reading, too, because we’re all part of the Geekly Gang.

Kyra’s Reads

Kyra’s Fiction

I heard about Dungeon Crawler Carl years ago and hadn’t had a chance to start the series. It’s fun. Short and sweet, Dungeon Crawler Carl is pure fun. Earth belongs to an intergalactic trade federation. It’s time to pay up with our natural resources, so aliens slurp the marrow from our planet, causing all buildings and cars to sink beneath the surface, instantly killing any beings inside the buildings and cars. Donning a jacket, boxers, and ill-fitting pink Crocs, our “hero” Carl survives because he’s retrieving his ex-girlfriend’s cat (Princess Donut Queen Anne the Chonk–Princess Donut for short) from a tree in the middle of winter. Dungeon Crawler Carl gets its title because the aliens play Dungeon Master for a Dungeon Crawl Carl must navigate.

If this sounds at all interesting, I suggest reading Dungeon Crawler Carl. It may not win any book of the year awards, but it’s a phenomenal premise for a television series. And hey, a Dungeon Crawler Carl television series was announced last week. Now may be the perfect time to read Dungeon Crawler Carl before it makes a splash on the small screen.

Thomas Ligotti produces modern cosmic horror classics. Songs of a Dead Dreamer is one of those cosmic horror classics. Ligotti takes Lovecraftian horror to new heights. Sometimes, Ligotti’s work leans into realism like Songs of a Dead Dreamer’s opening story, “The Frolic.” Other times, it fully embraces established tropes like “The Troubles of Dr. Thoss.” And I love Ligotti’s experimental “Notes on the Writing of Horror: A Story.” No matter which flavor of existential dread you prefer, Songs of a Dead Dreamer has you covered. If you like stories like Bird Box or anything by H.P. Lovecraft, you owe it to yourself to check out Songs of a Dead Dreamer.

Kyra’s Non-Fiction

The Writer’s Map: An Atlas of Imaginary Lands compiles maps–many hand-drawn by the original creators–of fantasy and science fiction worlds. From a writing perspective, there may not be much to glean from these maps, but it’s fun leafing through the pages of literary history. I never knew Neverland had a map. Fun.

That’s all I have for Whatcha Reading this month. Let’s see what Skye’s been reading.

Skye’s Reads

Skye’s Fiction

While it may seem like a self-help book, How to Walk Away is far from it. How to Walk Away is a novel focused on mental health. The main character, Maggie, survives a plane accident with her pilot fiancé, Chip. Sure, the story is mainly about Maggie’s hospital recovery afterward, but what keeps me reading is the mental battle taking place. Chip can’t forgive himself, and their future relationship is thrown into question. How to Walk Away is not about what happened. It’s about moving on.

Skye’s Non-Fiction

I’ve been dying to read a book like Black AF History. Thank you, Michael Harriot, for giving us an alternative perspective on American history. I found Black AF History at my local library. Support your local libraries. Anyway, Black AF History is the history I was never taught in school but always wanted to know. My favorite aspect of Black AF History is how it’s explained from the perspective of the people who’ve been subjugated by this country since the beginning. Michael Harriot is clear that no teaching of history will be completely unbiased. This is just the history White people never wanted to hear.

Hey, hey! Kyra Kyle again. That’s everything our writers have read over the past month. Thank you for reading, and wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.