Best Matt Dinniman Audiobooks
Matt Dinniman turned dungeon fantasy into something absurdist, satirical, and genuinely hard to put down. His Dungeon Crawler Carl series takes a gonzo premise — a man and his princess cat forced to survive a televised, underground apocalypse — and runs with it at full speed, piling on dark humor, sharp political commentary, and increasingly unhinged set pieces. The writing is fast, loose, and self-aware without becoming a parody of itself; Dinniman earns his laughs while still landing emotional gut punches. Carl's Doomsday Scenario and The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook escalate the chaos perfectly, each book finding new ways to break the rules Dinniman just spent chapters establishing. If you like LitRPG that doesn't take itself too seriously but takes its characters seriously, this is the series. The audiobook productions with Jeff Hays are particularly excellent — practically radio drama quality.
Where to Start with Matt Dinniman
- Best entry point → Dungeon Crawler Carl
- Best standalone → Operation Bounce House
- Start the Dominion of Blades series → Dominion of Blades
- Underrated but highly rated → This Inevitable Ruin
- What fans keep coming back to → Carl's Doomsday Scenario
- Best narrator for Matt Dinniman → The Gate of the Feral Gods
- Highest rated by listeners → The Butcher's Masquerade (Dungeon Crawler Carl #5)
Best Matt Dinniman Audiobooks
- 1
The Butcher's Masquerade
Dungeon Crawler Carl • Book 5
Narrated by Jeff Hays
★ 4.88 ABR Score (135.3K ratings)★ 4.69 Goodreads (108.1K) ★ 4.94 Audible (27.2K)More about this pick
Carl and Princess Donut navigate a dinosaur-infested jungle floor while alien viewers vote on their survival. Hays captures the series' perfect blend of video game logic and genuine emotional stakes.
- 2
This Inevitable Ruin
Dungeon Crawler Carl • Book 7
Narrated by Jeff Hays, Travis Baldree
★ 4.87 ABR Score (96.2K ratings)★ 4.68 Goodreads (74.1K) ★ 4.93 Audible (22.1K)More about this pick
Jeff Hays and Travis Baldree tackle the chaos of Faction Wars as Carl's team faces nine alien armies in a massive battle for the ninth floor's central castle.
- 3
The Eye of the Bedlam Bride
Dungeon Crawler Carl • Book 6
Narrated by Jeff Hays, Patrick Warburton, Travis Baldree, Annie Ellicott
★ 4.83 ABR Score (110.3K ratings)★ 4.66 Goodreads (91.7K) ★ 4.92 Audible (18.5K)More about this pick
Chaos reigns on floor eight as Carl and friends face scattered challenges, forgotten gods, and an AI system falling apart. This ensemble cast including Patrick Warburton creates pure audio mayhem.
- 4
Dungeon Crawler Carl
Dungeon Crawler Carl • Book 1
Narrated by Jeff Hays
★ 4.80 ABR Score (335.5K ratings)★ 4.48 Goodreads (284.3K) ★ 4.86 Audible (51.2K)More about this pick
When Earth becomes a literal death game show, one man and his ex-girlfriend's cat fight for survival in underground dungeons designed to entertain alien viewers. Jeff Hays channels Carl's desperate humor perfectly, making the absurd premise land with surprising emotional weight.
- 5
The Gate of the Feral Gods
Dungeon Crawler Carl • Book 4
Narrated by Jeff Hays
★ 4.79 ABR Score (150.1K ratings)★ 4.55 Goodreads (125.6K) ★ 4.91 Audible (24.5K)More about this pick
Carl and Princess Donut face floating gnome fortresses and haunted crypts in their deadliest floor yet. Jeff Hays continues his exceptional character work, especially with Princess Donut's regal cat attitude amid apocalyptic absurdity.
- 6
Carl's Doomsday Scenario
Dungeon Crawler Carl • Book 2
Narrated by Jeff Hays
★ 4.78 ABR Score (217.5K ratings)★ 4.51 Goodreads (187.5K) ★ 4.89 Audible (30.0K)More about this pick
Carl and his magic cat Princess Donut navigate the second level of an alien game show designed to kill humans for entertainment. Jeff Hays perfectly captures the absurd humor of this death-trap RPG scenario.
- 7
The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook
Dungeon Crawler Carl • Book 3
Narrated by Jeff Hays, The Critical Drinker
★ 4.75 ABR Score (182.0K ratings)★ 4.43 Goodreads (152.4K) ★ 4.9 Audible (29.6K)More about this pick
Carl and Princess Donut face the impossibly twisted Iron Tangle subway system where up is down and logic doesn't apply. Jeff Hays and The Critical Drinker's dynamic narration perfectly captures this series' blend of absurd humor and genuine stakes.
- 8
Operation Bounce House
Narrated by Travis Baldree, Jeff Hays
★ 4.26 ABR Score (13.8K ratings)★ 4.06 Goodreads (10.8K) ★ 4.67 Audible (3.1K)More about this pick
A rancher must defend his planet when Earth gamers target his world for remote destruction. Travis Baldree and Jeff Hays work together seamlessly, alternating perspectives while maintaining the story's frantic energy throughout.
- 9
The Hobgoblin Riot
Dominion of Blades • Book 2
Narrated by Andrea Parsneau, Hays McGee
★ 4.20 ABR Score (4.3K ratings)★ 4.28 Goodreads (2.8K) ★ 4.63 Audible (1.5K)More about this pick
Popper's simple scouting mission to Castellane predictably becomes an epic disaster involving hippocore mounts and goblin politics. Parsneau and McGee's dual narration highlights both the comedy and genuine stakes perfectly.
- 10
A Parade of Horribles
Dungeon Crawler Carl • Book 8
Narrated by Jeff Hays
★ 4.18 ABR Score (650 ratings)★ 4.71 Goodreads (650)More about this pick
Carl and Donut face the dungeon's tenth floor where simple races hide deadly eliminations after each event. Jeff Hays continues to perfect his character voices as the series reaches new heights of controlled chaos.
- 11
L'Ogive du Jugement dernier
Dungeon Crawler Carl • Book 2
by Matt Dinniman, Chloé Atangana
Narrated by Sylvain Agaësse
★ 4.06 ABR Score (209.9K ratings)★ 4.5 Goodreads (209.9K) ★ 5 Audible (1)More about this pick
Carl and Donut's apocalyptic gameshow survival gets even more absurd as they face permanent race and class selections that could change them forever.
- 12
Dominion of Blades
Dominion of Blades • Book 1
Narrated by Andrea Parsneau
★ 4.05 ABR Score (6.7K ratings)★ 4.17 Goodreads (4.3K) ★ 4.38 Audible (2.4K)More about this pick
After immersion technology gets banned following real-life gaming deaths, the world's most popular fantasy RPG becomes an underground obsession with deadly consequences.