Best Matt Dinniman Audiobooks

The best Matt Dinniman audiobooks — 12 titles ranked by listening experience across Sci-Fi, Fantasy, averaging 4.54 ABR stars.

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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.

Matt Dinniman's highest-rated audiobook in our collection is Dungeon Crawler Carl, narrated by Jeff Hays (4.8 ABR stars). Performed by narrators including Jeff Hays, Jeff Hays, The Critical Drinker, Jeff Hays, Travis Baldree, and more. Rankings here weight the listening experience — narrator performance and Audible ratings factor alongside reader scores.

Where to Start with Matt Dinniman

  1. 1
    Dungeon Crawler Carl cover

    Dungeon Crawler Carl

    Dungeon Crawler Carl • Book 1

    by Matt Dinniman

    Narrated by Jeff Hays

    4.80 ABR Score (335.5K ratings)
    ★ 4.48 Goodreads (284.3K) ★ 4.86 Audible (51.2K)
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    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.

  2. 2
    The Butcher's Masquerade cover

    The Butcher's Masquerade

    Dungeon Crawler Carl • Book 5

    by Matt Dinniman

    Narrated by Jeff Hays

    4.88 ABR Score (135.3K ratings)
    ★ 4.69 Goodreads (108.1K) ★ 4.94 Audible (27.2K)
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    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.

  3. 3
    The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook cover

    The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook

    Dungeon Crawler Carl • Book 3

    by Matt Dinniman

    Narrated by Jeff Hays, The Critical Drinker

    4.75 ABR Score (182.0K ratings)
    ★ 4.43 Goodreads (152.4K) ★ 4.9 Audible (29.6K)
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    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.

  4. 4
    Carl's Doomsday Scenario cover

    Carl's Doomsday Scenario

    Dungeon Crawler Carl • Book 2

    by Matt Dinniman

    Narrated by Jeff Hays

    4.78 ABR Score (217.5K ratings)
    ★ 4.51 Goodreads (187.5K) ★ 4.89 Audible (30.0K)
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    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.

  5. 5
    The Gate of the Feral Gods cover

    The Gate of the Feral Gods

    Dungeon Crawler Carl • Book 4

    by Matt Dinniman

    Narrated by Jeff Hays

    4.79 ABR Score (150.1K ratings)
    ★ 4.55 Goodreads (125.6K) ★ 4.91 Audible (24.5K)
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    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. 6
    This Inevitable Ruin cover

    This Inevitable Ruin

    Dungeon Crawler Carl • Book 7

    by Matt Dinniman

    Narrated by Jeff Hays, Travis Baldree

    4.87 ABR Score (96.2K ratings)
    ★ 4.68 Goodreads (74.1K) ★ 4.93 Audible (22.1K)
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    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.

  7. 7
    The Eye of the Bedlam Bride cover

    The Eye of the Bedlam Bride

    Dungeon Crawler Carl • Book 6

    by Matt Dinniman

    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)
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    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.

  8. 8
    Operation Bounce House cover

    Operation Bounce House

    by Matt Dinniman

    Narrated by Travis Baldree, Jeff Hays

    4.26 ABR Score (13.8K ratings)
    ★ 4.06 Goodreads (10.8K) ★ 4.67 Audible (3.1K)
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    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. 9
    Dominion of Blades cover

    Dominion of Blades

    Dominion of Blades • Book 1

    by Matt Dinniman

    Narrated by Andrea Parsneau

    4.05 ABR Score (6.7K ratings)
    ★ 4.17 Goodreads (4.3K) ★ 4.38 Audible (2.4K)
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    After immersion technology gets banned following real-life gaming deaths, the world's most popular fantasy RPG becomes an underground obsession with deadly consequences.

  10. 10
    The Hobgoblin Riot cover

    The Hobgoblin Riot

    Dominion of Blades • Book 2

    by Matt Dinniman

    Narrated by Andrea Parsneau, Hays McGee

    4.20 ABR Score (4.3K ratings)
    ★ 4.28 Goodreads (2.8K) ★ 4.63 Audible (1.5K)
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    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.

  11. 11
    L'Ogive du Jugement dernier cover

    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)
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    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. 12
    A Parade of Horribles cover

    A Parade of Horribles

    Dungeon Crawler Carl • Book 8

    by Matt Dinniman

    Narrated by Jeff Hays

    4.18 ABR Score (650 ratings)
    ★ 4.71 Goodreads (650)
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    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.

How We Rank Audiobooks

Rankings are driven by listener ratings and review counts from Audible and Goodreads. Books with high ratings across a large number of listeners rank higher — a 4.5 with 50,000 ratings says more than a 4.8 with 200.

Unlike most book lists, we weight audiobook-specific factors: narrator performance, production quality, and how well a story translates to audio. A great book with a poor narration isn't a great audiobook.

We don't accept paid placements or prioritize new releases. These rankings reflect what listeners actually enjoy, not what's being promoted.

Rankings update periodically as new ratings come in and new titles are added to the collection.

Read our full ranking methodology →