Who is Carl, and why is he crawling in the dungeon? If you’re unaware of the phenomenon of LitRPGs, the concept of Dungeon Crawler Carl might not only seem like a mouthful (try saying it five times) but also a bit confusing. Which fictional world is this? Are these books based on games? Is this a kind of fanfic?
Yes and no. Enter LitRPGs, the subgenre of literature focusing on normal humans who are dropped suddenly into strange situations with role-playing game mechanics. Reading a LitRPG is like reading a hypothetical transcript of an actual Dungeons & Dragons game. Sure, the chance may be taken out of it, but in its place are expertly crafted story arcs, boss battles, and character development. At first, they seemed like a novelty, but now this genre is breaking into the mainstream — and it’s not showing any signs of slowing down.
