Matt Dinniman

Matt Dinniman is an American author best known for the Dungeon Crawler Carl series, a fast-growing science-fiction/fantasy saga that follows an ordinary man and his ex-girlfriend's cat, Princess Donut, who survive an alien invasion of Earth only to be forced into a galaxy-broadcast reality-show dungeon crawl, fighting monsters and navigating absurd, rules-lawyered game systems for the entertainment of an alien audience. The series began as a serialized web novel before finding a wide readership through audiobook and self-publishing platforms, and has since been picked up for wider print and audio distribution, becoming one of the most talked-about breakout hits in the LitRPG subgenre — science fiction and fantasy that borrows explicit game mechanics like levels, stats, and inventory systems as part of its narrative structure.

Dinniman's writing is known for blending genuinely inventive, rules-based game-world puzzles with sharp satire of reality television and internet culture, all delivered with profane, high-energy comic voice. The series has built an unusually devoted online fan community, driven in large part by Jeff Hays's widely praised audiobook narration. New readers should start with Dungeon Crawler Carl, the first book, since the series is heavily serialized, following Carl and Donut through consecutive dungeon 'floors' with an accumulating cast and mythology. No film or television adaptation exists to date, though the series' rapid growth in popularity has made it one of the most prominent recent success stories in self-published-turned-mainstream genre fiction.