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Every Dungeon Crawler Carl book is available to read for free. But don't put the series off, because this deal won't last forever. Written by Matt Dinniman, the LitRPG fantasy series follows US Coast Guard veteran Carl who, along with his ex-girlfriend's cat, Princess Donut, become some of the final survivors after the galactic Syndicate uses Earth for mining operations. Fighting for survival, the pair embark upon a quest in the World Dungeon in a video game-inspired fight for survival broadcast across the universe.
The books have received plenty of critical praise and have expanded beyond the page into other mediums. This includes a Dungeon Crawler Carl webtoon adaptation, alongside an upcoming graphic novel and tabletop roleplaying game. But the novels remain the central focus of the budding franchise. Book 8, A Parable of Horribles, was released in May 2026, while the final books of the series are currently being written.
While the books began as free, chapter-by-chapter installments on fantasy writing site Royal Road and self-published by Dinniman, they've since been picked up by Ace Books and given on-the-shelf publications. However, despite the franchise's expansion and its continued growth in popularity, it's still possible to read every single entry in Dungeon Crawler Carl for free.
Everywhere You Can Read (Or Listen To) Dungeon Crawler Carl For Free
Dungeon Crawler Carl is available to read on Kindle Unlimited (KU). While the service costs $11.99 per month, new subscribers are able to get a 30-day free trial. This essentially makes the opening books of Dungeon Crawler Carl free to read, and potentially more depending on how fast someone can devour the series. It's the perfect ebook option for the series too, since Dinniman began offering revised versions of the novels through KU, following their original free releases on Royal Road.
But reading onscreen isn't the only way one can get the fantasy book series for free. Dungeon Crawler Carl is also available to listen to via Audible, which has subscription prices ranging from $7.95 per month to $22.95 per month. However, it too comes with a 30-day free trial for new listeners. Since the books range between 11 and 28 hours to listen to each, there's plenty of time for someone to get through the series in that time frame.
While both instances require monthly paid memberships, all eight books are available, and would cost much more if purchased individually. Because of this, either option is still an effective, low-cost way of reading all of Dungeon Crawler Carl, with new subscribers to either service getting even more free pages and hours out of the deal. However, if either sound optimal, it's best to act fast — because the series might not be free for much longer.
The Dungeon Crawler Carl Books Will Likely Leave KU Soon
In April 2026, a Dungeon Crawler Carl TV show was confirmed to be in development for Peacock. The streaming service greenlit a series order by June. This implies that the books won't be available on KU for much longer. While the reading platform doesn't have any exclusivity rules regarding adaptations, it's standard practice for adapted KU books to be taken off the platform to drive potential readers to buy the books individually.
This has already happened with a handful of TV shows derived from book series available on KU. Rachel Reid's Game Changers series was taken off the platform ahead of the release of Heated Rivalry on HBO Max, while Elle Kennedy's Off Campus endured a similar fate following the release of the Prime Video TV show of the same name. It's a profit-maximizing practice that will likely happen to Dinniman's fantasy book series before the TV show comes out.
Because of the TV show inevitably driving more people to the series, Dungeon Crawler Carl won't be free forever. Those considering picking up the series are better off doing so before the show arrives, using KU and Audible to catch up quickly ahead of the series, and ahead of the final books.
