HERE'S WHAT TO READ NEXT (2026 Edition Megathread)
NEEEEEEEW ACHIEVEMENT!
Speed Reader
Well, you did it. You read eight whole books about an angry pantless man and his spoiled little pussy cat. Are you proud? Ashamed? Gagging for more?
REWAAAARD?
Hundreds of people telling you to do it again. Welcome to the party, pals.
Interested in more Dungeon Crawler Carl? It's available in these formats:
The Book! written by Matt Dinniman
The Audiobook! narrated by Jeff Hays
The Webtoon! adapted by Tevagah and illustrated by Laurel Pursuit
The Audio Immersion Tunnel! narrated by Jeff Hays et al.
The Comic! which is just the Webtoon again, but more susceptible to water damage!
Prefer something new? Recs blow!
(NOTE: many of the books recommended below may fit into more than one category. I stand by my labeling, but YMMV. Asterisk key at the bottom.)
Okay, so you don't want to read about Carl. Would you instead like to read about a sad, angry white guy with girl problems who is put into an increasingly traumatic situation that he navigates with his powers of rage, compassion, and mild psychosis? Try these other fine books:
Operation Bounce House, by Matt Dinniman
(CW: systemic violence, genocide)
The Grinding, by Matt Dinniman
(CW: gross)
(*) Kaiju: Battlefield Surgeon, by Matt Dinniman
(CW: veeerrrry gross, excessive violence, torture porn)
Are you just here for the pussy? Do you want to read about Awesome Cats doing Awesome Things? Try:
(*) Kitty Cat Kill Sat, by Argus
(A “regular” house cat is our last, best defense against an alien apocalypse.)
Starter Villain, by John Scalzi
(The cat is named Hera, my cat is named Hera. She's shown no signs of being a brilliant spy/real estate investor, but I'm keeping my eye on her.)
Varjak Paw, by S F Said
(It's a kid's book, but an absolute banger.)
Are you SAD? No? Do you want to be? Did you cry over a woman with DOG BREASTS? Do you want to engage in entertainment that makes you feel BAD? Try:
(*) The Darkness Outside Us, by Elliot Schrefer
(Book One of The Darkness Outside Us)
(Astronaut wakes up during his solo mission to discover he's not alone. Gay suffering ensues.)
Planetfall, by Emma Newman
(Book One of Planetfall)
(The survivors of an expedition to find God make a home on a strange alien planet. Cw: severe mental illness.)
How High We Go In The Dark, by Sequoia Nagamatsu
(Vignettes in a painful and hopeful future. CW: human (child) euthanasia.)
(**) World War Z, by Max Brooks
(This one hits very differently after the pandemic, ngl.)
They Both Die At The End, by Adam Silvera
(CW: OP didn't finish because they were too sad.)
Unwind, by Neal Shusterman
(Book One of Unwind)
(In a post-Roe future, parents can “retroactively abort” their teenagers to be used for organ harvesting. Yep.)
Are you HOT for STATS? Does leveling up give you a tingly feeling in your TUMMY? Here's some Non-traditional LitRPG series for you, nerd:
Heretical Fishing, by Haylock Jobson
(Book One of Heretical Fishing)
(Genre-aware guy is reborn into a fantasy world, skips adventuring to go fish and befriend crabs.)
Jake's Magical Market, by J R Matthews
(Book One of Jake's Magical Market)
(Regular sad guy wakes up from the apocalypse to find a magical card in his chest, kills God.)
(*) Grilled Armageddon, by Dakota Krout
(Book One of Cooking With Disaster)
(Listen. Listen. Dakota Krout is not a good writer. His work reads like he went to fanfiction university in the late aughts and never grew past it. This is the only series I can recommend, because it's the only one funny enough to make me read past book 1.)
The Daily Grind, by Argus
(Book One of The Daily Grind)
(Genre-aware depressed tech-support guy stumbles into an endless maze of cubicles populated by sentient office supplies. Polyamory ensues.)
Buymort: Grand Opening, by Damien Hanson and Joseph Phelps
(Book One of Buymort)
(The series gets a little tedious, but the payoff is totally worth it. Plus, snake-tiddies.)
Are you HOT for the AI? Do you unironically call it DADDY? Do you want to read about the existential horrors of being an artificial intelligence, construct, or robot? Try:
(**) Automatic Noodle, by Annalee Newitz
(Cozy, but everyone's traumatized.)
(*) (**) All Systems Red, by Martha Wells
(Book One of The Murderbot Diaries)
(Trauma, but everyone's cozy. Autism-coded MC.)
Service Model, by Adrian Tchaikovsky
(After killing its master, a robot goes purpose-searching.)
(**) A Closed and Common Orbit, by Becky Chambers
(Book Two of Wayfarers)
(A tale of two AIs and the woman who loves them.)
Ancillary Justice, by Anne Leckie
(Book One of Imperial Radch)
(A ship's AI is on a quest to get revenge for being destroyed.)
Do you want to LAUGH, while other people are SCREAMING? Do you need your horror tempered by a hefty dose of absurdism like a teenage hipster who can't drink a cup of coffee without fifteen pumps of CARAMEL? Try:
(*) Lucky Day, by Chuck Tingle
(Yes, that Chuck Tingle. No, really. Trust me.)
John Dies At The End, by David Wong
(Book One of John Dies At The End)
(A relentless stream of fucked-up paranormal shit as told by an unreliable shit-head narrator.)
Horrorstör, by Grady Hendrix
(The Ikea is haunted.)
Are you sad? Are you exhausted and/or traumatized? Yes? Oh. Oh, I'm so sorry. They won't cure you, but try these:
Psalm For The Wild Built, by Becky Chambers
(Book One of Monk and Robot)
New and Selected Poems, by Mary Oliver
Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents, by Lindsay Gibson
How To Keep House While Drowning, by KC Davis
(****) Are you a MAN? Do you like MAN THINGS? Do you like unexamined toxic traits? What about boring women? Well, have I got the MALE POWER FANTASY for you:
(***) Columbus Day, by Craig Alanson (Book One of Expeditionary Force)
(*) We Are Legion, We Are Bob, Dennis E Taylor (Book One of Bobiverse)
(***) Leviathan Wakes, James S A Corey (Book One of The Expanse)
Are you a NERD? Do you want to fuck a dragon? Read about tedious lines of succession? Go on fantastical adventures in fantastical worlds? Try:
The Teller of Small Fortunes, Julie Leong (Book One of The Teller of Small Fortunes)
(Found family.)
Elantris, Brandon Sanderson
(Book One of Elantris, Book ? Of The Cosmere)
(The magic failed, and it took the prince down with it.)
(*) The Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison (Book One of The Chronicles of Osreth)
(If you need to hug Asher read this one. If you hated Leviathan Wakes, read the trilogy in the same series.)
The Fellowship of The Ring, JRR Tolkien
(Book One of The Lord of the Rings)
(You know what this one is about. I'm not going to write a blurb and you can't make me!)
City of Last Chances, by Adrian Tchaikovsky
(Book One of The Tyrant Philosophers)
(Fascinating gaslamp fantasy. A little dense.)
Prey of Gods, Nicky Drayden
(Ancient Gods start waking up in future South Africa.)
Are you EVEN NERDIER? Do you want your fantasy world splashed with a hearty veneer of (mostly pseudo)science? Do spaceships, time travel, evil empires and existential treats get you going? Try these fine SCIENCE FICTION offerings:
The Martian, by Andy Weir
(Stranded astronaut tries to survive alone on mars.)
The Kaiju Preservation Society, by John Scalzi
(Formulaic but a lot of fun!)
The Three Body Problem, by Cixin Liu
(Book One of The Three Body Problem)
(The end of everything begins during the Cultural Revolution, and one scientist finds himself tangled up in the consequences.)
God's Junk Drawer, by Peter Clines
(A man and his students fall through a hole in time.)
(*) To Be Taught, If Fortunate, by Becky Chambers
(A team of four struggles and triumphs while exploring a distant star system. Bittersweet ending.)
Contact, Carl Sagan
(Classic. Moderately different from the movie.)
(***) Red Rising, by Pierce Brown
(Hunger Game of Thrones, IIINNN SPAAACE.)
(**) The Space Between Worlds, by Micaiah Johnson
(Refreshingly new. About race, poverty, interdimensional travel, and lesbians.)
Jurassic Park, by Micheal Chrichton
(Classic, much darker than the movie.)
The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, by Douglas Adams
(Yet a third Classic.)
(**) Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir
(Solo astronaut on a quest to save the sun gets help from an unexpected source.)
ASTERISK KEY
(*) OPS favorite in category
(**) Audiobook is uncommonly good
(***) OP read but did not enjoy. Just because I don't like something doesn't mean it's bad. YMMV.
(****)Look, there's a lot of male power fantasies on this list. These are the most tedious. They're good, but my 21st queer-femme ass is very, very tired.