Why Dungeon Crawler Carl hits different (and why it’s not just a Hitchhiker’s clone)

OPEN ME FOR LINKS AND NOTES (it's worth it, I promise!) Want to support the channel? A cuppa is much appreciated! https://buymeacoffee.com/de.cadence Find me elsewhere...just don't expect coherence!   / csmalldog   https://www.threads.com/@csmalldog Have I sold you on this series yet?! If so, you can purchase via this link. An insanely small commission goes to me if you do but more importantly it supports independent bookshops rather than large conglomerates! https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/dungeon... WHAT ARE WE TALKING ABOUT TODAY? Dungeon Crawler Carl is NOT the American Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy...BUT I understand why people say this. I even made what I now think of as a category error myself! In this video, join me in going down a very specific nerdy rabbit hole comparing Matt Dinniman’s absurd, violent, surprisingly emotional LitRPG series with Douglas Adams’ classic — we're talking about British vs American science fiction, comedy, technology, publishing, videogames, audiobooks, midcentury magazine publishing, 21st century reality TV and why some of the silliest stories can also be some of the most interesting. Because Hitchhiker’s Guide and Dungeon Crawler Carl are less like copies or even direct corollaries of one another and more like cultural cousins: two wildly different stories created decades apart that use absurdity to make sense of a world that increasingly makes very little sense. Also there is Princess Donut the Queen Anne Chonk. Obviously. 📚 Featuring: Douglas Adams — The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Matt Dinniman — Dungeon Crawler Carl #DungeonCrawlerCarl #HitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy #douglasadams #mattdinniman ADDITIONAL READING FOR THIS EPISODE Learning Sci Fi could be funny - https://www.theguardian.com/commentis... Hitchhiker's Guide as a revolutionary text - https://jewlscholar.mtsu.edu/server/a... A tribute to HHGttG - https://mbh4h.substack.com/p/the-hitc... Celebrating HHG's 42nd birthday - https://www.economist.com/prospero/20... How HHG changed language and landscapes - https://www.euronews.com/2023/03/08/c... Longtime internet pals will KNOW I love Anne Helen Petersen’s myriad work across mediums, and her Culture Study podcast and newsletter universe is no exception. She’s partnered with the equally wonderful cultural journalist and generally only person Margaret H. Willison lately, and the joint podcast ep on DCC is lovely - https://www.patreon.com/CultureStudy/... DCC…is it good, asks a critic? - https://www.oaklandreviewofbooks.org/... Soundbooth theatre - https://soundbooththeater.com TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro, hello Crawlers! 01:07 - How to even describe this series...how about Hitchhiker's Guide? 02:46 - Making the case: spiritual and cultural cousins 04:25 - The near identical set up: HHGttG 08:23 - The near identical set up: DDC 10:46 - Completely different protagonists: Arthur contra Carl 14:21 - More similarities: Marvin contra Donut 15:40 - American and British Sci Fi traditions 22:41 - British and American post apocalyptic stories 25:05 - Absurdity, British and American varietals! 28:27 - Completely different stories: indifferent vs hostile 30:18 - The genius of Douglas Adams 32:25 - The revolutionary commentary of Matt Dinniman 34:38 - Multi media experiences 41:14 - Different eras, different tech, different art 44:24 - Cultural cousins and products of their times 47:49 - Gloriously ludicrous packaging, surprising rich text Music from Uppbeat https://uppbeat.io/t/all-good-folks https://uppbeat.io/contributors/all-g...