I keep putting GUNSHIP – Dark All Day on while reading Dungeon Crawler Carl 01. The dark, heavy synth sound fits this huge, broken game-show world.

There is plenty here for my gamer-nerd brain: dungeons, loot, skills, levels, and LitRPG nonsense. A boss named the Ball of Swine is a pretty good summary of the book’s sense of humour. Carl and Princess Donut keep it funny, even when things get graphic.

But it never turns into harmless comedy. Billions of people are dead, and the survivors are forced to perform in an intergalactic game show. That weight stays there underneath all the jokes.

Put these on while reading: