8 Best Audiobooks Narrated By Jeff Hays That Aren't DCC

Published Sep 8, 2026, 1:00 PM EDT

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Dungeon Crawler Carl has become one of the literary success stories of the decade, making author Matt Dinniman a household name for many readers and helping LitRPG explode in popularity. While the books themselves are obviously the foundation for this success, Jeff Hays' incredible narration of the Dungeon Crawler Carl audiobooks has played an equally important role in turning the series into a phenomenon.

Jeff Hays is a voice actor and the co-founder of Soundbooth Theater, whose remarkable ability to create distinct, memorable characters has made him one of the biggest names in audiobook narration. Dungeon Crawler Carl may be his breakaway success, but it’s far from the only great book series to benefit from his vocal talents. Dozens of novels narrated by Hays are available on platforms like Audible, and his absolute best bring the same flair that made the DCC audiobooks such a phenomenon.

The Everybody Loves Large Chests Series By Neven Iliev (2017-2025)

A Mimic Embarks On A Chaotic LitRPG Adventure

Jeff Hays' talent for making utterly bizarre characters sound completely convincing is perhaps nowhere more apparent than in Everybody Loves Large Chests. The series begins with 2017’s Morningwood, the first of 11 books, and follows Boxxy T. Morningwood, a dungeon mimic whose primary motivations are acquiring treasure, becoming more powerful, and consuming anything unfortunate enough to cross its path. It is an intentionally outrageous premise that starts almost irreverantly but becomes increasingly coherent as Boxxy's adventures expand into a sprawling fantasy world.

The similarities between Everybody Loves Large Chests and Dungeon Crawler Carl are immediately obvious. Both series combine LitRPG progression with extreme violence, dark comedy, and increasingly absurd situations, while Hays' commitment ensures that even the strangest characters feel distinct. However, Everybody Loves Large Chests is considerably more explicit and deliberately provocative than DCC. Fans looking for Jeff Hays' most unrestrained and chaotic performances should find plenty to enjoy here.

The Ascension Series By Ken Lozito (2016-2018)

An Alien Conspiracy Sends Humanity Into Deep Space

Not every Jeff Hays audiobook narration needs an egocentric talking cat or a murderous dungeon filled with bombastic and wild threats to bring out his best. Ken Lozito’s Ascension is an eight-book military science-fiction series in which hacker Zack Quick uncovers a conspiracy connected to an alien signal and a mysterious structure deep within the solar system. Starting from 2016’s Star Shroud, his discovery eventually brings him aboard the Athena, sending its crew on an increasingly dangerous journey beyond Earth.

The Ascension series gives Hays a different kind of material from Dungeon Crawler Carl. The story is a straightforward but incredibly satisfying space opera, emphasizing interstellar exploration and large-scale action rather than comedy. This makes it a great recommendation for any DCC fans who want to hear Jeff Hay’s range outside LitRPGs. He especially shines through the individual vocal identities he gives the sizable ensemble of characters, helping the Athena crew feel genuine rather than a collection of interchangeable sci-fi archetypes.

The Mimic & Me Series By Cassius Lange And Ryan Tang (2023-Present)

A Betrayed Adventurer Forms An Unlikely Partnership With A Mimic

The most obvious selling point of Mimic & Me for Dungeon Crawler Carl fans is that it understands how entertaining a bizarre non-human companion can be. Co-authors Casslius Lange and Ryan Tang’s series kicks off with 2023’s Mimic & Me and introduces readers/listeners to Damon, a young man betrayed and left for dead. His survival eventually leads to an unlikely partnership with a mimic named Chester, creating a fantasy adventure built around an increasingly strange central relationship.

Unlike many of Hays' standout performances, The Mimic & Me audiobooks are an ensemble production. Ryan H. Reid takes main narration duties, with Jeff Hays voicing Chester the mimic (who takes on many different voices as he changes forms throughout the narrative). This condenses the theatrical energy of his Dungeon Crawler Carl readings into a single character, and it’s deeply satisfying. It’s a story with a lighter and more traditionally adventurous structure than DCC, but it’s an easy recommendation for anyone seeking another highly produced LitRPG audio experience featuring Jeff Hays’ talents.

The Chaos Of The Covenant Series By M.R. Forbes (2017)

A Team Of Criminals Is Sent On A Suicide Mission Across The Galaxy

Jeff Hays brings his talent for handling wildly different personalities to a very different kind of adventure in M.R. Forbes' Chaos of the Covenant. The seven-book series follows Lieutenant Abigail Cage, once one of the Republic's most respected military operatives who’s found herself imprisoned on a miserable planet doing hard labor. When powerful Republic starships are stolen and thousands are killed in the first book, 2017's Hell's Rejects, Abbey is recruited for a dangerous mission alongside some of the galaxy's most dangerous criminals.

The dynamic of a team filled with abrasive personalities makes Chaos of the Covenant an especially good choice for Dungeon Crawler Carl fans, even though the two series are otherwise very different. Despite being a space opera rather than LitRPG, Hays' ability to give every member of a large, unconventional cast a distinct personality shines through. His narration helps establish the chemistry between Abbey and her fellow misfits, giving the series’ audiobooks the same character-driven energy that makes DCC so compelling. For listeners who want to hear Hays tackle a fast-paced, action-heavy ensemble adventure, Chaos of the Covenant is an excellent Dungeon Crawler Carl alternative.

The New Era Online Series By Shemer Kuznits (2017-2021)

A Powerful Player Is Trapped Inside A Goblin's Body

Few series are better suited to Dungeon Crawler Carl fans than Shemer Kutznit’s New Era Online novels. The six-book LitRPG series is the story of Oren, a powerful player in the virtual world of NEO who is betrayed and trapped inside the body of a low-level goblin in the first New Era Online book, 2017's Life Resest. Unable to log out, he must survive as a monster while rebuilding his strength, gathering allies, and eventually creating something much larger than a simple adventuring party.

The fact they’re both LitRPGs makes its appeal to Dungeon Crawler Carl fans clear, but Life Reset distinguishes itself through its emphasis on town-building, clan management, crafting, and the consequences of living permanently inside a digital world. Hays is perfectly suited to Oren's unusual journey, and the later books also become ensemble productions with Hays supported by several talented voice actors. Anyone who enjoys DCC's combination of progression mechanics and increasingly elaborate world-building should consider this one of Jeff Hays' essential audiobook narrations.

The Delvers LLC Series By Blaise Corvin (2016-2022)

Two Ordinary Men Are Thrown Into A Dangerous Fantasy World

The premise of Delvers LLC has the same immediate appeal as many great LitRPG stories: ordinary people are suddenly forced to survive in a world defined by video game/RPG logic. The five-book series starts with 2016’s Delvers LLC: Welcome to Ludus, in which friends Henry and Jason are abducted from Earth and deposited in the sword-and-sorcery world of Ludus. Their kidnapper refuses to send them home, leaving the pair to learn magic, survive monsters, and somehow build new lives.

Jeff Hays gives the central duo and the increasingly expansive cast the kind of personality that makes the adventure feel more character-driven than its basic portal-fantasy premise suggests. There is plenty of action and progression, but the friendship between Henry and Jason is one of the greatest strengths of the Delvers LLC series. It makes the series an especially satisfying companion piece to Dungeon Crawler Carl: the specifics may be different, but both depend heavily on relationships to make their increasingly fantastical worlds work, and it's Hays’ skills that bring them to life in audio.

The Wraith's Haunt Series By Hugo Huesca (2017-Present)

A Man Becomes The Master Of A Dungeon In A World At War

2017’s Dungeon Lord, the first book in Hugo Huesca's ongoing The Wraith's Haunt series, is probably the closest thing to Dungeon Crawler Carl in terms of its central setting. Central protagonist Edward is transported to the world of Ivalis and becomes a Dungeon Lord, one of the Dark's most powerful servants. Rather than obediently serving the supposedly evil side, however, he attempts to survive while discovering that the conflict between Dark and Light is considerably more complicated than it first appears.

The premise naturally gives Hays plenty to work with, from monsters and adventurers to supernatural powers and competing factions with distinct identities. However, The Wraith's Haunt differs from DCC by taking its fantasy world more seriously. There’s plenty of humor, but Huesca’s novels are ultimately more interested in dungeon-building and the shifting balance between powerful forces. For listeners who want the dungeon-based fantasy elements of Dungeon Crawler Carl without quite as much satire, this is an excellent next stop.

The Chrysalis Series By RinoZ (2022-Present)

Being Reincarnated As An Ant Comes With Challenges

Dungeon Crawler Carl proved that an absurd premise can support a genuinely epic story, and the Chrysalis novels take this even further. RinoZ's (the pen name of Ryan McGrath) ongoing LitRPG series begins with 2022’s Chrysalis: The Antventure Begins and has seven audiobooks so far (nine books have been written, with a 10th on the way). The setup of the story is genuinely wild: central hero Anthony dies and is reborn in the game-like world of Pangera as an ant. After getting used to his new body and life, Anthony must quickly learn to evolve, survive the Dungeon, and eventually help build an entire colony.

That combination of monster progression mechanics and ridiculous comedy makes Chrysalis arguably the best Jeff Hays audiobook recommendation for DCC enthusiasts. Hays captures Anthony's increasingly frantic and enthusiastic personality while creating a huge supporting cast alongside co-narrator Annie Ellicott (who voices certain characters like Jim). The story is generally lighter and more optimistic than Dungeon Crawler Carl, but both series understand that comedy works best when the characters take their impossible circumstances seriously. Chrysalis may have a very different protagonist, yet it delivers the same mix of laughs, progression, and exceptional vocal performances that made Jeff Hays’ Dungeon Crawler Carl narrations so addictive.

Dungeon Crawler Carl