The Wandering Inn: Volume 3 by Pirateaba
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

You know those kinds of stories which just scream--> Journey? While reading this, I just don't give a flying shit where it's headed, as long as I can hop along for the ride. I suspect it's a total pantser storytelling, and I don't care. Just give me more. Forever.

Okay. So. What the hell am I talking about?

The Wandering Inn. All its characters, be it new or old, all their interactions, the voyage of growth and discovery, the vast world in which it takes place, reminds me a lot of what I loved most about Wheel of Time. So. Many. Characters. But they all intersect and with all the running or caretaking or adventuring or just systemic change of a powerful ant colony magical race or THE CREATION OF A BIG BAD whose origin story is how he hates to clean an inn or how one can just ANNOUNCE that they can become an emperor AND IT WORKS, I have to say I'm thoroughly and utterly hooked.

The journey makes me smile. The journey has a lot of room to grow. The journey feels a lot like living an interesting life. And I'm living it along with all these guys/gals/insects/skeletons/gnolls/drakes/and quirky alchemists who remind me EXACTLY of Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas.

Here's the quick of it: while the writing is easygoing and just easy, the scope is anything but. It builds and builds and builds until it occupies a big portion of my mind, and I love living there.

Some people would call this being entertained. And let me tell you: I am entertained. This book, or indeed the whole series, is a bowl of comfort soup, rich fermented flavors with a bit of smoke to it. It's perfect to wrap myself, like a big blanket on a cold day. An over a thousand page blanket.


Personal note:
If anyone reading my reviews might be interested in reading my own SF, I'm going to be open to DM requests. I think it's about time I get some eyes on them.

Arctunn.com



View all my reviews