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I thoroughly enjoy the series as a whole and eagerly anticipate listening to the upcoming installments. Since I discovered the series on Tokybook, I haven’t read much of the story on the author’s website. However, I appreciate several aspects of the Tokybook versions. Firstly, the narrator does a fantastic job with the voices. Each character’s voice is distinct, allowing me to instantly recognize who is speaking before the book explicitly states it. Andrea Parsneau is a wonderful narrator, and I hope she continues to narrate the rest of the series.
While I did have a few minor issues with the latest installment, I’ll provide some minor spoilers below. This book focuses more on the secondary characters rather than the two main characters, Erin and Ryoka. The sections involving Wistram and the goblins are undoubtedly the best chapters in the book. They contain the most excitement and action. Both sections contribute significantly to the story’s progression and offer deeper character development. The Wistram section provides answers about Pysces and Seria’s past and hints at potential future conflicts. I’m pleased that the Tokybook version groups these chapters together instead of interweaving them as they are on the author’s website. The Goblin section, on the other hand, is purely enjoyable and action-packed, while also bringing us closer to the conflicts between the different Goblin factions and other races.
The sections featuring Erin and Ryoka were generally less exciting. Erin primarily returns to her inn and plans a Christmas party. While she does contribute to providing foreign aid to another city, which may play a larger role in future books, it wasn’t particularly thrilling in itself and felt more like a setup for a future event not covered in this book. Ryoka’s sections were better because her experiences were more interesting. Learning about magical artifacts and meeting Laken were enjoyable, but again, they felt like setups for significant future events not addressed in this book. The introduction of the six magical figures at the very end of the book was a bit confusing. I hope they are explained further in the next book, but if they turn out to be mere magical figures associated with the winter solstice, I don’t see them adding much to the story.
My final critique is a minor one. There are occasional instances in this book, as well as in previous books, where the author includes phrases in other languages. While it’s easy enough to copy and paste the text into a translator when reading an actual book or from the website, it becomes a challenge when listening on Tokybook. If the phrase isn’t described in the character’s thoughts before or after it is spoken, I’m left in the dark about its meaning. Even if I can guess from the context, it can be slightly annoying. I’ve had to visit the author’s website and search for the current chapter I’m listening to in order to translate each phrase. Although it occurs very rarely, perhaps twice in the 150-200 hours of the current series, it can still be bothersome.
Overall, I genuinely like the series and would give it 4 stars. This book is enjoyable due to the side and backstory elements, but it lacks significant conflict for the main characters. There is no build-up to anything substantial for them to face, which prevents it from truly standing out. As I write this, I am reading some of the author’s notes about what comes next, and it seems that my main concern regarding the main plot’s lack of progression will be addressed in the next installment. I eagerly await listening to the rest of the series.
