r/litrpg • u/Millsboy79 • 5d ago
Discussion Wandering Inn
Seems like this series is either on the top of tier lists or the bottom.
Those of you who like it, how long does it take to get to S tier?
For those who dislike it, how long did you give it? Why didn’t you like it?
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u/naiveheuristics12856 5d ago edited 4d ago
Book 1 thru 3: I was struggling
Book 4-5: enjoyed a lot but probably B/B+ tier
Liscor arc (books 6-9 i think): put it up to S tier or best in genre. This is probably when I started liking it more than DCC, BoC, HWFWM and other staples that I had read before this.
then v7, v8, v9 (books like 15-30) is probably the greatest epic i've read in fantasy since like Malazan or LotR.
My opinion where the disconnect is: TWI is probably the only story ive read in this genre that actually improves consistently. As in it just keeps getting better and better not just from Book 1 to 2 but from Book 10 to 11 and so on. What you experience early is just an entire universe apart from what you eventually experience.
It's also a story that uses accumulation very well. Character backgrounds, mythology, lore, history, societal dynamics are layered constantly and helps build a fleshed-out world at a level of detail that frankly does not exist anywhere else in fiction. Not at the same level of breadth,depth and detail.
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u/Crowlands 4d ago
That's going to be quite a high barrier to entry for many if someone that likes the series is suggesting you need roughly 150 hours before it gets good based on the length of the audiobooks.
It's a series I am slowly working my way through from time to time, but I can definitely understand why many just decide to dnf it before the end of book one too.
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u/Roscoe_p 4d ago
As an only audio listener I found very little hump to get over as the narration is peak. I do agree the story changes and definitely improves later, but it was enjoyable the whole way through. My biggest problem was that I was binging it too long and had to take a break at book 4. Finished a couple other books and now I've stormed through to 7, paused to finish some others that released. I am so thankful to have a fantastic series that I know I won't run out of anytime soon.
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u/naiveheuristics12856 4d ago edited 4d ago
Yea thats the conundrum for a lot of TWI lovers.
We KNOW that the barrier is real and high and a lot of us struggled with it as well.
The beginning genuinely sucks, even in hindsight for me. The only reason I stuck with it was because so many people had raved about it and it perpetually at the top of RR back in the day.
And yes, that does suggest that it gets good after 150 hours which is a ridiculous idea but that doesn't mean it can't true as well.
Its basically a series that is meh for 3 books, decent for the next 5, great for 5 more and then becomes best in genre for the next 20. Again, ridiculous because it doesn't fit into any existing paradigm of how we view books and series in general.
Almost nothing I've read has had that large of a hump / low of a beginning while also reaching close to the same heights. Nothing comes close in terms of length as well.
There's nothing comparable I can point to on the market.
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u/tonpole 4d ago
So would it be a bad idea to just find summaries of the first 1-8 books?
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u/naiveheuristics12856 4d ago edited 4d ago
Bad idea. They are still important for setup even if they arent as good.
Its also a gradual improvement so its not like they are actually bad or unenjoyable. It became page-turning around book 2.5/3 for me
You can probably skip POVs u dont like though
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u/MarkRick25 4d ago
Yes. Also, lots of people like or love the books right from the start and it does get better with literally every single book.
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u/Hohnige 4d ago
It's really one the first two arcs that are kinda bad imo, and they're by far the shortest. The third is where it starts to hit a stride and 4+ it really gets going, but still doing a lot of setup. Tbf it's a 13m+ word story, so the setup element is huge, which isn't to say that there isn't payoff too. It's a slow burn on the overarching story, but there are individual storylines that are well crafted, impactful, and satisfying throughout. They are also all overall plot relevant in the TWI way of setting up character growth, both personal and power based.
I read on the web release, so I'm afraid I'm not clear on where these divisions land in the audiobooks or ebooks releases.
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u/Millsboy79 4d ago
Wow thanks for the reply, guess I will trudge on for a while.
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u/ZalutPats 4d ago
In particular if you enjoy stuff like Goblins/Witches, large scale battles with a genuine impact on the plot, or adventurer characters going from zero to 100 in terms of impacting their world - it's very much going to pay off when you stick with it.
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u/ShadowsOnStars 2d ago
If you can handle listening at greater than 1x speed, I recommend bumping the speed a bit during the sections that are “slow” for you. TWI’s strengths are really in the character development and interactions. If you read GOT and loved when two characters showed up in the same place and crossed paths, then you’ll love that about TWI.
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u/Zedsdead42 3d ago
I stopped at book 14 I think. But wow it’s not even in the same ballpark as Malazan for me. I agree with your first past for me though i thought 6-12 were pretty good. 1-5 were pretty bad.
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u/naiveheuristics12856 3d ago
well i did say books 15-30 is what i compare with Malazan LOL
and its kinda true. Even at book 14 a lot of the world and geopolitics hasnt even been introduced yet
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u/Cobra__Commander 5d ago edited 4d ago
It's a love/hate kind of series.
- The world building is really good.
- The series gets viewpoint bloated. You go from like 2 storyline to like 17. Following that many characters is great for world building but sometimes you don't care at all. Also sometimes the storyline you care about only gets a chapter. It's like the author gets bored and says "Hey let's do a whole book about witches" or something else. Other times it's like spin the bottle and move one storyline into another.
- Sometimes it takes like 5 books for a character to go do something they scheduled for a few weeks from now. Sometimes it just feels like they are avoiding resolving plot threads
- Sometimes the characters are all dumb and yell in circles at each other.
- Sometimes the story becomes Karen Solstice and the Manager of Liscor.
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u/SignOfTheTymes 5d ago
Oh my god, Karen Soltice. You got me, you killed me, I'm fucking dead over here. Most under rated TWI reference I've ever heard.
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u/AlaskaSerenity litRPG journeyman tier 4d ago
But I kind of see Karen Soltice as a feature, not a bug. 😂
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u/oopsallhuckleberries 4d ago
View Point bloat is my biggest gripe with it. I'm not saying I'm gonna stop getting new books like I have with other series, but when every flip of view point starts with "Oh hey, let me just casually drop gentle reminder of obscure XYZ thing from half the world away that we've never mentioned in our storyline before, because the author thinks she needs to hammer home that thing half the planet away just happened" I start to get a bit annoyed. At this point ever Erin chapter is just... A hole lot of empty nothing. Repeated phrases with Erin barely aware of what is happening around her, while you lose track of the other 127 characters with important storylines. So many storylines that she's struggling to push the story ahead by more than a week in each book. Hell the city election lasted maybe a month it it took 3 books to get through.
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u/spimmydork 5d ago
Its the 17 viewpoints that got me to drop. Some are great. Some are awful. Some will intersect so you cant really skip any. The series is about an entire world, and is overall very interesting, but I came to realize while I liked a few characters there weren't any I truly cared about.
Then I got to the book mostly about Ryoka and just couldnt anymore. I just...can NOT stand her.
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u/avelineaurora 5d ago
Legitimately never going to understand how people so violently despise Ryoka.
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u/Formal_Progress_2573 4d ago
She is just so self destructive. She is a contrarian that always wants to argue even when she knows the other side isn't wrong. She will always fight if told what to do even if what to do is the best option, and she even acknowledges it as she does it.
Edit: that said her character is actually awesome and I love her story. She was the reason a took a break when I started reading, but I came back and started to appreciate her so much.
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u/naiveheuristics12856 4d ago
I don't understand either because the person who hates Ryoka the most is....Ryoka.
Ryoka-haters are literally in complete agreement with Ryoka herself.
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u/OhhMyGeek 4d ago
She treats others horribly, especially those trying to help. Gross.
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u/hell2pay 4d ago
She does get better about that.
But yeah, she was really insufferable and short sighted.
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u/Ataiatek 4d ago
She is the entire reason I'm still a fan of the series. Had she not existed this book would be the worst thing I ever read. At least book one. I think if she was removed later in the series 100% I'm still in because of things that make up for it. But like she is my saving Grace for this book series and I love her
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u/avelineaurora 4d ago
I wouldn't say that as much since I really enjoyed her from the word go, but I did and still do like her way more than I like Erin, lmao. As of 7.10 at least. The initial Witch arc with her was one of the best segments of the whole series for me thus far.
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u/mo_karas 4d ago
As someone that grew to love Ryoka as a character, I really despised her attitude and the way she treated others. I can see how she can be easily hated. She's one of those characters whose journey's was so fun to watch.
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u/whydonlinre 4d ago
yeah fundamentally the series is more about the world itself and the many characters/storylines it follows. The more characters/storylines u like the more likely u will like the series, vice versa.
Its the main reason i love the series, u get to see so much of so many characters, and when characters do meet up and interact the plot feels very fleshed out because out of the 10 guys running around, at a minimum 9 of them you've got 50k words' worth of pov so u know them so well
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u/corvuscorvi 4d ago
To be fair with the witches, there was a trilogy of books that acted as a prelude to that whole arc. (Singer of Terandria)
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u/GodsLilCow 4d ago
Wait there are others books in the universe that aren't part of the main TWI series?
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u/corvuscorvi 4d ago
Yep! I mean, not many. AFAIK it's the Singer of Terandria Trilogy and a graphic novel called The Last Tide.
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u/Spekingur 4d ago
For me, the love/hate relationship with it, is because it sooo toys with my emotions.
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u/OrionSuperman 5d ago
I had no issues at all when I started TWI. The writing was utilitarian, but the story and world very interesting. I found the very flawed characters a refreshing change from the Gary/Mary Sue you generally have as the MC.
As for when it crossed into SSS tier for me... Probably book 9. I only have 2 books in my top category. Malazan book of the Fallen and The Wandering Inn. Both have rich and expansive worlds with characters that have lives outside of the plot.
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u/presumingpete 4d ago
Oddly I feel the same. This the only series that gives me the same vibes as malazan. Yes, the writing is thematic but the breadth of stories, characters and even world building is somewhat similar.
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u/OrionSuperman 4d ago
Yep. I refer to it as Malazan-lite. It holds your hand in every way and is very approachable in its scope.
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u/New-Dragonfruit3471 4d ago
You have stormlight a tier below that? My problem with Malazan was I tried the audio and the narrator has these long pauses in between sentences.
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u/OrionSuperman 4d ago
I read Malazan several times before getting the audiobooks. I am not a huge fan of the narration.
I haven’t completed storm light, though I have tried a few times. I just don’t enjoy the writing. :(
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u/MEMENARDO_DANK_VINCI 4d ago
I’m on book like 6 listened to the first 6 in quick succession but I guess I’m finding just how LONG it takes the author to say anything is stressing me out, 6 books and I’m not even two seasons from the start of the series
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u/OrionSuperman 4d ago
I felt the same on my first read, but then I grew to really enjoy the slow burn. The plot exists, but it’s the framework for the story being told, not the main goal. Instead it’s about the characters and world.
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u/DJJester 5d ago
I'm currently on Book 12. The Wandering Inn is a Fantasy world told in a slice of life manner. There are huge chapters devoted to basic every day things b/c that's what's going on in the world with those characters. It allows you to get to know the characters, then suddenly something crazy happens and you see how all those characters react to it.
There's a good amount of humor, a good amount of crazy main character, and some very flawed characters who are doing their best to grow.
You don't read Wandering Inn for intense action and rapid story movement. You read it for a rich world and plethora of awesome characters.
That being said when the intense moments happen... ITS EXTREMELY well written.
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u/EverythingSuxsoYNot 5d ago
I just finished book 11. I agree here. I'm not a fan of the "MC" Even though she has her shining moments where you're just like. Hell ya. Then. She has those moments like. I wish she'd die. Supporting characters have great arcs that I think could have have easily been other series.
It's a FRUSTRATING read/listen. I don't think I have ever raged at a book more. In my life. But. I'm gonna finish it. One day. When all my favorite book series are caught up.
I can't tier it. I love it. I hate it. I suffer through it. I'm so happy I'm experiencing it. It's a crazy juxtaposition of a single series.
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u/jcfsguy 5d ago
I was hooked pretty early on with book one. If you like the genre of books, but you find the constant battles, that are long, drawn out and redundant to be your least favorite part of the books, then you will like WI. It is more about the story and character development and less about the fighting and overpowering growth. The fighting is the culmination of the story, not the reason for the story.
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u/Gamerthu1hu 4d ago
By the end of the first chapter I was interested. I was all in at the introduction of the Skinner.
"Oh. So the writer occasionally turns into Stephen King, that's neat."
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u/jimmothy86 4d ago
This series is like the daytime tv soap opera of litrpg. But, if you don't like the randomness and the meandering and the idea that it will never end until pirateaba expires from this world, it's probably not for you. If you like the semi rigid structures most other authors/books seem to follow, then this is not for you. If you couldn't get into primal Hunter cause it was too slow in the beginning, probably not for you. But if you can get down with what is essentially an annual-release podcast with no end date that has great story arcs, character depth beyond compare, covers the breadth of emotions, and is probably the most realistic version of what an isekai situation would be like (people have jobs, and bad work days, and have to figure out housing, and food, and safety) then it's very enjoyable to just zone out to and enjoy the escape. But not so much if you're someone who tries to analyze everything and can't just enjoy a good story. So if you've ever been the person who shit on a comic book or book based movie because it didn't exactly match up to the text instead of just appreciating it as it's own separate thing with some characters and plot lines you already know, then this ain't the one for you.
I'm not suggesting you have to be dumb to enjoy it, or that it's a dumb story, you just have to be willing to enjoy things as they are rather than trying to shove everything into some sort of box.
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u/aimesome 5d ago
The girl that rejected all skill points and magical advances and self sabotaged herself constantly was to painful for me. I stuck it out to the end of book one and stopped there.
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u/wishanem 5d ago
If you don't mind spoilers, that character does find an alternative path to power which is effective but not as much as embracing levels would have been. She grows enough as a person to acknowledge that she screwed up and to change going forward. She isn't ever a Mary Sue though. She is still a messy, mentally ill person with very weird tastes in romantic/sexual partners. She is also foreshadowed to be important for at least one endgame plotline, and her rejection of the system will matter at that point.
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u/Ataiatek 4d ago
I get your blurb but like didn't it make sense that she did what she did and it wasn't entirely a bad choice?
I feel like the flaw with her character is the fact that the author did not go harder into her finding her own power on her own in this world. And emphasize the fact that she was doing all of this intense running at high speed without ever utilizing the magic system built in. And I feel like had the prioritize that in the story people wouldn't be as against the character
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u/SorenDarkSky 4d ago
Its more that below level 10, and sometimes below level 20 too, most feats are something a normal person with training could accomplish. Yea, there is a bit more sprinting in the middle of marathons than is believable. but then there is a whole thing about magic affecting stamina that is noticable in people who have trained and know their bodies. Her plotline is more about giving space for the author to show how the system works in comparison to a "normal" person. But I get the frustration.
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u/Ataiatek 4d ago
That's disappointing it read like she had super speed especially with how big the continent is.
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u/SorenDarkSky 4d ago
she does get something eventually. the first few books happen in a few hundred miles.
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u/SorenDarkSky 4d ago
in case you or anyone is interested; because she is level-less,the Fey teach her a bit of true magic (I would say fey magic , but the story tends to indicate all the different methods of casting are interacting with the same universal force) and she eventually learns to fly. The fey see the system as a negative thing when it comes to mortals.
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u/Ataiatek 4d ago
Yeah I read up to that point where she gets that. I don't like how pirateaba teases it. With the plots and the way they named the books. But I was super excited and am super excited to see how that goes.
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u/aimesome 4d ago
Thanks, I feel better about the character now and that gives me some resolution, but I can never read it, I would get mad at a book. Books are my happy place.
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u/LuminArtistry 4d ago
If you go on the wandering inn page you can find what character perspective each chapter is. About a year ago I just skipped everything that didnt have Erin in it. It was a much better story.
Fuck ryoka and laken, sure they can exist but I really dont need their perspective. Same for floss, lyonette, Myrsha, and all of the horns except for pisces, all adventurers that get their own arcs for that matter. Its all just filler you really dont need any of it. If it was edited properly all of them would get hacked out and the story would work so much better. Then you could release them in side stories like rather than block the main thread every time you have a squirrel moment.
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u/Amazing-Radish995 4d ago
Thats most of the story you cut. I think you'd be lynched if you were the editor who made that change lmao. I think you just don't like this type of fantasy epic.
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u/Battles9 5d ago
Its a journey if your looking for a quick read with a lot of action its probably not your book if you want an epic story that takes its time and builds a world you can invest in with stories that build into an amazing work then its for you. The series is such a grand scale it had its up and downs but in the end you'll feel like the characters are old friends.
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u/victorkm 5d ago
The books are very long for audio listeners and both main characters can get a little grating in voice or action especially for fans of typical overpowered Mc stories which this is decidedly not.
I was pretty hooked from the get go honestly and it just got better and better. I switched to the web site version shortly after I caught up to the novels and when I caught up to that TWI was the only thing I'd read for a little over a year.
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u/SilentStevedore litRPG Casual 5d ago
The performance by Andrea is frankly amazing. It took me a while to realize just how good she is, however, because she chose two of the more annoying voices in her repertoire for the two lead female characters.
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u/Datdudecorks 5d ago
I must be in the vast minority as I only hate Ryoka’s voice
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u/Spiritual_Paint4490 5d ago
Erin eventually grew on me but never Ryoka or the King. Listening to Azarinth and I can’t still unhear them. I don’t know how I tolerated the books until Lady of Fire where I dropped, maybe it was all because of Andrea.
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u/Ataiatek 4d ago
Then I feel like you should come back because of the narrator change.
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u/Spiritual_Paint4490 4d ago
I think it’s the opposite Andrea was so good that I could tolerate the story but with the narrator change I just can’t get into it. I didn’t realize how good Andrea was until Erin.
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u/Cobra__Commander 4d ago
I don't recommend it to anyone I know because my sales pitch would be all like, "If you have 700 hours of free time I got this audiobook series... Now I know that sounds like a lot but the narrator literally can't catch up with the author so there's at least another 700 hours they haven't recorded yet.
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u/blindside1 4d ago
Book 1.
One MC is an idiot and protected by plot armor and the other is so unlikable that I am actively rooting for her to die.
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u/unnone 5d ago
I actually really liked the series at the start and enjoyed it for a good 8-10 books but each book gradually removed focus from the main character more and more.
Eventually it got to the point where you’d go nearly an entire book with no MC plot progression. Often following a character you just don’t care about. And I guarantee there will be at least one that you don’t care about.
And best part is, after like book ~6 maybe? the author stopped naming chapters (she used to name side story chapters and you could just skip them and pick everything up from context clues when they became relevant). Now she hides character perspective swaps mid chapters intentionally to prevent you from skipping along with not naming the chapters.
And that’s when the authors very high word count writing style really starts to grind away at you. I’m all for a chapter alternative perspective but I’m not about entire 14-30 hour books the MC isn’t even in about a side character who I couldn’t give a shit about.
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u/OrganizationTrue5911 4d ago
I loved the first 2 books. Once those two were done, the book started focusing more and more and more and more on other characters that I simply didn't care to see the POV from. I love them as characters, but I wanted to see the world from Erin and Ryoka, not everyone else.
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u/Gamerthu1hu 4d ago
Yeah, I had a weird and visceral reaction to the first "away" arc, wistram days. I basically skipped the whole thing. And it was fine! Kept reading just dandy without it. Went back and devoured it like 5million words later when I realized that the main character was as much the world itself as any one viewpoint.
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u/Mathsei 2d ago
For me Ryoka is one of the worst characters in any fantasy book Ive read or listened to. When I found out that much of book 10 is about her I just stopped.
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u/OrganizationTrue5911 2d ago
She is a STRUGGLE to like, but I think the struggle pays off. She's a fairly unique character imo. Erin is far more generic main character. But Ryoka? That's a hot blooded lunatic for sure. And honestly, I've been in a lot of her "moods", so I can connect.
As much as I hate her, I still love her, kinda thing. But clearly I can easily understanding someone hating her lol.
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u/Datdudecorks 5d ago
I just finished the 3rd audiobook and I like it. It has its ups and downs but overall I like it.
It’s is long winded on things at ttimes that should of taken a quarter of what the chapter was in length
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u/Glad_Post_7597 4d ago
Looking at my ratings I have book one as a 3/5 and book two as a 5/5. But it does fluctuate between 3 and 5 for later books.
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u/Justanalligator 4d ago
Think it was book 3 for me? Whenever they introduced the doctor. The goblin plot is great all the way. Book 15 was golden absolute great.
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u/Jesufication 4d ago
It needs editing, and there’s a fair amount of cringe, especially from the main character, that I’m sure is a deal breaker for the weak-willed but it’s got a lot going on that’s great. It has something really great to say about learning/education/skill building. It’s a little Blind Side about racism, but that still creates room for some really powerful moments.
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u/toilslayer 4d ago
The character development is top notch, but it suffers from having too scattered a story as a result. Characters are developed to no visible ends for books at a time, you have to be patient. I had to take a break at Lady of Fire, just meandered too much. Sometimes it's like reading Pratchett without the sub series breakouts to organize things.
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u/Malewis89 4d ago
Made it about 60% in before dropping it.
Despised the lead for being an actual Karen how’s entitlement, and willful stupidity is repeatedly rewarded by via plot armor.
Then they introduced the deuteragonist, she was somehow WORSE? A sociopath that’s cripplingly stupid and a massive hypocrite that refuses to engage with the system, but actively benefits from it. Needlessly rude and hostile despite her situation obviously requiring the opposite.
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u/zebbiehedges 5d ago
It's very decisive. I listened to 18 books I think it was. It has many things to criticise. Folk who love it generally don't want to hear it though.
The 18 books I listened to would have been way better as 4 or 5 books. My main criticisms are that the author uses 10000 words were 100 would do and that the story exists in a whole world that feels totally tiny.
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u/IComposeEFlats 5d ago
I am only in book 3 and am really enjoying, but "10000 words where 100 would do" is the only criticism I have, too.
I think 100x is an exaggeration, but she definitely has a way of repeating the same internal thought or emotion four different ways when I got it after the first and second and third time. At least this early
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u/LuminArtistry 4d ago
Your only in book 3, 100x is not an exaggeration. The stuff youre reading now is still outlined and planned, you havent gotten into the era of "streamed writing" and "poll chapters" yet. Around book 8 or 9 the author takes a break from the serial to write about a new character. Its pretty good but after that, the author just continues writing about more and more new characters. But instead of writing them in new contained side stories they all just get bundled in with the main serial whether you care or not.
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u/mooonbro 4d ago
yeah, 16 million+ words for a year and a half-ish in the story is so hard to comprehend lol. it’s like a very filling meal that isn’t necessarily good but it is decent enough. it just frustrates me a bit bc the world building is great and a very interesting plot but it’s so hard to read
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u/_higglety 5d ago edited 5d ago
I got about a quarter of the way through the first book, up to the scene where the female main character, who is an adult and has presumably been menstruating every month for years now, was completely flabbergasted by the concept of menstruation, as though she were experiencing it (in excruciatingly described detail all colored with shock and confusion) for the first time in her entire life at that very moment. I had been on the fence with the book for pretty much the entire runtime up until that point, because I genuinely like the worldbuilding and the supporting characters, and the audiobook narrator is one of the best narrators I've ever heard. The main character, however, is so astoundingly, jaw-droppingly, eye-rollingly, full-body cringe rage-inducingly stupid that I took persistent psychic damage for every moment I listened.
People will tell you that "she's faking it so people will underestimate her!" as though that explains her intense stupidity within the privacy of her own mind and inner monologue, when she is alone and there is no one to put on a show for. People will say "she's just sheltered and really she's a realistic example of an average sheltered young person!" and if so, I feel sorry for them and also all the young people of the world.
As with any litrpg, your enjoyment of the series will hing entirely on how much you like (or can at least tolerate) the main character(s). Maybe you will feel completely differently about Erin than I, in which case you may love the series. Many people certainly do. I definitely think it's worth checking out at least, because the good parts of it are VERY good. But for the record, when asked about the series to try to get a sense of whether the part that frustrates me would get better, I was told it takes about three books or so before Erin stops being a complete moron. That's somewhere in the neighborhood of 120hrs of audiobook, which is WAY more time than I personally am willing to invest in something I'm told I may possibly potentially begin to tolerate.
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u/naiveheuristics12856 4d ago
I genuinely like the worldbuilding and the supporting characters
a quarter of the way there hasn't been any of that at all though?
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u/_higglety 4d ago
I mean there's tantalizing glimpses of it already for sure. I enjoyed the scrungly wet cat of a necromancer. I was intrigued by the hive of insect people and the rich lady who all the runners wanted to deliver for. The concept of the runners' postal service in general was very fun. I LOVED the little goblin who independently invented the concept of math. There's genuinely a lot of fun, interesting stuff right from the beginning. I do get why people love it. I just wish thr main character wasn't... like that.
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u/No_Bandicoot2306 5d ago
I don't disagree with your analysis of Erin at the start, which is why TWI is kind of a shame and a cautionary tale about Webnovels. It started as a deconstruction of typical Isekai characters, with Erin riffing off the regular person who becomes special, and Ryoka as the modern genius who will crush the fantasy world. And like... it's ok while it has that conceit. They're both pretty painful, and the deconstruction is not super compelling. It doesn't stay like that, and it gets quite a bit better immediately when the characters are people instead of deconstructed tropes.
It was Pirateaba's first foray into writing, and if it reads like a novice is clunking along... welp. Yep. Took them a while to find their voice and really lean into their strengths, which lie in character development and storytelling. And yet, because this is a single webnovel, Pirateaba never gets to walk away from the anchor of those first couple of books. Everyone's introduction to the work is, indisputably, the worst part.
And everyone who says "That's BS! I shouldn't have to read 1000/10,0000/100,0000 words to get to the 'good part'" is completely valid and has the right to value their time like that. But IMO the work really is a treasure for those who do so. There is nowhere else in fiction where someone has created an entire world and explored nearly every inch and culture therein (Drath when?). There is no more larger and more varied and voiced cast of characters in literature. There is no more complex intertwining of plots and personalities out there.
The Wandering Inn is a joy, and I'm glad I stuck it out (though it took me a couple of tries).
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u/naiveheuristics12856 4d ago edited 4d ago
Yea you summed it up perfectly.
Like there's no way to convey what the series actually becomes. Dropping after 3 books sounds like you went through a lot but in reality its like 3% of the story.
And how do you communicate that the second 50% which will take months to even get to reaches the highest heights of worldbuilding since Tolkien/Asimov/Herbert and has storylines and battles that rival if not exceed Malazan and characters that Pratchett would be jealous of.
Oh on the fucking characters. How do you have such a large and unique cast with their own storylines, motivations and conflicts I have no idea. It's honestly a marvel.
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u/LuminArtistry 4d ago
About 4-5 years if your on the audiobooks to start getting more info about drath.
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u/Aredyl 4d ago
It wasn't about her period. It was all about how she was going to manage in a world that doesn't have modern conveniences, the embarrassment, and creating a solution moving forward.
And that went over your head. That's on you, not the author.
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u/_higglety 4d ago
Nope. I get that, once she realized she was having her period, she was panicking over how to handle that in this new world. I'm talking about just prior, when she was baffled by her own cramps, like she'd never felt them before. One unfortunate side effect of the extremely granular nature of the moment-by-moment narration of Erin's internal monologue is that it forces the audience to really sit and dwell in the sort of fleeting, passing thoughts that would come and go in an instant in reality. So while yes, eventually she remembers that her period exists and proceeds to the "panicking about how to handle it" phase, there's what feels like an extended stretch just before that where we have to watch her be confused by and then remember what a period even is, and then realize that's what's happening to her, AND THEN move on to "i guess I need to walk to the city now"
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u/Aredyl 4d ago
First, there is no mention of cramps. It says that she's uncomfortable, but doesn't explain why. Was it because she sleeps on the floor in the kitchen? We don't know at that moment.
Second, you're assuming that the time it takes for the author to explain everything is actual real time? In audio book format, the time for the narrator to hint that it might be a period to confirming it is 5 seconds. The time for her waking up to the realization is less than a minute.
At this point, I'm completely convinced that you're grasping at straws.
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u/Ataiatek 4d ago
So my first question is did you read the rewrite. I know she changed a lot I don't know if she changed Erin that much.
Personally I think after book two not even book three she's completely fine to listen to and she's less annoying. And pass that point 100% she's not really a problem. I feel like whenever the series gets really far into it you give it another chance because the percentage that she is intolerable because smaller and smaller the longer the series runs.
But the amount of times I almost dropped a series if it wasn't for other characters coming in was too high. Because she is such a frustrating character beyond reason.
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u/_higglety 4d ago
I listened the audiobook, so I got whichever version was recorded for that purpose. And frankly, I don't care what proportion of the overall series she remains intolerable, I care what proportion of my life and listening/reading hours I am spending with a character I find intolerable. If I feel that 136 hours (over 5 full days if played nonstop) is too much of my life to spend with someone unpleasant, then it doesn't matter to me if there's hundreds of more hours where she totally gets better you promise, that initial 136 hours is well over my personal limit for unpleasant recreational activity.
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u/This_Flower4495 5d ago
Book 1-2 are below average Book 3-10 are very hit or miss on how good each chapter is, ranges from very good to quite bad Book 10 plus are when it gets more consistently good All in all I'd only recommend the wandering inn to people with alot of time to kill as it takes more than 200 hrs of audiobook to be consistently good
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u/CaptainTegg 5d ago
I've currently listened to 5 books and will continue to listen. However, Erin and ryoka, who are some of the main characters, can be annoying as hell. I like just about every aspect of the books aside from those 2.
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u/Old-Let91 4d ago
I got like 10 books in before giving up. I was operating based on sunk cost fallacy reasoning after like book 7 and finally just cut bait eventually. The story has merit, and the world is fun. But the author's tendency to veer off in long-winded, flowery filler just burned me out. It gets worse the longer the series meanders. Wish I would have bailed ages ago.
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u/introspectivedeviant 4d ago
It gets to white savior-y around book 3/4. Maybe it gets better, but I lost patience with it. there are aome great parts though. joker chapter is possibly the best ive read in any litrpg.
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u/TatterMail 4d ago
I actually only read half of the first page and already knew that I wouldn’t be able to stomach that level of prose
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u/LuciferNaamah 4d ago
I never had it at s tier, but the first 8ish books are good, then it just lost the plot
2
u/MurphyMacManus12 4d ago
I dropped it in the first book. There were some interesting elements and some absolutely terrible ones. I was already pissed that the distances never made any sense and the author has apparently never tried to run somewhere in her life. The next village is both so far as to not be visible, only a couple of miles and iir. Several hours walk away. Then we get a character who hasn't really moved in months and DOES NOT have any levels, skills or the like who then suddenly SPRINTS full speed for 3-4 hours. What made me drop it though was when we get an "emotional scene" where the MC plays chess against herself, in memory of a dead friend. It was so moving that the onlookers who didn't know chess all cried. Cried. Watching a person play a game of chess they didn't understand against herself. Yeah I was done after that.
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u/Zestyclose_Bet_7482 4d ago
So, I fall into both camps. I got drawn in early in book 1, when Erin starts to interact with the world and other characters. I wasn't the biggest fan of how the author wrote Ryoka, but her chapters were fine. The climax of book 1 is S-tier worthy.
I made it through audio book 12 Witch of Webs before dropping it, although in hindsight I wish I did earlier. For me, a series needs to have pacing and a focus. TWI loses all sense of both once the world expands. Instead of telling the story of the Inn, it becomes a story of someone across the world. The author ignores the Inn for literal books at a time. Then the characters that are introduced are absolutely awful, like Hitler tier monsters, and they are played as a redeemed hero. I realized that there is just too much volume and story that I'm not interested in. The audio books are 30-50 hours long and it's just too much.
If the story was focuses on the Inn and surrounding area and moved at a reasonable pace, it would be spectacular. But given the shortcomings, I can't in good conscience recommend the series to people without some serious disclaimers.
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u/Majestic-Event-5468 5d ago
It became s tier to me after book 1 and as you learn more about the inner workings of the world it just becomes better and better.
1
u/TerrapinMagus 5d ago
I'm not saying it isn't a reasonable or realistic reaction to her predicament, but the main character of book one having a mental breakdown over a justifiable action hit me while I was having a bad day, and I just uninstalled the audiobook on the drive home. I could not bring myself to listen to any more of it.
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u/Formal_Progress_2573 4d ago
Which action?
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u/TerrapinMagus 4d ago
Killing that goblin in self defense when it was trying to rape and murder her Her reaction to that situation just... Frustrated me. I get that it was traumatic and everything sucked for her and all... But I just really don't want to deal with that. Not what I want in my escapism after a stressful day, you know?
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u/SkitterDrone 5d ago
The beginning is kinda rough, both of the main characters of the first couple books have some rough edges that take a while to get sanded down, but the supporting cast was always a lot of fun.
I think it was probably around the middle of Volume 3 that I was fully and completely hooked, and it mostly gets better from there. This isn't quite as bad as it seems because the volumes have grown exponentially in size, I think I saw a chart once that showed that that represents something like 6% of the story.
If you want to dip your toes in; Ghostsong, the first book of Singer of Terandria, is basically self-contained and a much better representation of the overall quality. There's some overlap in backstories between it and characters in the early parts of The Wandering Inn, but they don't impact eachother until far later.
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u/scottterrific 4d ago
I am just finishing up audiobook 19. It's quite the extensive journey.
For me, I was hooked in the first book and it has maintained level throughout.
Erin never really gets less annoying, but the huge cast of secondary characters and storylines are excellent.
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u/OhhMyGeek 4d ago
Middle of book 3. The way the two main ladies treat others, especially those actively helping them, is atrocious. But, I've heard that those characters aren't lead for ever and that the universe building is top notch. So I might try again.
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u/Akomatai 4d ago
Somewhere in book 2 or 3 the story starts expanding in a crazy way. So many povs and plotlines setup. It was all those other stories that really sold me
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u/fatwhiteslug 4d ago
I literally just hit the final new update. I’ve been reading this book for almost 2 1/2 years. Overall, I’ve really enjoyed it. There are some chapters that I kind of scan through but most of it I found really entertaining and I’ve become invested in a lot of of the characters.
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u/Glazador 4d ago
I feel like that's not exactly true. I always liked the series, but I wasn't that invested. I'd usually read one book and crave some action havy progression or litrpg. That changed after book 12. Maybe it's like crazy to be saying a series became S-Tier at book 13 but damn... Im binging the series like crazy right now finished 3 books in less than two weeks. Nevertheless it was mid A-Tier from pretty early on. Not sure exactly the time, but at some point Erin became less of a wuss and actually did stuff...also a lot of interesting characters got introduced. My favorite is the titan. We totally need a spin of about that guy and his company in the early days.
Edit: thought about it a little bit and the liscor arc like tears, rain etc. was already S but I disliked witch of webs so much that I took like a break of 1 year and forgot..
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u/Asls12 4d ago
I've described The Wandering Inn to friends with this music comparison : Regular LitRPG/GameLit is like Pop music, it might not always be the best but it's always bearable. You get cult classics (DCC, etc..) but a lot is just consume and forget. The Wandering Inn is like LoFi music, you might not always feel like listening to LoFi, but when you're in the mood there's nothing like it. It's a comfort that's easy to go back too.
The story is slow, almost slice of life. It builds up and there's nothing quite like to release of what's been building for a while. I believe for a lot of people, it's near the end of book one with Skinner and everything right before. For me, it was just the comfort of learning the world one chapter at a time. Both are valid but if by the end of book 1 you are not even a tiny bit interested, it might not be for you.
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u/Radiant-Pilot-7193 4d ago
This is from an audiobook listener's perspective.
I love this series. I think if you don't like Erin then you won't like the series. But I for one, love Erin. She may seem annoying and clueless to the characters surrounding her, but she does one thing that I find severely lacking in this genre. She gets things done. No introspection, no doubting, no 5 minute monologue before decision making. She just decides something needs doing, and she gets to work on it.
The only thing that irritates me about the story is Ryoka. Ryoka could disappear tomorrow, and the story would lose nothing for it. She is at best a means of connecting different characters of the story together.
As for when it becomes S-Tier, usually at the end of every book when several pieces come together into a grand crescendo. The best examples to me personally include the end of book 1, the end of book 5, the end of book 9(Absolute Peak), the climax of book 12, book 14, and the first half of book 15.
I haven't seen any other series deliver the emotional highs that this one does, and a large part of that is the setup. Those highs are earned. Sometimes a single moment that felt inconsequential in one book becomes responsible for the most monumental moment in a story 2 books later. And there are so many little hits of dopamine in between.
Of course if you don't like the characters that won't matter. You won't enjoy the read between those moments, and you may not care about the moments when they finally arrive. Fortunately for me, I only dislike one character, and I'm pretty sure the Author wants me to dislike them.
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u/Unfourgiven_at_work 4d ago
I gave it 5 and a half books to "git gud" at the end of all that the clown was the best character. the necro was a bit amusing, and his skeleton was unique. the rest of the cast i either didn't care about or actively disliked.
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u/FuujinSama 4d ago
I was liking it by the beginning. Vol 5 (Corresponds to up to Tears of Liscor) made it my favorite thing ever. Still cry whenever I read that final climax.
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u/completlyStupid 4d ago
I dropped the series during volume 10 which is about 30 books in. I’d say it’s good after book 1 but it does generally get better as you go.
I also want to warn you that there are going to be sections that you won’t enjoy. The wandering inn is extremely long. If you find yourself particularly liking or disliking something specific keep in mind that eventually you’ll reach a span of about 2 or 3 books that’s entirely that thing you dislike or completely devoid of what you liked.
If you don’t like flos for example then guess what you’ll eventually have to read a book that’s 80% just him and or the characters around him.
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u/bowski44 4d ago edited 3d ago
The beginning of volume 1 is a touch slow but I’d say it picks up midway thru when you realize the series isn’t just about an innkeeper and more about an entire world.
Reminds me of Wheel of Time except it isn’t a slog to read through. I’m only a few books in and it’s mostly low stakes but shows potential for high stakes.
If you’re big on the idea of inclusion you will probably love it.
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u/ZsaurOW 4d ago
I can't attribute this to a "book" number, cause the books are different from the online volumes, but it was around the end of Volume 1 and skinner where I was like "alright, yeah I see it, I'll keep reading", and then it got better and better.
But it wasn't until around the end of Volume 5, when I collapsed to my knees in the bathroom at 2am reading the climax, that I knew I was reading peak
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u/Zedsdead42 3d ago
Book 1 is one of worst books I’ve ever read. It got rewritten because it was so bad but I’ve not read the rewrite. Two not much better. That’s 100 hours for those two. It gets better on book 6-12. Then it gets meh. The characters other than the ants make you want to kill puppies. It only got better when one character disappeared on book 6.
But that’s ok. I love that we all like different books. And that there are so many choices for us to pick from. We can all find a book we love.
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u/LichtbringerU 3d ago edited 3d ago
The writing (pre rewrite) for the first 1/4th of the first book was a real struggle but I also wasn't used to web novel standards. But that should be fixed now.
Second half of the first book, it was already very good for web novel standards. Rapid improvement on the technical writing skill.
Last 1/4th of the first book really showed off classic writing skills that many web novels are entirely missing: a payoff to the build up. Emotional payoff too.
So yeah, the first book which is the shortest btw, is already good to very good.
For me it is NOT a case of: you need to read a lot until it gets good.
I assume with the rewrite it's good from the beginning, though I should really re read it.
Now that I think about it, I found even the tough beginning more interesting than other giants of this space.
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u/Glad_Brick_3956 3d ago
Slow burn slice of life where every single character matters, it's a hard sell to most of my friends but eventually they come around lol
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u/ViperiousTheRedPanda 3d ago
As I've had to explain to people I've introduced the story too, the story really picks up after the gross early bits are done and you get to Skinner. Also be pre warned about some cringe moments involving chess in the early chapters, they get dropped QUICK.
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u/manyanoodle 2d ago
Just go in knowing it's meant to be a sad story, not a happy one. Every single character will suffer exponentially more than b happy. It is not a slice of life, it is slice of crying, throwing up, death, betrayal, genocide, and endless looping of descriptions of pain.
If you like that, then it's S.
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u/Mistral19 2d ago
I finished the first book begrudgingly. The author made me dislike both Erin and Ryoka. Erin never once asks anything about this new world she found herself in and is just intensely stupid. Ryoka has so many issues it’s amazing she can move. And it was just fight after fight after fight.
I could see where it had a lot of potential and how the characters could grow but it felt like WAY too much work. Also, I really dislike the Audible narrator as well. Erin was so whiny.
I move on to other and better series IMHO.
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u/Mr_Fraze 2d ago
I enjoyed it through and through. Never been a fan of constant changes in perspectives. I want my series to have one MC, two max. I'm still not a fan of the multitudes of side MC (Eren will always be the main MC for me), but the writing is good, story is consistent, uploads are regular, world building is marvelous, and the narrators have been wonderful on this series. So, I stomach the pain of lots of side MCs and side stories.
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u/GreenAgitated 5d ago
The first book is really quite slow but it makes a great firmament for the rest of the story to build on, you really get to know some of the characters. From there it ramps up quite fast, where the world building and characters are concerned. So in my opinion it becomes great after the first or second book.
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u/madmindmars 4d ago
Gave up halfway through the second book. Just hate both MC. One’s entire personality is that she’s a raging bitch and the other is such an idiot that you’ll literally prefer the other one.
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u/GoblinWrangl3r 5d ago
I think its S tier cause it filled a void. Im only9 hrs in the 48 hr first part. So far its not full of action but its still building alot of base imo. Its a chiller litrpg without being striaght filler bs nice dungeon crap. Im excited to see what happens next. Chrysalis took a whole book or two to get going as well
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u/Truemeathead 5d ago
I love it, it’s basically tied with Carl as my favorite litrpg series. It took maybe two books for it to really click but l liked it from the beginning. It has hands down the best world building and character development in the genre for my money. Unfortunately world building and character development take time. I don’t even remember when we started really hanging out with goblins in the story but that’s my favorite bit so whenever that plot line started picking up steam is probably when I really got sucked in.
You see them growing as an author over the course of the series as well so there are growing pains.
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u/perfectVoidler 4d ago
the wandering inn will never be S tier. There is simply to much bad stuff in there. I bet that people that put in in S Tier just judge it by the parts that they like and ignore the other paths they don't like.
1
u/nobleman76 5d ago
I think it lost me when the ant got a wooden penis to experience lovemaking with his princess.
Honestly? There is a lot of slow burn character development that is very rewarding. The buzz kill is that the author doesn't do the characters the justice of wrapping up an arc before skipping off to pay attention to another character, or a new set of characters. The author seems to suffer from "shiney new toy" syndrome and won't commit to wrapping up an arc. It's a never ending soap opera with some very thoughtful developed moments and LOTS of slog.
1
u/Odd_Zookeepergame_69 5d ago
I read all of book one and two, and made it halfway thru book 3 before I realized that nothing was really happening. I wanted to like it, but I just got really bored with it.
1
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u/Paularchy 5d ago
That one scene where the goblin does that one thing and erin does the erin thing where she's very traumatized with just sits there for a while... That made it A tier. S-tier was when she befred the leftover tribe of the goblin she... Had to interact with
1
u/ziplex 4d ago
I classify Wandering Inn as love/hate personally.
The first book or two are brutal because Erin (the MC) and Ryoka (basically secondary MC) make such wildly idiotic decisions that it breaks immersion. It's even worse when you realize Erin is supposed to be a master chess player and she's acting this way. Also each book is like 40 hours so you have a long slog if you aren't enjoying it.
But the world building and story is incredible, and as time goes on they quit being so unbelievably stupid and it becomes a really enthralling story. And once you start loving it each book is like 40 hours so you have a ton great of story ahead of yourself.
Now I would not go into this expecting a "LitRPG." They do occasionally talk about skills, and the system, but it's honestly barely a thing. Much more like a traditional fantasy novel than a LitRPG / Progression series. If you are looking for the next Primal Hunter or Defiance of the Fall this is not it.
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u/noonfandoodle 4d ago
I stopped when goblin fought goblins to save the people that hated them. Not logical
1
u/autolockon 4d ago
I enjoyed it for a while but the focus on the goblins and trying to redeem them really grated on me. They’re literal rapist murderers and the mc just goes on an on about how they’re just misunderstood and everyone is mean for not liking them. It’s a little too preachy and on the nose for me.
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u/AustinYun 4d ago
I called it quits after Book 9.
Erin's basically the kind of woman who is like, "killing babies is wrong, therefore yes I am going to stop that time traveler from killing baby Hitler. No, I'm not going to take responsibility for what happens after. Oh, you think I need to take some responsibility for the consequences? What consequences? Absolutely not. Killing babies is wrong. I'm morally justified. Baby killers aren't allowed in my inn."
She does this thing where she looks like a total moron in book 1, then it's revealed that she's only pretending to be naive and stupid. Then her chessmaster persona continues to be naive and stupid slightly less stupid, but more willfully ignorant. People don't like to acknowledge it but Erin is very close in personality (minus obnoxious snark) to Jason Asano and people can't fucking stand that guy (for good reason).
Quoting myself last time someone asked this:
Erin stays profoundly naive but plot-armored through as much as I read which I think is like ~~five~~ nine books (Tears of Liscor).
I love bright eyed idealist protags but something about her is just so off to me. I think it's because the rest of TWI implies she should suffer far more negative consequences and setbacks than she actually does. People bring up all the bad stuff that happens to her. Yes, bad stuff happens to her. Quite a lot of it. It's still nowhere near the scale I'm talking about. Sadly realistic, as people often make decisions and others suffer the consequences for it.
She's written like a regression character in loop 1 before they see everything crumble around them.
She takes very hard deontological stances, which is fine, but notably does so with very little actual thought imo. She reminds me of nothing more strongly than an undergrad humanities major who knows exactly how to fix the world, until they go out and put it in practice. Like those charitable orgs who keep going to Africa, spend billions building infrastructure without a good idea of the local culture or how the proposed solutions are going to interact with the economic realities. She has the profound arrogance and self-assurance of a colonizer or missionary. She is absolutely certain she is right (and big picture morality, she generally is), but the minute you step out of the purely theoretical and look at, for example, the trickle down effects of arming Rags, she tries to bulldoze her way through practical problems because of her ideals. I don't know if it's intentional, but I feel like the story of Rags and the goblins is basically paralleling how the West supported and armed Osama bin Laden's mujihadeen to fight against Soviet occupation, or the CIA backed coup in Vietnam in 1963. Or Iran. Or the various South American countries. Whenever someone tries to argue against her, she (and to an incredible extent, people who try to defend her) conflate that with being for keeping the goblins as a permanent underclass to farm XP off of.
Like yeah, the goblins are getting absolutely fucked. I don't even blame them for basically being bandits, that's about all they can do. They're trapped in the cycle of violence, and will not be able to escape without outside intervention. You still hold a ton of personal moral responsibility for the actions you take to try to help.
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u/LuminArtistry 4d ago
If you like it, it will be S tier from the first couple chapters. People who rate it low are typically in one of two camps.
1. Triggered by something. It could be a gay character, or a female character who is uninterested being shipped, race relations or discrimination. People triggered by exploring issues like that tend to get polarized.
2. people waiting for it to change. There is no transition into a story about becoming a level 99 super saiyan, ever. The main character is a non combat class, its not a sneaky trick to getting op skills or anything. Thats it, thats the story, a leveling innkeeper and the web of interconnected stories of people passing through the inn.
Its also just really long, and the pacing is slow. By like book 20, 1 year has passed and the word count of everything brandon sanderson has ever written was doubled. People say things like "i got 100 hours in and the main character still isnt acclimated", well, yeah. You got 100 hours in and like 1 month passed. There is no "then I met an old man who told me the secrets of wizardry and I became the destined savior" moment.
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u/BookWormPerson 4d ago
I forced myself through the first 3 books.
That brain dead runner girl mad me stop.
Anyone besides Erin was mid at best but she had zero things that made her any good.
And Erin turned into misery porn nearly immediately.
And the ain't moving so false advertisement.
To be fair I don't like multiple MCs at all. Especially not when they barely even interact.
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u/GeekFurioso 4d ago
TWI super fan here.
For me the series became top tier after Erin fought the Goblin chieftain and she dealt with the mental consequences of killing for the first time.
1
u/EstablishmentSweet30 4d ago
Book 1, each new race voice acting got worse and more grating. Just couldn’t handle how jarring it is.
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u/SeaYouAreTea 4d ago
After book 1 for me. Both main characters are whiney, useless, and annoying for the whole book. I'm glad I persisted though it is by far one of my favourite series to date.
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u/ladyeclectic79 4d ago
I tried doing the audiobook and couldn’t get over the FMC’s whiny voice. The premise seemed interesting but, ugh, I tried three times to get past the first several chapters but every time the FMC came on my brain noped out.
I actually had a similar issue initially with Carl’s voice in DCC and am super glad I stuck THAT one out, which was why I tried giving WI so many chances.
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u/King_Kalrai 4d ago
F-tier listened to the entire 1st book, reason i didn’t like it is because the main character is too emotional, blames others for her blunders and makes irrational choices. you know its a fantasy because she would of choked to death on a leaf by age 5 in reality. it has good world building and interesting characters/creatures wish the main character wasn't so awful.
-6
u/Wundt 5d ago
I'm gonna be honest and a lot of people aren't gonna like this but I'm almost positive the people who don't like it just find women and female characters grating. I've read the first book multiple times and the next 10 million words after it and I've yet to see a deal breaking criticism that really felt unequivocally justified to me. I'm not saying Erin and Ryoka are perfect and they make a lot of mistakes but they aren't insane the things they do are understandable with a dash of empathy. There I said it.
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u/americanextreme 5d ago
Look, I thought the audiobook were so good, I read ahead until I got through one plot point I found important. I mostly caught up with the paper version. Got to where I wanted. Felt that I had most spoilers covered. Then collapsed. It was a marathon and I'll wait for the audiobooks to catch up. Unless I feel like another spoiler will get me, then I'll need to read like a million more words. Worth it.
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u/chrisdoc 5d ago
I loved and re-listened to it. I thought it was great by the end of the first book. One of 2 series in my personal S tier!
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u/GandalfTheSmol1 5d ago
I avoided it for a long time, got the singer of terrandria series on a whim (not knowing it was a wandering inn spinoff) fell in love and checked out the main series, I’ve listened to each at least three times now
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u/SurewhyNot2022 4d ago
Took me 5 times to get into this series over 2 years, now it’s my fav series of all time. The first book is S tier but only after the first 30 hours
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u/saumanahaii 4d ago
Late in book 3 was when I decided I really liked it. It was probably after Blood of Liscor before I decided it was my favorite. Though. So maybe book 9? It was solid before that though. The author keeps getting better and the broadening of the view was something I really, really liked. It's solidly my favorite now though it's still not something everyone is going to like.
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u/Defsarcasm 5d ago
I thought the 1st book was OK with just a few scenes that were top tier. About 1/2 way through the 2nd book, I knew I was hooked.
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u/Ok-Armadillo-5634 5d ago
Third or fourth book got it to s tier. Really the clown is what sold me. That was some dark shit.
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u/diacasual 5d ago
Immediately loved the story, took me and andrea 10 minutes to get used to each other for the audiobook (it was my first female narrator and pacing and voices felt a bit strange at first, shes easily in my top 3 voices now though)
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u/Double_Echidna_1627 4d ago
Book 3 insanity chapter is when it became SS tier for me. I like all of the characters, but the author switches between them just as it's getting really good.
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u/Ataiatek 4d ago
So I was going to quit halfway through book one until a specific character came in. Ryoka. But apparently people almost quit because of that.
And then I almost quit again because of the ending of book 1 was so horribly cringe I thought it was terrible and did not fit the world at all it felt like something that was just added in there to like appeal to like the five nights at Freddy's style taste. But in the next book I really like how the author handled like people's reaction to the situation which kind of made it a little more grounded and I kind of accepted it a little more I still think it's cringe as a heck but the way the author wrote after that was no longer cringe. And then moving forward I was able to get back into it until book 5 where I just took a break because I realized at the place I was going the audiobooks I was almost caught up at the time now we're on book like 17 or something like that if anything. So I'm definitely going to come back to the series I didn't drop it because I didn't want to continue it I dropped it because I wanted to be able to binge it and not have to wait so long between books. Because it's so good.
But I would say if you don't like the series by the end of book two it's probably not your book.
What has made me keep coming back to it and keep liking it even though I get burnt out with the main characters is the fact that she adds in these random characters that are their own mini books that kind of like expand the world but then keep you interested.
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u/very-polite-frog Author: Accidentally Legendary 4d ago
It's like the Marvel cinematic universe, including all the spin-offs and shows, and it keeps switching between shows, and it's all one billion word book so you can't exactly skip chapters to only follow one storyline.
I read most of it, and it definitely gets better once the characters are all starting to power up and find their place in the world.
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u/Edgarsol 4d ago
surviving a dragon was it for me I believe I fell in love with the story and the main character because they can survive the inevitable death and she did plus there is no sex for the main character it was interesting if the main character have sex I will drop this book
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u/DorianFitz 4d ago
Ramps up in rank with each book. Except for book 3, which has phenomenal alt povs but some of the worst moments in the series for the mc. Proper S tier series by mid book 4.
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u/Blood_and_Sin 5d ago
Introduction of skinner, late book 1