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The Wandering Inn #1
The Wandering Inn
“No killing Goblins.”
So reads the sign outside of The Wandering Inn, a small building run by a young woman named Erin Solstice. She serves pasta with sausage, blue fruit juice, and dead acid flies on request. And she comes from another world. Ours.
It’s a bad day when Erin finds herself transported to a fantastical world and nearly gets eaten by a Dragon. She doesn’t belong in a place where monster attacks are a fact of life, and where Humans are one species among many. But she must adapt to her new life. Or die.
In a dangerous world where magic is real and people can level up and gain classes, Erin Solstice must battle somewhat evil Goblins, deadly Rock Crabs, and hungry [Necromancers]. She is no warrior, no mage. Erin Solstice runs an inn.
She’s an [Innkeeper].
So reads the sign outside of The Wandering Inn, a small building run by a young woman named Erin Solstice. She serves pasta with sausage, blue fruit juice, and dead acid flies on request. And she comes from another world. Ours.
It’s a bad day when Erin finds herself transported to a fantastical world and nearly gets eaten by a Dragon. She doesn’t belong in a place where monster attacks are a fact of life, and where Humans are one species among many. But she must adapt to her new life. Or die.
In a dangerous world where magic is real and people can level up and gain classes, Erin Solstice must battle somewhat evil Goblins, deadly Rock Crabs, and hungry [Necromancers]. She is no warrior, no mage. Erin Solstice runs an inn.
She’s an [Innkeeper].
1235 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 1, 2018
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July 25, 2022
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An absolutely extraordinary book that absolutely shattered my expectations in every way.
I was recommended this book by a friend, and initially didn't think I was going to give this a try. But other books she recommended to me winded up fantastic, so I figured I would give it a try. I don't like books like these, and never have. Within the first few pages, it comes off as something that is written for a younger audience, with a plot that feels unimaginative, and a main character that seem borderline dumb.
But somehow, I couldn't put this book down and before I realized it I had read 200 pages in one day, and couldn't wait to continue reading. Every chapter had me hooked more than the previous one, the characters became fleshed out and wonderful to read about, the plot took twists and turns that were completely unexpected in a wonderful way, and the world became so developed that it will completely consume your mind.
This is a web serial turned into a book, but it doesn't really read that way. If I didn't already know this, I wouldn't have ever known it. The plot feels fully tied in, and doesn't feel disjointed in any way, shape, or form like other web serials I have read. But buyers beware, this series is over 9,000,000 words long, and growing by north of 40k a week - and to put that in context the entire Wheel of Time series is a little over 4,400,000 words long. This is a behemoth of a story that would take absolute immense dedication to catch up. But I'm fully along for the ride now.
Story: 5/5
Put simply, this story rocks. After the first 1/3 of the book, it felt like I was reading a story similar to Legends & Lattes in how low stakes it was - and mainly revolved around a woman opening up an Inn in a fantasy world. And I loved that book so it was warmly received by me.
But somewhere along the middle I realized that it was turning into a legitimately great epic fantasy book with multiple plotlines spanning large distances, multiple characters, and exciting intertwined stories.
And towards the end of the book it developed into a thriller of a story, that had me literally sweating with tension in a way that I have rarely done with a fantasy story. This blending of many different styles of fantasy was exciting and fresh.
World Building: 5/5
By the end of this book the world building had me absolutely enchanted. This world is huge, and this book is barely scratching the surface in terms of where this story will take you if the maps you can find online are anything to judge by.
The descriptions of the locations that the characters go to are so well described that you can't help by imagine yourself there with vivid detail, and the same can be said for the varying character races that exist in this world.
Fantasy Elements: 5/5
The main fantasy hook here is that a character from Earth has been transported to this fantasy world that is essentially Dungeons & Dragons. People in this world literally level up when they go to sleep after completing various tasks, and that comes with skills being assigned. This feels silly to start with, but it ends up being extremely fun, especially since the main characters are learning about this for the first time along with the reader.
The world is filled with different creatures that are both good and bad, and they are all interesting - some are a brand new take on fantasy, and some are traditional, but they are all written well.
Characters: 4/5
I would have given this a 5, as I absolutely love most of the characters in this story. But there is a character "Ryoka" that is featured in POVs for approximately 20% of this book that I just couldn't connect with and while the events of her chapters were interesting, I didn't care for her.
Writing Style: 5/5
This is probably a controversial take as I have seen many reviews of people absolutely trashing the writing style here, but I just can't agree. The writing is fun, witty, blends traditional fantasy with modern concepts, and left me with a consistent smile on my face. I can see that it's not the most beautiful prose in the world, but I don't care when the descriptions are so well done, the characters are so well written, and the world is built in such a fantastic way.
Enjoyment: 5/5
As if you couldn't tell by now, but I had an absolute blast reading this book. Is it one of the best book I've ever read? Absolutely not. But is it one of the most fun books I've ever read? Yup! And in the end, isn't that all that really matters?
An absolutely extraordinary book that absolutely shattered my expectations in every way.
I was recommended this book by a friend, and initially didn't think I was going to give this a try. But other books she recommended to me winded up fantastic, so I figured I would give it a try. I don't like books like these, and never have. Within the first few pages, it comes off as something that is written for a younger audience, with a plot that feels unimaginative, and a main character that seem borderline dumb.
But somehow, I couldn't put this book down and before I realized it I had read 200 pages in one day, and couldn't wait to continue reading. Every chapter had me hooked more than the previous one, the characters became fleshed out and wonderful to read about, the plot took twists and turns that were completely unexpected in a wonderful way, and the world became so developed that it will completely consume your mind.
This is a web serial turned into a book, but it doesn't really read that way. If I didn't already know this, I wouldn't have ever known it. The plot feels fully tied in, and doesn't feel disjointed in any way, shape, or form like other web serials I have read. But buyers beware, this series is over 9,000,000 words long, and growing by north of 40k a week - and to put that in context the entire Wheel of Time series is a little over 4,400,000 words long. This is a behemoth of a story that would take absolute immense dedication to catch up. But I'm fully along for the ride now.
Story: 5/5
Put simply, this story rocks. After the first 1/3 of the book, it felt like I was reading a story similar to Legends & Lattes in how low stakes it was - and mainly revolved around a woman opening up an Inn in a fantasy world. And I loved that book so it was warmly received by me.
But somewhere along the middle I realized that it was turning into a legitimately great epic fantasy book with multiple plotlines spanning large distances, multiple characters, and exciting intertwined stories.
And towards the end of the book it developed into a thriller of a story, that had me literally sweating with tension in a way that I have rarely done with a fantasy story. This blending of many different styles of fantasy was exciting and fresh.
World Building: 5/5
By the end of this book the world building had me absolutely enchanted. This world is huge, and this book is barely scratching the surface in terms of where this story will take you if the maps you can find online are anything to judge by.
The descriptions of the locations that the characters go to are so well described that you can't help by imagine yourself there with vivid detail, and the same can be said for the varying character races that exist in this world.
Fantasy Elements: 5/5
The main fantasy hook here is that a character from Earth has been transported to this fantasy world that is essentially Dungeons & Dragons. People in this world literally level up when they go to sleep after completing various tasks, and that comes with skills being assigned. This feels silly to start with, but it ends up being extremely fun, especially since the main characters are learning about this for the first time along with the reader.
The world is filled with different creatures that are both good and bad, and they are all interesting - some are a brand new take on fantasy, and some are traditional, but they are all written well.
Characters: 4/5
I would have given this a 5, as I absolutely love most of the characters in this story. But there is a character "Ryoka" that is featured in POVs for approximately 20% of this book that I just couldn't connect with and while the events of her chapters were interesting, I didn't care for her.
Writing Style: 5/5
This is probably a controversial take as I have seen many reviews of people absolutely trashing the writing style here, but I just can't agree. The writing is fun, witty, blends traditional fantasy with modern concepts, and left me with a consistent smile on my face. I can see that it's not the most beautiful prose in the world, but I don't care when the descriptions are so well done, the characters are so well written, and the world is built in such a fantastic way.
Enjoyment: 5/5
As if you couldn't tell by now, but I had an absolute blast reading this book. Is it one of the best book I've ever read? Absolutely not. But is it one of the most fun books I've ever read? Yup! And in the end, isn't that all that really matters?
October 18, 2020
The Wandering Inn is a web serial and literary version of a role-playing game, which really ought to say all you need to know--except that it is also literary crack. Like a good game, it's almost impossible to stop once you start.
The story begins with a young woman, Erin Solstice, running for her life from a band of goblins. She finds safety of sorts at an abandoned inn and comes to make it her own. The first few chapters are rough by most readers' evaluation, but as the world comes into focus, it rapidly gets more interesting. Like a role-playing game, people in this world 'level' in skills, with their ability to do something successfully impacted by skill level. Some people possess unique [skill]s. Erin levels quickly in [Innkeeping] as she works to make the inn habitable. She's a kind and generous soul, despite the landscape and local denziens attempting to eat and/or poison her. Two beings stop by her inn one night, a lizard-like drake named Relc, and the insectoid Antinium, Klbkch. Both beings are ranking members of the local City Watch, and end up befriending and orienting Erin, tempting her to go to the city for supplies.
There's a rough overarching plot in this book, but not in a way that feels like each chapter advances solidly towards an ultimate goal. In this, it reminds me most of the RPG genre; there may be an end reward or an ultimate boss one is supposed to find and conquer, but it is very easy to be distracted with side quests, explorations, and plain old leveling. To be sure, many of the side stops are interesting, and if they aren't, a new chapter will likely bring another direction.
The writing is a bit rough in the beginning but rapidly improves. By the end, I was getting all the detail I could have wished and more, with very full fight scenes, both physical and chess-related. This is where an editor would have proved very useful, but instead, Pirateaba says, "it's free, just read." I skimmed quite a bit at times, not because it was necessarily bad, but because it was too detailed in an uninteresting way, or it was headed somewhere I didn't especially want to go (not everyone wants to do the same quests, you know). Still, it was riveting by the end, and kept me on the exercise bike an extra 30 minutes. Hurrah!
The characterization is curious. I wouldn't say the characters are flat, a complaint often leveled at the genre. In fact, Erin's moderately irritating, with a surprising lack of curiosity about how the world around her. She often reacts with a, "that's not right," rather than seeking to understand. It's a peculiar kind of mindset that doesn't belong in a traveler, and for the experienced reader, it can grow tiresome. Another main character, Ryoka Griffin appears in an Interlude and can be equally difficult, although in different ways. Although she thinksabout this world, she has a similar tendency to react emotionally.
Will it work for you? Hard to say, but Pirateaba--presumably, a pseudonym--has graciously made it all available for free on the interwebs. Best place to read is here so you can sample it for yourself.
What I've discovered from reading serials, based on Ilona Andrews' Innkeeper books, and this, is that I probably prefer the polished versions. I don't enjoy the installment structure (I lose the immersion ability and am distracted from week to week), and I prefer the smoothness that the editing process brings. That said, both Andrews and Pirateba have strong writing ability, and there's something that keeps me engaged despite occasionally feeling like there's too much filler.
Pirateaba is up to Volume Five in the series, and puts out installments biweekly. They have a Patreon account, which pays well by all accounts, allowing Pirateaba to do this as a full-time job. Patreons get early access and bonus material, but otherwise it's free, and Pirateaba makes a point of saying so on the Kindle purchasing page. I find this non-marketing intriguing; I can't tell if it is generous or arrogant. I'd much, much rather have a e-book than try to read a story on my computer. I spend too much time with my computer as it is, between work, internet, goodreads and gaming, and it isn't exactly ergonomical or portable. And if I'd pay to become a Patreon, why not pay for a book? The Kindle edition is listed at 1158 pages; definitely not computer-reading-friendly. Anyway, that's my own reaction on the platform. Volume One is available for Kindle purchase--I did--but suspect my interest in following volumes will be limited due to format. I did, of course, start the next to see where it would end. It isn't long before Pirateaba pulls some surprises out of the hat and starts to weave together a few earlier dangling threads. Unfortunately, that means that it's not the sort of story that one jumps in in the middle--everyone's got to start at the starting zone.
Three levels, and making progress.
The story begins with a young woman, Erin Solstice, running for her life from a band of goblins. She finds safety of sorts at an abandoned inn and comes to make it her own. The first few chapters are rough by most readers' evaluation, but as the world comes into focus, it rapidly gets more interesting. Like a role-playing game, people in this world 'level' in skills, with their ability to do something successfully impacted by skill level. Some people possess unique [skill]s. Erin levels quickly in [Innkeeping] as she works to make the inn habitable. She's a kind and generous soul, despite the landscape and local denziens attempting to eat and/or poison her. Two beings stop by her inn one night, a lizard-like drake named Relc, and the insectoid Antinium, Klbkch. Both beings are ranking members of the local City Watch, and end up befriending and orienting Erin, tempting her to go to the city for supplies.
There's a rough overarching plot in this book, but not in a way that feels like each chapter advances solidly towards an ultimate goal. In this, it reminds me most of the RPG genre; there may be an end reward or an ultimate boss one is supposed to find and conquer, but it is very easy to be distracted with side quests, explorations, and plain old leveling. To be sure, many of the side stops are interesting, and if they aren't, a new chapter will likely bring another direction.
The writing is a bit rough in the beginning but rapidly improves. By the end, I was getting all the detail I could have wished and more, with very full fight scenes, both physical and chess-related. This is where an editor would have proved very useful, but instead, Pirateaba says, "it's free, just read." I skimmed quite a bit at times, not because it was necessarily bad, but because it was too detailed in an uninteresting way, or it was headed somewhere I didn't especially want to go (not everyone wants to do the same quests, you know). Still, it was riveting by the end, and kept me on the exercise bike an extra 30 minutes. Hurrah!
The characterization is curious. I wouldn't say the characters are flat, a complaint often leveled at the genre. In fact, Erin's moderately irritating, with a surprising lack of curiosity about how the world around her. She often reacts with a, "that's not right," rather than seeking to understand. It's a peculiar kind of mindset that doesn't belong in a traveler, and for the experienced reader, it can grow tiresome. Another main character, Ryoka Griffin appears in an Interlude and can be equally difficult, although in different ways. Although she thinksabout this world, she has a similar tendency to react emotionally.
Will it work for you? Hard to say, but Pirateaba--presumably, a pseudonym--has graciously made it all available for free on the interwebs. Best place to read is here so you can sample it for yourself.
What I've discovered from reading serials, based on Ilona Andrews' Innkeeper books, and this, is that I probably prefer the polished versions. I don't enjoy the installment structure (I lose the immersion ability and am distracted from week to week), and I prefer the smoothness that the editing process brings. That said, both Andrews and Pirateba have strong writing ability, and there's something that keeps me engaged despite occasionally feeling like there's too much filler.
Pirateaba is up to Volume Five in the series, and puts out installments biweekly. They have a Patreon account, which pays well by all accounts, allowing Pirateaba to do this as a full-time job. Patreons get early access and bonus material, but otherwise it's free, and Pirateaba makes a point of saying so on the Kindle purchasing page. I find this non-marketing intriguing; I can't tell if it is generous or arrogant. I'd much, much rather have a e-book than try to read a story on my computer. I spend too much time with my computer as it is, between work, internet, goodreads and gaming, and it isn't exactly ergonomical or portable. And if I'd pay to become a Patreon, why not pay for a book? The Kindle edition is listed at 1158 pages; definitely not computer-reading-friendly. Anyway, that's my own reaction on the platform. Volume One is available for Kindle purchase--I did--but suspect my interest in following volumes will be limited due to format. I did, of course, start the next to see where it would end. It isn't long before Pirateaba pulls some surprises out of the hat and starts to weave together a few earlier dangling threads. Unfortunately, that means that it's not the sort of story that one jumps in in the middle--everyone's got to start at the starting zone.
Three levels, and making progress.
April 17, 2024
Good enough to finish, but at 1300 pages this was an absolute slog in places!
Final Rating: 2.9/5 🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
Question for fans of this series, help convert me. Does the plot pick up? Is it worth sticking this series out or, are the later books just more of the same? Should I drop it and move on, or keep persevering?
I dove into The Wandering Inn amid a chorus of praise, many recommending it as an ideal gateway to the LitRPG genre. Typically, I approach books with an open mind, avoiding research to escape preconceptions, but it was hard to ignore the buzz surrounding this series. Converted from a web serial to a fantasy volume, the author boasts an impressive following of around 6000 patrons on Patreon, and snippets of reviews I glimpsed painted it as "addictive" and "amazing." Such acclaim undoubtedly nudged my expectations higher than usual. Perhaps this experience has taught me a valuable lesson about tempering my trust in widespread hype. Despite moments that captivated me—particularly as the story approached its climax—this book emerged as my most disappointing (and lengthy) read of the year. While certain aspects were enjoyable enough to see it through to the end, without significant persuasion, I'm leaning towards not continuing with the series.
Plot Summary
In The Wandering Inn Book 1, a young woman named Erin Solstice finds herself mysteriously transported to a fantasy world. With no idea how she got there or how to return home, Erin stumbles upon an abandoned inn in the wilderness near the city of Liscor. Deciding to take refuge, she begins to renovate the inn, naming it The Wandering Inn.
Credit: Victor Koroedov
As Erin adjusts to her new life, she forages for food, meets various inhabitants of the world—including different races like lizardfolk, drakes, and goblins—and gradually learns about the world's leveling and skills system, a mechanic where individuals improve in their chosen professions or abilities.
Meanwhile, another Earthling, Ryoka Griffin, a runner with a stubborn streak and a refusal to conform to the world's leveling system, crosses paths with Erin. Their stories intertwine as they navigate the challenges of this foreign land, form alliances, and face threats together.
Plot: 2/5
Starting out with The Wandering Inn, I was all set for a plot-driven ride - after all my only experience in the LitRPG genre is the blood pumping Dungeon Crawler Carl. Unfortunately as a very plot centered reader I had to hit the brakes on those expectations very early on. This adventure, come slice-of-life, story would have been excellent if it had been a couple of hundred pages. But this? This felt like wandering through an endless hallway (thousands of pages) of how to run an inn (something I’m never planning on doing).
I understand that this is a whole web serial converted into a fantasy book, and that perhaps explains the patchy pacing. This certainly explains why it could feel a bit disjointed and all over the place sometimes… which I could overlook if the plot didn’t meander like it was out for a casual Sunday stroll in the park. Seriously, the pace was so laid back, I wondered if it was moving at all.
I did enjoy the RPG elements typical of this genre (leveling, classes, points into innkeeping skills). Indeed, if it had been shorter, I quite enjoyed our protagonist trying to figure out her new world, making pals, bumping into the odd enemy here and there. Classic stuff. But all of that was utterly defeated because of its dialed down, almost glacial pace.
Right near the end of the book, hints of something bigger started creeping in. It made me think, "Huh, maybe there's hope yet?" Still, as much as those last-minute teases tried to reel me back in, from a plot perspective I was left feeling a tad underwhelmed.
World building: 3.5/5
The settings of The Wandering Inn are as wild as a fantasy lover's dreams. The inn, a cozy hub near the city of Liscor, sits amidst a land teeming with oddities: venomous fish, explosive insects, fireworks trees, boulder-crabs, flying dinosaurs, and goblin bands—it's a cocktail of the fantastical and the dangerous.
Credit: Enuryn the [Naturalist]
Liscor itself is a melting pot of races—lizard folks, ant warriors (Antinium), and those talkative gnolls. The world operates on RPG logic which is really well done; bust your back at a job, level up, and bag new skills. Warriors beef up their combat moves, while Farmworkers might just start lifting heavy loads as if they're feathers. It's a neat twist that turns daily grind into a shot at greatness.
Credit: Asanee04
But here's the thing: with all this cool stuff, we're mostly chilling at the inn. It's like being promised a theme park visit but spending the day at the entrance. Sure, the inn's got charm, but you can't help craving more of the outside world's madness and magic. My hope is that further books in the series move outside to see a much larger slice of the world the inn inhabits.
Characterisation: 4.5/5
The Wandering Inn really hits its stride with Erin and Ryoka. These two are the heart and soul of the story, and honestly, they make the whole thing sing. Erin lands in this crazy fantasy world and, instead of freaking out, she rolls up her sleeves and turns an old inn into the coolest spot around. She's all about making the best of things, spreading kindness, and figuring stuff out one day at a time. It's pretty awesome how real and down-to-earth she feels, making you root for her from the get-go.
Then there's Ryoka (who I think is not as popular amongst readers), the runner with a tough shell and a heart of, well, maybe not gold, but something just as valuable. We get these glimpses into her head, and man, she's got layers. She's not much for chitchat, but her actions and those rare peeks into her thoughts show a depth that’s super compelling. She's battling through this world on her own terms, which is both kinda stubborn and incredibly brave.
Putting these two front and center, The Wandering Inn offers something you don't see every day. Their journey goes beyond the usual sword-swinging heroics to spotlight what's genuinely heroic: resilience, compassion, and the guts to keep going when the going gets weird.
Where other parts of the tale might not totally hit the spot, Erin and Ryoka’s stories are the exception. They bring the warmth, the struggles, and the victories to life in a way that’s both relatable and inspiring. Their adventures and growth outshine everything else, making every moment with them a highlight of the series. It's their realness and grit that make The Wandering Inn stand out from the crowd, offering up a fresh take with every chapter they’re in.
And that is not even mentioning the plethora of side characters that are in my opinion even more engaging and well done.
Indeed, if I do decide to continue with this series, it will be for the characters going forward.
Prose: 2.0/5
When it comes to prose, I'm pretty easy to please. Just don't make me stumble or pull me out of the story, and we're good. I don't need every sentence to be a literary gem; as long as it's decent, I'll keep turning the pages. But, I’ve gotta say, The Wandering Inn struggled to clear that bar for me.
Yeah, I get it, it's a web serial—and the first volume, at that. So I’m sure it will improve - indeed I think I actually noticed it improving throughout this first volume. But it was pretty tough going with some of the mistakes at the beginning.
If I’m trying to be generous… I know web serials get a lot of flak for not being high literature, and sure, The Wandering Inn isn't about to snag a Man Booker Prize anytime soon. But I guess writing for web serials is a whole different ball game. The author has got to things straightforward enough so someone can jump in after a gazillion chapters and not get lost. So on that front, The Wandering Inn does its job.
I’ll also mention on a brighter note, that I thought some of the dialogue was pretty great. There's a ton of it for a fantasy book, which could've gone south fast. But here's where things shine a bit. The conversations do a solid job of painting a picture of the characters. It's like, through all the chit-chat, you really get a feel for who's who in this vast, wandering world.
Enjoyment: 2.5/5
Talk about a mixed bag. A long book can be a treasure when it's gripping, but this one often felt like a slog, with the pacing doing me no favors. Pages stretched on with little progression, and at times, it felt like déjà vu with repeated revelations. It made me think a good edit could have tightened the narrative significantly. Which I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised about given this book’s origins.
But it wasn't all rough going. The characters stood out as the highlight, offering depth and development that kept me engaged. They’re the friends you wish you could pull out of the pages and into real life. And while the prose started off on shaky ground, it showed promise as it improved chapter by chapter, hinting that future volumes might smooth out these early bumps.
If I was to summarise where this book has left me it would be: unsure. I've seen plenty of praise for this series, leaving me puzzled and a bit curious—what did I miss? For those who are fans, I wonder, does it get better? And what other books do you love? Understanding your favorites might help me see this series through a different lens.
Here’s hoping that things only get better from here.
Final Rating: 2.9/5 🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
My favourite books of 2024 in preferential order
🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕:
1. The Way of Kings - (My Review: 5.0/5)
2. The Hunger of the Gods - (My Review: 5.0/5)
3. Dungeon Crawler Carl - (My Review: 4.8/5)
🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗:
4. Empire of Silence - (My Review: 4.6/5)
5. The Shadow of What Was Lost - (My Review: 4.3/5)
🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑:
6. The Poppy War - (My Review: 4.0/5)
🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑:
...
🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑:
7. Hyperion - (My Review: 3.1/5)
8. The Wandering Inn: Book 1
🌕🌕🌑🌑🌑:
...
Final Rating: 2.9/5 🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
Question for fans of this series, help convert me. Does the plot pick up? Is it worth sticking this series out or, are the later books just more of the same? Should I drop it and move on, or keep persevering?
I dove into The Wandering Inn amid a chorus of praise, many recommending it as an ideal gateway to the LitRPG genre. Typically, I approach books with an open mind, avoiding research to escape preconceptions, but it was hard to ignore the buzz surrounding this series. Converted from a web serial to a fantasy volume, the author boasts an impressive following of around 6000 patrons on Patreon, and snippets of reviews I glimpsed painted it as "addictive" and "amazing." Such acclaim undoubtedly nudged my expectations higher than usual. Perhaps this experience has taught me a valuable lesson about tempering my trust in widespread hype. Despite moments that captivated me—particularly as the story approached its climax—this book emerged as my most disappointing (and lengthy) read of the year. While certain aspects were enjoyable enough to see it through to the end, without significant persuasion, I'm leaning towards not continuing with the series.
Plot Summary
In The Wandering Inn Book 1, a young woman named Erin Solstice finds herself mysteriously transported to a fantasy world. With no idea how she got there or how to return home, Erin stumbles upon an abandoned inn in the wilderness near the city of Liscor. Deciding to take refuge, she begins to renovate the inn, naming it The Wandering Inn.
Credit: Victor Koroedov
As Erin adjusts to her new life, she forages for food, meets various inhabitants of the world—including different races like lizardfolk, drakes, and goblins—and gradually learns about the world's leveling and skills system, a mechanic where individuals improve in their chosen professions or abilities.
Meanwhile, another Earthling, Ryoka Griffin, a runner with a stubborn streak and a refusal to conform to the world's leveling system, crosses paths with Erin. Their stories intertwine as they navigate the challenges of this foreign land, form alliances, and face threats together.
Plot: 2/5
Starting out with The Wandering Inn, I was all set for a plot-driven ride - after all my only experience in the LitRPG genre is the blood pumping Dungeon Crawler Carl. Unfortunately as a very plot centered reader I had to hit the brakes on those expectations very early on. This adventure, come slice-of-life, story would have been excellent if it had been a couple of hundred pages. But this? This felt like wandering through an endless hallway (thousands of pages) of how to run an inn (something I’m never planning on doing).
I understand that this is a whole web serial converted into a fantasy book, and that perhaps explains the patchy pacing. This certainly explains why it could feel a bit disjointed and all over the place sometimes… which I could overlook if the plot didn’t meander like it was out for a casual Sunday stroll in the park. Seriously, the pace was so laid back, I wondered if it was moving at all.
I did enjoy the RPG elements typical of this genre (leveling, classes, points into innkeeping skills). Indeed, if it had been shorter, I quite enjoyed our protagonist trying to figure out her new world, making pals, bumping into the odd enemy here and there. Classic stuff. But all of that was utterly defeated because of its dialed down, almost glacial pace.
Right near the end of the book, hints of something bigger started creeping in. It made me think, "Huh, maybe there's hope yet?" Still, as much as those last-minute teases tried to reel me back in, from a plot perspective I was left feeling a tad underwhelmed.
World building: 3.5/5
The settings of The Wandering Inn are as wild as a fantasy lover's dreams. The inn, a cozy hub near the city of Liscor, sits amidst a land teeming with oddities: venomous fish, explosive insects, fireworks trees, boulder-crabs, flying dinosaurs, and goblin bands—it's a cocktail of the fantastical and the dangerous.
Credit: Enuryn the [Naturalist]
Liscor itself is a melting pot of races—lizard folks, ant warriors (Antinium), and those talkative gnolls. The world operates on RPG logic which is really well done; bust your back at a job, level up, and bag new skills. Warriors beef up their combat moves, while Farmworkers might just start lifting heavy loads as if they're feathers. It's a neat twist that turns daily grind into a shot at greatness.
Credit: Asanee04
But here's the thing: with all this cool stuff, we're mostly chilling at the inn. It's like being promised a theme park visit but spending the day at the entrance. Sure, the inn's got charm, but you can't help craving more of the outside world's madness and magic. My hope is that further books in the series move outside to see a much larger slice of the world the inn inhabits.
Characterisation: 4.5/5
The Wandering Inn really hits its stride with Erin and Ryoka. These two are the heart and soul of the story, and honestly, they make the whole thing sing. Erin lands in this crazy fantasy world and, instead of freaking out, she rolls up her sleeves and turns an old inn into the coolest spot around. She's all about making the best of things, spreading kindness, and figuring stuff out one day at a time. It's pretty awesome how real and down-to-earth she feels, making you root for her from the get-go.
Then there's Ryoka (who I think is not as popular amongst readers), the runner with a tough shell and a heart of, well, maybe not gold, but something just as valuable. We get these glimpses into her head, and man, she's got layers. She's not much for chitchat, but her actions and those rare peeks into her thoughts show a depth that’s super compelling. She's battling through this world on her own terms, which is both kinda stubborn and incredibly brave.
Putting these two front and center, The Wandering Inn offers something you don't see every day. Their journey goes beyond the usual sword-swinging heroics to spotlight what's genuinely heroic: resilience, compassion, and the guts to keep going when the going gets weird.
Where other parts of the tale might not totally hit the spot, Erin and Ryoka’s stories are the exception. They bring the warmth, the struggles, and the victories to life in a way that’s both relatable and inspiring. Their adventures and growth outshine everything else, making every moment with them a highlight of the series. It's their realness and grit that make The Wandering Inn stand out from the crowd, offering up a fresh take with every chapter they’re in.
And that is not even mentioning the plethora of side characters that are in my opinion even more engaging and well done.
Indeed, if I do decide to continue with this series, it will be for the characters going forward.
Prose: 2.0/5
When it comes to prose, I'm pretty easy to please. Just don't make me stumble or pull me out of the story, and we're good. I don't need every sentence to be a literary gem; as long as it's decent, I'll keep turning the pages. But, I’ve gotta say, The Wandering Inn struggled to clear that bar for me.
Yeah, I get it, it's a web serial—and the first volume, at that. So I’m sure it will improve - indeed I think I actually noticed it improving throughout this first volume. But it was pretty tough going with some of the mistakes at the beginning.
If I’m trying to be generous… I know web serials get a lot of flak for not being high literature, and sure, The Wandering Inn isn't about to snag a Man Booker Prize anytime soon. But I guess writing for web serials is a whole different ball game. The author has got to things straightforward enough so someone can jump in after a gazillion chapters and not get lost. So on that front, The Wandering Inn does its job.
I’ll also mention on a brighter note, that I thought some of the dialogue was pretty great. There's a ton of it for a fantasy book, which could've gone south fast. But here's where things shine a bit. The conversations do a solid job of painting a picture of the characters. It's like, through all the chit-chat, you really get a feel for who's who in this vast, wandering world.
Enjoyment: 2.5/5
Talk about a mixed bag. A long book can be a treasure when it's gripping, but this one often felt like a slog, with the pacing doing me no favors. Pages stretched on with little progression, and at times, it felt like déjà vu with repeated revelations. It made me think a good edit could have tightened the narrative significantly. Which I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised about given this book’s origins.
But it wasn't all rough going. The characters stood out as the highlight, offering depth and development that kept me engaged. They’re the friends you wish you could pull out of the pages and into real life. And while the prose started off on shaky ground, it showed promise as it improved chapter by chapter, hinting that future volumes might smooth out these early bumps.
If I was to summarise where this book has left me it would be: unsure. I've seen plenty of praise for this series, leaving me puzzled and a bit curious—what did I miss? For those who are fans, I wonder, does it get better? And what other books do you love? Understanding your favorites might help me see this series through a different lens.
Here’s hoping that things only get better from here.
Final Rating: 2.9/5 🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
My favourite books of 2024 in preferential order
🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕:
1. The Way of Kings - (My Review: 5.0/5)
2. The Hunger of the Gods - (My Review: 5.0/5)
3. Dungeon Crawler Carl - (My Review: 4.8/5)
🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗:
4. Empire of Silence - (My Review: 4.6/5)
5. The Shadow of What Was Lost - (My Review: 4.3/5)
🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑:
6. The Poppy War - (My Review: 4.0/5)
🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑:
...
🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑:
7. Hyperion - (My Review: 3.1/5)
8. The Wandering Inn: Book 1
🌕🌕🌑🌑🌑:
...
August 18, 2020
I hated this thing that calls itself a book. And I would not be myself if I did not go through 1500+ pages only to tell you how dreadful it was.
Yes, it is me, your favourite one-star aficionado. Before you ask:
“The inn. A place for questing adventures, singing, solace, and even temporary, messy love. Or just lust. In any good tavern you can find at least one mysterious figure in the shadows ready to spout off cryptic messages of doom. No pub worthy of the name wouldn’t have the potential for indiscriminate violence simmering in the air.”
If you have hopes for something like the description above, kill them mercilessly. Such a venue does not feature in The Wandering Inn. There is a building that is a bit neglected, in a place where no inn has the right to be (as in: in the vicinity of Liscor, a town inhabited by humanoid lizards and ants, but far enough from any roads to be unappealing for prospective travellers). There is also a girl that wanders into said inn and has adventures. Most of those are about as exciting as the adventures I have on my way to the grocery shop.
That would be excusable, after all, not every book must have a compelling protagonist, exciting world-building, and an intricate plot at the same time. The problem is that The Wandering Inn has none of those and is not even readable. It is wordy. It drags. It fills the space with repetitive actions and internal monologues. It consists mostly of silly, deletable scenes. The wordcount kills this story. There is not enough substance to justify it. I have been mentally snip-snipping when reading this and I can only imagine the glee with which your average editor would descend on this text. In a normal book, it would take a chapter between the arrival and the “no killing goblins” sign to appear. Maybe two. This novel (sic!) should basically start at chapter 20 and a professional could cover the deleted ones in a single paragraph.
[Professional Editor: Things that happen when you walk into your bathroom half asleep and instead of facing a shower, you meet a dragon.]
I need to say that the writing style is quite horrid; to call it a high-school product is to be very diplomatic (yes, I always thought I’d make a fine Minister of War). The fact that originally it has been published a chapter or a couple of pages at a time in the form of a Web-serial is not a justification. My readextraodinaire experience with The Sword of Kaigen which has had similar beginnings is a proof of that. Admittedly, friends who were listening to the audio unanimously said that the audiobook is much better and some suggested that they would probably have given up if they were forced to read.
Not that I took the easy road.
“I’m an idiot.”
I might be as well, but this lovely quote comes from the main protagonist of the Wandering Inn, one Erin Solstice. The girl is so brainless that she makes the reality show celebrities look like a bunch of Ivy League graduates! Her reasoning is non-existent, ability to extrapolate and think ahead is on par with that of a hamster. It would be OK, if she was somebody a) unfamiliar with fantasy in general and LitRPG in particular and b) did not have a hobby that sharpens one’s mind better than a razor. But since Erin Solstice is a causal gamer (!) and a chess master (!!!), takes the customary “what the hug, I am in a new world!” trope to the heights of stupidity.
This stupidity is ingenious in how we are forced to endure her attempts to harvest blue fruits, find usage for acid flies and cook some pasta. All downright fascinating. Not. I was still waiting for the plot to advance, when an interlude made me realise that this is how the plot advances in this (I shudder to write it) book.
Don’t get me wrong, the ideas are definitely there: misty over the distant horizon although for a moment I was anxious that there were only humanoid ants in the ideas department and let me tell you most stores are better supplied even during the pandemic. But I guess it will take about ten years to get to somewhere authentically exciting, and the reader will have to go through hundreds of pasta-cooking/blue fruits gathering descriptions. Not a fair bargain, but a bargain.
Infinitesimal development is also visible in how the Author expands the protagonist base. There are many characters (including, Pisces whom I pegged as the prospective main love interest somewhere in volume 20—if the pace continues—a wizard who has money but scares villagers for food, is very talented but forced to practice on the legal margins of his craft; necromancy, that is why) , but only 2-3 POVs have their own distinct LitRPGs. This might be because the MC is so unbearable that even the author felt the need to expand or because one can squeeze only that much out of “the inept innkeeper.” Presumably, Ryoka comes to the rescue.
Ryoka Griffin is the most obstinate, aggravating, and pointless character you can imagine. Doing things opposite of everyone because. Somewhere in the middle, she is meant to go through a catharsis (“I stand straight and tall. Whole once more. And my mind continues where my voice stops.” kind of catharsis) but after this happens, the Author realises that this kind of dramatic character development is premature and kills the story and promptly ignores her own design. Ryoka quickly goes back to her old self but enhanced by repeating the same mistakes, catharsis and the allegedly turning point notwithstanding becoming a drama queen that initiated the skimming mode in me.
But I need to be honest and admit that I did not skim that much as the Wandering Inn reads fast despite a slow start, and excessive internal monologuing so if you want to waste your time here, at least there is hope it is not going to be too much time wasted. I would discourage you, if possible. I decided to read indie more often due to the near to constant disappointment with the over-hyped trash incessantly peddled by the big publishing houses on the other, but this book is a perfect example why the majority if indie remains precisely this: a wild thing on the margin of a wider readership.
Not all who wander are lost.
This inn is.
Yes, it is me, your favourite one-star aficionado. Before you ask:
“The inn. A place for questing adventures, singing, solace, and even temporary, messy love. Or just lust. In any good tavern you can find at least one mysterious figure in the shadows ready to spout off cryptic messages of doom. No pub worthy of the name wouldn’t have the potential for indiscriminate violence simmering in the air.”
If you have hopes for something like the description above, kill them mercilessly. Such a venue does not feature in The Wandering Inn. There is a building that is a bit neglected, in a place where no inn has the right to be (as in: in the vicinity of Liscor, a town inhabited by humanoid lizards and ants, but far enough from any roads to be unappealing for prospective travellers). There is also a girl that wanders into said inn and has adventures. Most of those are about as exciting as the adventures I have on my way to the grocery shop.
That would be excusable, after all, not every book must have a compelling protagonist, exciting world-building, and an intricate plot at the same time. The problem is that The Wandering Inn has none of those and is not even readable. It is wordy. It drags. It fills the space with repetitive actions and internal monologues. It consists mostly of silly, deletable scenes. The wordcount kills this story. There is not enough substance to justify it. I have been mentally snip-snipping when reading this and I can only imagine the glee with which your average editor would descend on this text. In a normal book, it would take a chapter between the arrival and the “no killing goblins” sign to appear. Maybe two. This novel (sic!) should basically start at chapter 20 and a professional could cover the deleted ones in a single paragraph.
[Professional Editor: Things that happen when you walk into your bathroom half asleep and instead of facing a shower, you meet a dragon.]
I need to say that the writing style is quite horrid; to call it a high-school product is to be very diplomatic (yes, I always thought I’d make a fine Minister of War). The fact that originally it has been published a chapter or a couple of pages at a time in the form of a Web-serial is not a justification. My readextraodinaire experience with The Sword of Kaigen which has had similar beginnings is a proof of that. Admittedly, friends who were listening to the audio unanimously said that the audiobook is much better and some suggested that they would probably have given up if they were forced to read.
Not that I took the easy road.
“I’m an idiot.”
I might be as well, but this lovely quote comes from the main protagonist of the Wandering Inn, one Erin Solstice. The girl is so brainless that she makes the reality show celebrities look like a bunch of Ivy League graduates! Her reasoning is non-existent, ability to extrapolate and think ahead is on par with that of a hamster. It would be OK, if she was somebody a) unfamiliar with fantasy in general and LitRPG in particular and b) did not have a hobby that sharpens one’s mind better than a razor. But since Erin Solstice is a causal gamer (!) and a chess master (!!!), takes the customary “what the hug, I am in a new world!” trope to the heights of stupidity.
This stupidity is ingenious in how we are forced to endure her attempts to harvest blue fruits, find usage for acid flies and cook some pasta. All downright fascinating. Not. I was still waiting for the plot to advance, when an interlude made me realise that this is how the plot advances in this (I shudder to write it) book.
Don’t get me wrong, the ideas are definitely there: misty over the distant horizon although for a moment I was anxious that there were only humanoid ants in the ideas department and let me tell you most stores are better supplied even during the pandemic. But I guess it will take about ten years to get to somewhere authentically exciting, and the reader will have to go through hundreds of pasta-cooking/blue fruits gathering descriptions. Not a fair bargain, but a bargain.
Infinitesimal development is also visible in how the Author expands the protagonist base. There are many characters (including, Pisces whom I pegged as the prospective main love interest somewhere in volume 20—if the pace continues—a wizard who has money but scares villagers for food, is very talented but forced to practice on the legal margins of his craft; necromancy, that is why) , but only 2-3 POVs have their own distinct LitRPGs. This might be because the MC is so unbearable that even the author felt the need to expand or because one can squeeze only that much out of “the inept innkeeper.” Presumably, Ryoka comes to the rescue.
Ryoka Griffin is the most obstinate, aggravating, and pointless character you can imagine. Doing things opposite of everyone because. Somewhere in the middle, she is meant to go through a catharsis (“I stand straight and tall. Whole once more. And my mind continues where my voice stops.” kind of catharsis) but after this happens, the Author realises that this kind of dramatic character development is premature and kills the story and promptly ignores her own design. Ryoka quickly goes back to her old self but enhanced by repeating the same mistakes, catharsis and the allegedly turning point notwithstanding becoming a drama queen that initiated the skimming mode in me.
But I need to be honest and admit that I did not skim that much as the Wandering Inn reads fast despite a slow start, and excessive internal monologuing so if you want to waste your time here, at least there is hope it is not going to be too much time wasted. I would discourage you, if possible. I decided to read indie more often due to the near to constant disappointment with the over-hyped trash incessantly peddled by the big publishing houses on the other, but this book is a perfect example why the majority if indie remains precisely this: a wild thing on the margin of a wider readership.
Not all who wander are lost.
This inn is.
August 4, 2018
I read this in the original web serial format, but it's one of my favourite ever stories. The writing is so digestible, and the characters are so likable. This is an amazing slice-of-life fantasy story with some LitRPG elements. Pirateaba really grows into the story as it goes on.
This is what I read when I'm feeling down. I love The Wandering Inn.
This is what I read when I'm feeling down. I love The Wandering Inn.
June 4, 2023
Just wanted to jump back to this review again to tell folks - MORE PEOPLE SHOULD BE READING OR LISTENING TO THIS SERIES! Yes, the first book is cumbersome and the author is learning as s/he goes, but from what I understand they are reworking the first volume and you guys should really give it a try!!! As long as the series seems, it's just never long enough! A very engaging and fantastical story 👍😀🤟*** 4.25 ***
This is a web serial, lightly based on a LitRPG, and published as an e-book on Amazon.
A young woman named Erin gets up during the night to go to the restroom, when she makes a left turn and... finds herself in another world, full of monsters, humanoid but not human races, magic, and a system of life based on accumulation of skills and levels, just like in a progressive video game.
She stumbles upon an abandoned Inn and begins making it into her shelter and a source of income, while getting aquatinted with the locals and learning how to survive in a world with no technology, but magic.
It is a slow start, but it is absolutely addictive! Erin has the best of intentions, but she is written as realistically as possible for a girl her age from a middle class American background, kind of sheltered and girl nextdoor-ish, who has been dropped into a whole another world, which she discovers step by step and is not very equipped to deal with. I think the author is really trying to think about what she would do if that happens to her. She does a great job, because Erin, our main character so far, is not a superhuman for sure, and since as a whole we are used to expect more from our fictional characters than from people in real life, it is almost shocking when said characters act like one of us would even in those fictional circumstances... She is an idealistic positive young person, and as pleasant as she could be, she makes a lot of mistakes, since she has never truly been responsible for her life, let alone taking on the actual protection or care for others. This makes for awkward situations and sometimes undesirable consequences, and it is almost painful to think about, but as a whole, she is able to keep a sunny outlook on things. And she plays Chess!!!!! I love it! I hope you will too!
This is a web serial, lightly based on a LitRPG, and published as an e-book on Amazon.
A young woman named Erin gets up during the night to go to the restroom, when she makes a left turn and... finds herself in another world, full of monsters, humanoid but not human races, magic, and a system of life based on accumulation of skills and levels, just like in a progressive video game.
She stumbles upon an abandoned Inn and begins making it into her shelter and a source of income, while getting aquatinted with the locals and learning how to survive in a world with no technology, but magic.
It is a slow start, but it is absolutely addictive! Erin has the best of intentions, but she is written as realistically as possible for a girl her age from a middle class American background, kind of sheltered and girl nextdoor-ish, who has been dropped into a whole another world, which she discovers step by step and is not very equipped to deal with. I think the author is really trying to think about what she would do if that happens to her. She does a great job, because Erin, our main character so far, is not a superhuman for sure, and since as a whole we are used to expect more from our fictional characters than from people in real life, it is almost shocking when said characters act like one of us would even in those fictional circumstances... She is an idealistic positive young person, and as pleasant as she could be, she makes a lot of mistakes, since she has never truly been responsible for her life, let alone taking on the actual protection or care for others. This makes for awkward situations and sometimes undesirable consequences, and it is almost painful to think about, but as a whole, she is able to keep a sunny outlook on things. And she plays Chess!!!!! I love it! I hope you will too!
January 13, 2024
4.0 Stars
Video Review: https://youtu.be/ty65PoWv0I8
After all the online hype, I finally took the plunge and bought the first ebook. Thankfully it turned out to the worth the investment and not just for the page length.
The story has a rocky start and admittedly wasn't sold on the first few chapters. Yet I couldn't stop reading. This author is a really good storyteller and I was hooked. I don't think the writing to great and the characters start out pretty awkward, but I wanted to know what was happening yet.
I liked it enough that I bought the next several volumes and am already making my way through the second.
Video Review: https://youtu.be/ty65PoWv0I8
After all the online hype, I finally took the plunge and bought the first ebook. Thankfully it turned out to the worth the investment and not just for the page length.
The story has a rocky start and admittedly wasn't sold on the first few chapters. Yet I couldn't stop reading. This author is a really good storyteller and I was hooked. I don't think the writing to great and the characters start out pretty awkward, but I wanted to know what was happening yet.
I liked it enough that I bought the next several volumes and am already making my way through the second.
August 22, 2018
Well.
What started as a curiosity quickly turned into an addiction. This is only volume 1 of a web serial, and I'd be lying if I didn't say I've already spent an hour copying and pasting and building my own ebook of volume 2.
This is Erin's story, a young white woman who finds herself in a foreign medieval fantasy land with no idea how or why. Her survival instincts and quite a bit of luck finds her taking over an abandoned inn in the wilderness. As she forages for food and supplies, she starts to discover new races, new monsters, and a new system of how intelligent life works through a leveling class and skill system. Erin is easy to like: she's caring and brave, innocent and flawed. She tries to do the right thing, bringing her Earth sensibilities with her, but it doesn't always translate easily to this new atmosphere.
This is also Ryoka's story, a half-Japanese woman who also finds herself in this new world. She's intelligent, fierce, and gifted at running. She has parlayed her physical prowess info a job as a courier, which takes her across the continent and lands her in front of various characters of interest. She also refuses to accept the hand that she's dealt, and her anger and strong will puts her in hot water more than it helps her out of it. We spend some time in Ryoka's head, as the narrative shifts into first-person for some passages, and the audience becomes privvy to her thought process. Good thing, too, as she rarely speaks more than one-word sentences to those she doesn't care for. Which is just about everyone.
This is also the story of the various races, cultures, mages, ant-people, hyena-people, drakes, and humans that populate the land at large. There are wars, there are adventurers, there are dangerous monsters and hidden agendas. There is love and there is loss. There's death. A LOT of death. Way, way more than I was prepared for by book's end. As the main cast continues to expand, we start to spend time with ancillary characters and learn more about the politics and economy of the world at large. 1300 pages into this story, and we're just scratching the surface at what this massive web serial epic has to offer.
Since this is a web serial that posts 10,000-word chapters twice a week (!!), we are reading what is essentially a first draft of this story. The author, publicly known only as pirateaba, has been a machine of consistency, as she is in the midst of her fifth volume -- about 6000 pages in total -- after only two years of writing. While there are a smattering of plot inconsistencies and grammatical issues, the sum of this story is greater than its parts: just when you think you're reading about a typical evening at the Wandering Inn, a casual game of chess morphs into a quiet moment of reflection and growth. Or finding the right ingredient for dinner feels much bigger than a small victory. Or an act of rebellion in the face of long odds makes you cheer and wince, unsure of what consequences will stem from it. Because there's nothing certain in this story: major events turn on a dime, people's fates are decided suddenly and violently, and mysteries hint at much larger things ahead.
This is one of those stories, like Wildbow's "Worm," where all of your other interests are put aside so you can tear into this story as quickly as possible. Because this is also OUR story. We are pulled through this portal just as much as Erin and Ryoka, and we experience all of their victories and losses, breakthroughs and tragedies, laughter and fear, together. Whether you only have time to spend a single chapter hanging out in Erin's common room, drinking blue juice and eating acid flies with the rest of her chess group, or if you're binging through a hundred-page exploration of undead ruins, there's always a reason to come back to the Inn. And I will be there for the long haul.
What started as a curiosity quickly turned into an addiction. This is only volume 1 of a web serial, and I'd be lying if I didn't say I've already spent an hour copying and pasting and building my own ebook of volume 2.
This is Erin's story, a young white woman who finds herself in a foreign medieval fantasy land with no idea how or why. Her survival instincts and quite a bit of luck finds her taking over an abandoned inn in the wilderness. As she forages for food and supplies, she starts to discover new races, new monsters, and a new system of how intelligent life works through a leveling class and skill system. Erin is easy to like: she's caring and brave, innocent and flawed. She tries to do the right thing, bringing her Earth sensibilities with her, but it doesn't always translate easily to this new atmosphere.
This is also Ryoka's story, a half-Japanese woman who also finds herself in this new world. She's intelligent, fierce, and gifted at running. She has parlayed her physical prowess info a job as a courier, which takes her across the continent and lands her in front of various characters of interest. She also refuses to accept the hand that she's dealt, and her anger and strong will puts her in hot water more than it helps her out of it. We spend some time in Ryoka's head, as the narrative shifts into first-person for some passages, and the audience becomes privvy to her thought process. Good thing, too, as she rarely speaks more than one-word sentences to those she doesn't care for. Which is just about everyone.
This is also the story of the various races, cultures, mages, ant-people, hyena-people, drakes, and humans that populate the land at large. There are wars, there are adventurers, there are dangerous monsters and hidden agendas. There is love and there is loss. There's death. A LOT of death. Way, way more than I was prepared for by book's end. As the main cast continues to expand, we start to spend time with ancillary characters and learn more about the politics and economy of the world at large. 1300 pages into this story, and we're just scratching the surface at what this massive web serial epic has to offer.
Since this is a web serial that posts 10,000-word chapters twice a week (!!), we are reading what is essentially a first draft of this story. The author, publicly known only as pirateaba, has been a machine of consistency, as she is in the midst of her fifth volume -- about 6000 pages in total -- after only two years of writing. While there are a smattering of plot inconsistencies and grammatical issues, the sum of this story is greater than its parts: just when you think you're reading about a typical evening at the Wandering Inn, a casual game of chess morphs into a quiet moment of reflection and growth. Or finding the right ingredient for dinner feels much bigger than a small victory. Or an act of rebellion in the face of long odds makes you cheer and wince, unsure of what consequences will stem from it. Because there's nothing certain in this story: major events turn on a dime, people's fates are decided suddenly and violently, and mysteries hint at much larger things ahead.
This is one of those stories, like Wildbow's "Worm," where all of your other interests are put aside so you can tear into this story as quickly as possible. Because this is also OUR story. We are pulled through this portal just as much as Erin and Ryoka, and we experience all of their victories and losses, breakthroughs and tragedies, laughter and fear, together. Whether you only have time to spend a single chapter hanging out in Erin's common room, drinking blue juice and eating acid flies with the rest of her chess group, or if you're binging through a hundred-page exploration of undead ruins, there's always a reason to come back to the Inn. And I will be there for the long haul.
August 9, 2023
Fantastic and surprising! I just filmed my video review but rest assured. I loved this book 📚
August 11, 2018
I have really high standards when it comes to the technical aspects of a book. To misquote a friend of mine: "My standards are higher than your heels." I need tight plots, solid structure and a mastery of language that Tolkien would approve of.
The Wandering Inn has little of this.
Many of the characters are caricatures, the plot is all over the place—is this a slice of life story, a sword and sorcery adventure, or an epic save the world? It's all of these things, in a winding, twisting plot that drags its feet over half a dozen colossal continents. The writing is—if you'll forgive my unkindness—at the level I expect from fanfiction.
Despite all that, I LOVE this story. It has carved a place in my heart.
When I first discovered it, I was glued to my laptop for 4 days straight. My flatmate thought I had had a mental health breakdown, because I hadn't left my room in all that time. I was weak from hunger and a lack of sleep. I was addicted.
There is something vibrant about this work. It hums with energy. It is fun. The author had fun writing this, you can feel it, because the story communicates that fun to the reader in a way a thousand Shakespeares would struggle to match, thees and thous notwithstanding.
This is a powerful story about teenagers and young adults trapped in a world made stagnant by its own magic, and how their ideas, beliefs and actions shape a shift in cultural thought. From a humble (if bossy) innkeeper to adventurers and heroes, from savage (yet bright) goblins to kings and warlords, this is a tale about the change a single person can make in a world that resists change.
The characters are active, always doing something, always impacting a world that evolves around them. The world is fascinating, and unique, with dozens of races and cultures. The lore is rich and deep, with a history that matters. Everything is badass—including chess. Especially the chess.
It has one of the best PoV's of a drone in a hivemind I have ever read. And by one, I mean several. I relish the Antium chapters. There is an entire chapter where a group of goblins hold an entire conversation solely through body language. I keep going back to that chapter, because as an amateur writer myself, there is so much to learn from it. I am in awe of this work, and I've unashamedly looted ideas from this for my own writing.
It's bright, inventive and surprisingly original in a genre (portal fantasy) that grew tired and cliche decades ago. It slides Litrpg mechanics into the world, its cultures and the plot in a way that makes it feel natural, without clunking up the story with endless numbers and stats like most Litrpgs.
As far as I am concerned, this is the peak of the portal fantasy/Litrpg genre.
The Wandering Inn has little of this.
Many of the characters are caricatures, the plot is all over the place—is this a slice of life story, a sword and sorcery adventure, or an epic save the world? It's all of these things, in a winding, twisting plot that drags its feet over half a dozen colossal continents. The writing is—if you'll forgive my unkindness—at the level I expect from fanfiction.
Despite all that, I LOVE this story. It has carved a place in my heart.
When I first discovered it, I was glued to my laptop for 4 days straight. My flatmate thought I had had a mental health breakdown, because I hadn't left my room in all that time. I was weak from hunger and a lack of sleep. I was addicted.
There is something vibrant about this work. It hums with energy. It is fun. The author had fun writing this, you can feel it, because the story communicates that fun to the reader in a way a thousand Shakespeares would struggle to match, thees and thous notwithstanding.
This is a powerful story about teenagers and young adults trapped in a world made stagnant by its own magic, and how their ideas, beliefs and actions shape a shift in cultural thought. From a humble (if bossy) innkeeper to adventurers and heroes, from savage (yet bright) goblins to kings and warlords, this is a tale about the change a single person can make in a world that resists change.
The characters are active, always doing something, always impacting a world that evolves around them. The world is fascinating, and unique, with dozens of races and cultures. The lore is rich and deep, with a history that matters. Everything is badass—including chess. Especially the chess.
It has one of the best PoV's of a drone in a hivemind I have ever read. And by one, I mean several. I relish the Antium chapters. There is an entire chapter where a group of goblins hold an entire conversation solely through body language. I keep going back to that chapter, because as an amateur writer myself, there is so much to learn from it. I am in awe of this work, and I've unashamedly looted ideas from this for my own writing.
It's bright, inventive and surprisingly original in a genre (portal fantasy) that grew tired and cliche decades ago. It slides Litrpg mechanics into the world, its cultures and the plot in a way that makes it feel natural, without clunking up the story with endless numbers and stats like most Litrpgs.
As far as I am concerned, this is the peak of the portal fantasy/Litrpg genre.
January 3, 2022
1/2/2022 Notes: 4th Re-Read
A group of people are diving into the Innverse at FBR. =D
It's rather exciting to have more people to hang out with & chat about WI. Volume 1 has become a comfort read, and I had fun revisiting the start of the series.
12/26/2020 Notes ~ 3rd Read:
Why did I end up re-reading Vol1 again this year?
Even though I re-read Vol1+2 by audiobook, details slipped by me when I try to remember everything that has happened in the series. A handful of questions kept popping up while I read Volume 7. I never read Vol1 online. I got into the webserial by listening to the audiobook. I wondered if I would enjoy reading Vol1 online as much as I did listening to it. I know more details stick with me when I read vs listening. I managed to read a few chapters before I got busy and defaulted to the audiobook to keep going. One of these days, I'll actually read Vol1.
For those who can't get into the webserial by reading it, I recommend listening to the audiobook because Andrea Parsneau did a fantastic job of making the story come to life by ear. Maybe read along on the website as you listen. If you go completely by audiobook, you'll miss some of the cool things that can be experienced when you read it online. There are interesting author/reader notes and lots of great art.
Stuff to Keep in Mind:
- The twins & Flos are thrown into the mix for a brief moment.
- Dreams are important. Whether it's the phrasing or the dream itself, gotta remember those.
- Character actions are ALL over the place but I liked how all of them deal with a range of situations. I like how Pirateaba is not afraid to show the negative side of things.
- Fals:
- Erin & fighting. Ya know, I totally forgot all the stuff that happened right at the beginning. I mean, I remember the summaries but it was a bit shocking to read it and realize how stupid she was and still survived multiple dangerous situations.
- Ryoka is a total brat. It was annoying to revisit this phase in her development. Ha.
- Bird:
Eventually, I will read Vol1 on the website. =)
Now, I'm more curious to read the rest of the series over again because I realized that it's easier to appreciate the characters now that they're more established in my brain. Goes to show that the series is fun to re-read and not dull on the re-run.
**Editorial updates are always done on the website and ebooks. The most up to date version of the story will always been online.
05/07/2020 Notes ~ 2nd Read:
Top notch narration by Andrea Parsneau! She has a way of making a story better than it is and that's pretty awesome and slightly disappointing because the story may not stand as well without the narration.
My thoughts about the webserial haven't changed. It's interesting to note that most of my responses to story on this re-read was the same as the first time around. Uneven plot progress, chunky POV changes, cool concepts but conflicting execution of given information, etc. This may have been the little push I needed to dive back into Volume 4. =)
12/05/2019 Mini-Review:
4.5 Stars for Narration by Andrea Parsneau (Definitely one of the best I've heard done by her.)
3 Stars for Setting/Plot (Overall Writing)
3.5 Stars for Erin
Rating the Volume 1 at 4 stars because the audio version made the story come alive in a way that did not happen when I tried to read the story on the website. I'm not sure if I would have made it far if I was reading the story in print because the writing is fairly simple. However, now that I have a sense of the world and main characters, I may have enough invested into the series to keep me going. I don't have a lot of time to read print but I'm going to try to read Volume 2 online.
AP definitely made the story fun and added that extra life into the characters and setting that made the story more compelling. Vol1 is over 1000 pages but not a whole lot was established by the end of it. There's a loose beginning and ending to start and finish. The mini-plot arcs were tied up better than the main one in my opinion.
It's like you get caught up in a slice of life story and you like the whole enough to keep going. Fluffy fun with just enough grit and twists to keep you interested. Somewhat like watching an anime and going with it because it's cute. That's how I feel about the Wandering Inn. It's cute.
A group of people are diving into the Innverse at FBR. =D
It's rather exciting to have more people to hang out with & chat about WI. Volume 1 has become a comfort read, and I had fun revisiting the start of the series.
12/26/2020 Notes ~ 3rd Read:
Why did I end up re-reading Vol1 again this year?
Even though I re-read Vol1+2 by audiobook, details slipped by me when I try to remember everything that has happened in the series. A handful of questions kept popping up while I read Volume 7. I never read Vol1 online. I got into the webserial by listening to the audiobook. I wondered if I would enjoy reading Vol1 online as much as I did listening to it. I know more details stick with me when I read vs listening. I managed to read a few chapters before I got busy and defaulted to the audiobook to keep going. One of these days, I'll actually read Vol1.
For those who can't get into the webserial by reading it, I recommend listening to the audiobook because Andrea Parsneau did a fantastic job of making the story come to life by ear. Maybe read along on the website as you listen. If you go completely by audiobook, you'll miss some of the cool things that can be experienced when you read it online. There are interesting author/reader notes and lots of great art.
Stuff to Keep in Mind:
- The twins & Flos are thrown into the mix for a brief moment.
- Dreams are important. Whether it's the phrasing or the dream itself, gotta remember those.
- Character actions are ALL over the place but I liked how all of them deal with a range of situations. I like how Pirateaba is not afraid to show the negative side of things.
- Fals:
- Erin & fighting. Ya know, I totally forgot all the stuff that happened right at the beginning. I mean, I remember the summaries but it was a bit shocking to read it and realize how stupid she was and still survived multiple dangerous situations.
- Ryoka is a total brat. It was annoying to revisit this phase in her development. Ha.
- Bird:
Eventually, I will read Vol1 on the website. =)
Now, I'm more curious to read the rest of the series over again because I realized that it's easier to appreciate the characters now that they're more established in my brain. Goes to show that the series is fun to re-read and not dull on the re-run.
**Editorial updates are always done on the website and ebooks. The most up to date version of the story will always been online.
05/07/2020 Notes ~ 2nd Read:
Top notch narration by Andrea Parsneau! She has a way of making a story better than it is and that's pretty awesome and slightly disappointing because the story may not stand as well without the narration.
My thoughts about the webserial haven't changed. It's interesting to note that most of my responses to story on this re-read was the same as the first time around. Uneven plot progress, chunky POV changes, cool concepts but conflicting execution of given information, etc. This may have been the little push I needed to dive back into Volume 4. =)
12/05/2019 Mini-Review:
4.5 Stars for Narration by Andrea Parsneau (Definitely one of the best I've heard done by her.)
3 Stars for Setting/Plot (Overall Writing)
3.5 Stars for Erin
Rating the Volume 1 at 4 stars because the audio version made the story come alive in a way that did not happen when I tried to read the story on the website. I'm not sure if I would have made it far if I was reading the story in print because the writing is fairly simple. However, now that I have a sense of the world and main characters, I may have enough invested into the series to keep me going. I don't have a lot of time to read print but I'm going to try to read Volume 2 online.
AP definitely made the story fun and added that extra life into the characters and setting that made the story more compelling. Vol1 is over 1000 pages but not a whole lot was established by the end of it. There's a loose beginning and ending to start and finish. The mini-plot arcs were tied up better than the main one in my opinion.
It's like you get caught up in a slice of life story and you like the whole enough to keep going. Fluffy fun with just enough grit and twists to keep you interested. Somewhat like watching an anime and going with it because it's cute. That's how I feel about the Wandering Inn. It's cute.
Read
March 28, 2023DNF at page 33, my first DNF ever, i know i have lots of books open but i will get back to them, most probably i am never going back to the wandering inn.
i had a conversation with someone who reads it today, and i was saying that i dropped it, at page 33, after i noticed that the girl was gaining levels with no stats, which usually means no consequence or importance, and they didn't really defend the novel by saying otherwise and said that they like it because its slice of life.
So here we are, i am not looking for the crunchiest LITRPG ever, but come on give me something, if the levels are of no consequence, and if we remove them the novel will still work, then its not LITRPG, plain and simple, but since this is so popular, i ll still be on the lookout for conversations about this, who knows maybe someone says something interesting that lets me continue reading this again.
i had a conversation with someone who reads it today, and i was saying that i dropped it, at page 33, after i noticed that the girl was gaining levels with no stats, which usually means no consequence or importance, and they didn't really defend the novel by saying otherwise and said that they like it because its slice of life.
So here we are, i am not looking for the crunchiest LITRPG ever, but come on give me something, if the levels are of no consequence, and if we remove them the novel will still work, then its not LITRPG, plain and simple, but since this is so popular, i ll still be on the lookout for conversations about this, who knows maybe someone says something interesting that lets me continue reading this again.
February 8, 2023
This book is boring. I’m only at 4%, but with 1,235 pages, that’s a lot too long to go and still be bored. I’d have stopped where I did anyway (because boring) but a lot of things just flat out made no sense. I’ll give an example. Erin finds a stream and decides it’s time for a bath. She bathes. Then a fish shows up with lots of teeth and tries to eat her. Here’s where it gets impossible. She scrambles out of the stream but the fish’s momentum is such that it heaves onto the bank so far it kills itself before it can get back to water. And I’m not saying a fish can’t jump so far out of a stream (though that’s stupidly unlikely) but I am saying that a human outpacing a fish in the water is just dumb.
Lots and lots of things in this story happen like that. Things that couldn’t possibly work the way described. Indeed, I may have gotten as far as I did with how boring it was just waiting for the next unlikely thing. Am I that big a masochist, though? Magic 8-ball says “maybe”. Sigh. One star. I’m sorry I got as far as I did.
Lots and lots of things in this story happen like that. Things that couldn’t possibly work the way described. Indeed, I may have gotten as far as I did with how boring it was just waiting for the next unlikely thing. Am I that big a masochist, though? Magic 8-ball says “maybe”. Sigh. One star. I’m sorry I got as far as I did.
December 16, 2019
A few people were pushing this doorstopper for a while. Now that it's no longer a webnovel, (and hopefully got edited and proofread), I will give it a go.
If I understand correctly, "volumes" are still being added to this book. So I don't think I will continue the series when I end this book. I will see what happens when I get there. Maybe I might want to read the thousands upon thousands of pages....
I'm ten plus chapters in and nothing really happened so far. Don't understand the hype the person who frequently recommended this to me saw.
This crap right here is what makes me dislike authors trying to make their characters "more human".
This crap made me drop this book's prospective rating to a two stars already, and a "do not continue the series" note.
This book will have to work hard to convince me to move it higher. I can't read stupidity.
Oh look.
Apparently this book started as a "webnovel", where the author would post a chapter with a specific word count every couple of days, and it shows. This book is the most wordy, meandering novel with empty nothings that I read in years. I would have thought that the author would edit it for publishing and remove most of the fluff... But maybe she did and it was more wordy with more filler than this current sample.
The way the author masturbates chess and "proper running posture" is sickening.
I'm glad I finished this. I will not make the mistake of reading anything else of the author, or the other volumes.
If the author cut down on the massive bloat, and had a less annoying protagonist than the Inn Keeper, it could have been good. The runner girl had some good bits, but then her switch flipped and she became a feminist.
This was a massive waste of time. I gained nothing from reading this book, not even enjoyment. I could have read three books in place of this nothing.
1.5/5 Stars
If I understand correctly, "volumes" are still being added to this book. So I don't think I will continue the series when I end this book. I will see what happens when I get there. Maybe I might want to read the thousands upon thousands of pages....
I'm ten plus chapters in and nothing really happened so far. Don't understand the hype the person who frequently recommended this to me saw.
This crap right here is what makes me dislike authors trying to make their characters "more human".
This crap made me drop this book's prospective rating to a two stars already, and a "do not continue the series" note.
This book will have to work hard to convince me to move it higher. I can't read stupidity.
Oh look.
Apparently this book started as a "webnovel", where the author would post a chapter with a specific word count every couple of days, and it shows. This book is the most wordy, meandering novel with empty nothings that I read in years. I would have thought that the author would edit it for publishing and remove most of the fluff... But maybe she did and it was more wordy with more filler than this current sample.
The way the author masturbates chess and "proper running posture" is sickening.
I'm glad I finished this. I will not make the mistake of reading anything else of the author, or the other volumes.
If the author cut down on the massive bloat, and had a less annoying protagonist than the Inn Keeper, it could have been good. The runner girl had some good bits, but then her switch flipped and she became a feminist.
This was a massive waste of time. I gained nothing from reading this book, not even enjoyment. I could have read three books in place of this nothing.
1.5/5 Stars
December 18, 2022
عین تخمه میمونه
شروعش کنی دیگه نمیتونی ازش دست بکشی
سرم خلوت بشه اولین کاری که میکنم، اینه که برم سراغ جلدای بعدیش
شروعش کنی دیگه نمیتونی ازش دست بکشی
سرم خلوت بشه اولین کاری که میکنم، اینه که برم سراغ جلدای بعدیش
Want to read
July 27, 2022This isn't a terrible story. The parts of this season that I've read on an off-and-on basis over the last couple of years have been fun and readable. On a very bland technical level, it has very few grammar or spelling errors, which is pretty extraordinary given how prodigious the author's output is. (I didn't read far enough to see if there are plot inconsistencies or retconning.)
The 350 pages or so that I read established a couple of pov characters, and a supporting cast for one of them. There are a couple of epic fantasy-type things lurking in the background that I suppose aren't going to come into the foreground for quite some time. It's hard to say what kind of story it is, in some ways. I'd almost call it a fantasy cozy if it weren't for the level of violence and death. Its scenes have a decent sense of place, though the world building thus far has been lightly sketched in. You have a town, and an Inn in the middle of nowhere (not terribly useful, for an Inn to be off a major thoroughfare), goblins and lizard men and a king in a castle, and... nothing new to see here.
Considering I have never read more than fifteen books in any series ever, the prospect of reading 90 books' worth (this is 9,000,000-ish words long at time of writing) and ongoing is not even slightly feasible for me. The major thing that's kept me from moving forward with this, that has made me reluctant to pick it back up regardless of how much I might enjoy its individual episodes, is the prospect of never seeing the end of it, whether pirateaba themself brings it to a definitive conclusion or not.
I might finish the first two seasons' worth of The Wandering Inn that I've already got in ebook, but I'm not counting on it, and neither should you. :)
The 350 pages or so that I read established a couple of pov characters, and a supporting cast for one of them. There are a couple of epic fantasy-type things lurking in the background that I suppose aren't going to come into the foreground for quite some time. It's hard to say what kind of story it is, in some ways. I'd almost call it a fantasy cozy if it weren't for the level of violence and death. Its scenes have a decent sense of place, though the world building thus far has been lightly sketched in. You have a town, and an Inn in the middle of nowhere (not terribly useful, for an Inn to be off a major thoroughfare), goblins and lizard men and a king in a castle, and... nothing new to see here.
Considering I have never read more than fifteen books in any series ever, the prospect of reading 90 books' worth (this is 9,000,000-ish words long at time of writing) and ongoing is not even slightly feasible for me. The major thing that's kept me from moving forward with this, that has made me reluctant to pick it back up regardless of how much I might enjoy its individual episodes, is the prospect of never seeing the end of it, whether pirateaba themself brings it to a definitive conclusion or not.
I might finish the first two seasons' worth of The Wandering Inn that I've already got in ebook, but I'm not counting on it, and neither should you. :)
April 14, 2024
English version below
******************
Eine junge Frau muss mal aufs Klo, will in ihr Badezimmer und landet unvermittelt in einer Fantasy-Parallelwelt. Das klingt zwar haarsträubend, aber ich liebe Portal-Fantasy, also habe ich den Versuch gewagt und mir erst mal eine blutige Nase geholt.
Das Buch liest sich wie eine detaillierte Beschreibung eines RPG und ich hatte bisher noch keinerlei Erfahrung mit LITRpg. Daher war ich die ersten 600 Seiten in kurzen Abständen versucht, das Buch abzubrechen, weil ich das alles doch viel zu albern fand.
Nach der ersten Hälfte hatte ich mich jedoch eingelesen und gerade zum Ende hin wurde es wirklich spannend.
Ich werde die Reihe auf jeden Fall weiterverfolgen, weil sie ungemein unterhaltsam ist.
------------------------
A young woman has to go to the loo, wants to go to her bathroom and suddenly ends up in a fantasy parallel world. That sounds hair-raising, but I love portal fantasy, so I gave it a go and got a bloody nose first.
The book reads like a detailed description of an RPG and I had no previous experience with LITRpg. I was therefore tempted to abandon the book at short intervals during the first 600 pages because I found it all far too silly.
After the first half, however, I had gotten used to it and it got really exciting towards the end.
I will definitely continue with the series because it is incredibly entertaining.
******************
Eine junge Frau muss mal aufs Klo, will in ihr Badezimmer und landet unvermittelt in einer Fantasy-Parallelwelt. Das klingt zwar haarsträubend, aber ich liebe Portal-Fantasy, also habe ich den Versuch gewagt und mir erst mal eine blutige Nase geholt.
Das Buch liest sich wie eine detaillierte Beschreibung eines RPG und ich hatte bisher noch keinerlei Erfahrung mit LITRpg. Daher war ich die ersten 600 Seiten in kurzen Abständen versucht, das Buch abzubrechen, weil ich das alles doch viel zu albern fand.
Nach der ersten Hälfte hatte ich mich jedoch eingelesen und gerade zum Ende hin wurde es wirklich spannend.
Ich werde die Reihe auf jeden Fall weiterverfolgen, weil sie ungemein unterhaltsam ist.
------------------------
A young woman has to go to the loo, wants to go to her bathroom and suddenly ends up in a fantasy parallel world. That sounds hair-raising, but I love portal fantasy, so I gave it a go and got a bloody nose first.
The book reads like a detailed description of an RPG and I had no previous experience with LITRpg. I was therefore tempted to abandon the book at short intervals during the first 600 pages because I found it all far too silly.
After the first half, however, I had gotten used to it and it got really exciting towards the end.
I will definitely continue with the series because it is incredibly entertaining.
November 22, 2019
I'll admit I stuck with it, due in part to the many positive reviews and later because I was invested enough to want to know how it ends. That said, the writing was some of the poorest I've ever encountered grammatically speaking. The vocabulary was limited to the extent that it felt like a students' writing attempt. The female characters were overly dramatic, angry and whiny - not at all the strong women it felt like they were intended to be. I had hoped for something epic and imaginative with more volumes but was very disappointed.
October 16, 2019
The story and world were the high points in this. They made me want to keep listening. Not to mention the Narrator was fabulous.
Problem is the main perspectives in this story are torture. I just couldn't handle the anti male, anti cop, anti authority, anti wealth, anti anti anti. The main characters read like a fan fiction of a spoiled middle school girls diary.
Problem is the main perspectives in this story are torture. I just couldn't handle the anti male, anti cop, anti authority, anti wealth, anti anti anti. The main characters read like a fan fiction of a spoiled middle school girls diary.
September 12, 2019
I really liked the idea of this series and quickly bought the massive 43 hours long audiobook when it popped up in my recommendations on audible. The narrator was good, but the writing not so much. I read a few reviews and saw that some think it gets better later on, but I still decided to give up and return it.
February 22, 2022
This is a review for all of The Wandering Inn.
I came to read this novel with 0 expectations and got the best experiences in my life as a reader, i can't believe something this big exists, the worldbuilding is unbelievable, the cast of characters excellent, the awesome combination of SOL and adventure makes it more more realistic and natural.
So, at the begining everything feels a little rough or amateur in some parts but the good emotional moments, character development and great slice of life is there. The introduction to the world in the first vol is basic, we barely know something besides Liscor where we have a few interesting things about the fauna and flora that affects the people who live there. That's the most important thing of the worldbuilding imo, how it shaped people of the world, how it changes culture, how "real" it feels when something happens and events needs to change those places and people (wars, political/economic conflicts, etc). Like i said, at the beginning this is in the book but in a minuscule way, in vol 2 and 3 we get expanded on a lot of races, cultures, their mannerisms and characteristics, their lore, a lot of cities gets more "screentime" and we learn about those.
As we progress to the next volumes the scope only gets bigger, the stakes higher, political conflicts and wars affect every place, everything changes, the cast of characters is unbelievable bigger but for a good reason, we read mostly every point of view of each side of the conflicts or even lesser cities that will be really important in the future, each pov at some point starts to come together with others, so we get amazing interactions and more epic stakes.
The characters are always evolving, developing throught the story, and i'm talking about mostly everyone, even minor ones, imagine what could be a main character developed in such a large story, Ryoka is that one, Erin gets character development but not as noticeable as Ryoka, in any case their interactions with other characters, their dialogues, their emotional and epic moments are more than you can imagine. The best thing about all of this is that the story never feels the same, it's not all about action, or constant conflicts, or the same genre nor is predictable. Here we have balance, you are going to find your good piece of slice of life, enjoy their calm and realistic interactions, then your good piece of action, adventure, political conflicts, lore about the races, history of the world, wars, magic, sadness, grief, deaths, happiness, joy...
You want a complex crazy clown? you have it, you want a charismatic and good person? you have it, you want a doctor with knolewdge of our world in another one with magic? you have it, you want all kind of kings? you have them, you want a blind man that is a chad? you have it, all of those are important characters, with the scope and big cast of characters you will probably find a lot of them that suit your tastes because it has every type of character you can imagine. Even if you want inclusion, gays or trans you will get that treated and developed in a realistic way without feeling out of place or something like that.
You should take into account this is a webnovel, so it's released every week but the incredible thing is that pirateaba put outs an unbelievable quantity of words (50k in average) with such a quality that is admirable, so, you are going to have a lot to read in just a week and don't need to wait for years...
Finally i need to say that in my opinion each volume is better than the other one, right now we are close to the end of the 8th volume and it's my favorite piece of fiction
I came to read this novel with 0 expectations and got the best experiences in my life as a reader, i can't believe something this big exists, the worldbuilding is unbelievable, the cast of characters excellent, the awesome combination of SOL and adventure makes it more more realistic and natural.
So, at the begining everything feels a little rough or amateur in some parts but the good emotional moments, character development and great slice of life is there. The introduction to the world in the first vol is basic, we barely know something besides Liscor where we have a few interesting things about the fauna and flora that affects the people who live there. That's the most important thing of the worldbuilding imo, how it shaped people of the world, how it changes culture, how "real" it feels when something happens and events needs to change those places and people (wars, political/economic conflicts, etc). Like i said, at the beginning this is in the book but in a minuscule way, in vol 2 and 3 we get expanded on a lot of races, cultures, their mannerisms and characteristics, their lore, a lot of cities gets more "screentime" and we learn about those.
As we progress to the next volumes the scope only gets bigger, the stakes higher, political conflicts and wars affect every place, everything changes, the cast of characters is unbelievable bigger but for a good reason, we read mostly every point of view of each side of the conflicts or even lesser cities that will be really important in the future, each pov at some point starts to come together with others, so we get amazing interactions and more epic stakes.
The characters are always evolving, developing throught the story, and i'm talking about mostly everyone, even minor ones, imagine what could be a main character developed in such a large story, Ryoka is that one, Erin gets character development but not as noticeable as Ryoka, in any case their interactions with other characters, their dialogues, their emotional and epic moments are more than you can imagine. The best thing about all of this is that the story never feels the same, it's not all about action, or constant conflicts, or the same genre nor is predictable. Here we have balance, you are going to find your good piece of slice of life, enjoy their calm and realistic interactions, then your good piece of action, adventure, political conflicts, lore about the races, history of the world, wars, magic, sadness, grief, deaths, happiness, joy...
You want a complex crazy clown? you have it, you want a charismatic and good person? you have it, you want a doctor with knolewdge of our world in another one with magic? you have it, you want all kind of kings? you have them, you want a blind man that is a chad? you have it, all of those are important characters, with the scope and big cast of characters you will probably find a lot of them that suit your tastes because it has every type of character you can imagine. Even if you want inclusion, gays or trans you will get that treated and developed in a realistic way without feeling out of place or something like that.
You should take into account this is a webnovel, so it's released every week but the incredible thing is that pirateaba put outs an unbelievable quantity of words (50k in average) with such a quality that is admirable, so, you are going to have a lot to read in just a week and don't need to wait for years...
Finally i need to say that in my opinion each volume is better than the other one, right now we are close to the end of the 8th volume and it's my favorite piece of fiction
June 21, 2020
UPDATE: The Audiobook for book 2 will be released 7/14/2020
I have so many issues with this story. Things that annoyed me include but are not limited to:
- No editor, so it is long. I have come to expect this since I read Worm a few years ago, another web serial, but there is a lot of wasting time on things that don't matter.
- Words reused over and over again, sometimes three times within a couple of sentences. "Stare/stared/staring" was the worst offender of this. No one looks at anything, they only stare. I did a text search on a random chapter to see if I could prove my point: ctrl +f pulled up 30 instances of "stared" in a single chapter.
- Scenes were choreographed in really weird ways and I had a hard time believing what was happening. I was constantly mad at how the characters reacted and it pulled me out of the story. Did I huff indignantly while driving and listening to this book? Yes, yes I did.
But...
- The audiobook narrator has so far only done Book 1. She is amaze balls. Like, so good. SO GOOD YOU GUYS. I went and looked up other books she's done but none of them interest me - this girl has a career ahead of her though, for sure.
- Maybe because the narrator was so good, all the characters were very distinct and I...kind of...cared about them?
- It's not exactly Game of Thrones but it is a bad idea to care about characters.
- I binged the last 4 hours, which culminated in a huge action scene and things going wrong and I was there for it. There is no audiobook out for book 2 - I am going to be reading it from the blog now.
- I guess that means I recommend it? Even while being annoyed at it for like 30 hours of listening time? The story and setting and everything is questionable but it is also compulsively readable.
I have so many issues with this story. Things that annoyed me include but are not limited to:
- No editor, so it is long. I have come to expect this since I read Worm a few years ago, another web serial, but there is a lot of wasting time on things that don't matter.
- Words reused over and over again, sometimes three times within a couple of sentences. "Stare/stared/staring" was the worst offender of this. No one looks at anything, they only stare. I did a text search on a random chapter to see if I could prove my point: ctrl +f pulled up 30 instances of "stared" in a single chapter.
- Scenes were choreographed in really weird ways and I had a hard time believing what was happening. I was constantly mad at how the characters reacted and it pulled me out of the story. Did I huff indignantly while driving and listening to this book? Yes, yes I did.
But...
- The audiobook narrator has so far only done Book 1. She is amaze balls. Like, so good. SO GOOD YOU GUYS. I went and looked up other books she's done but none of them interest me - this girl has a career ahead of her though, for sure.
- Maybe because the narrator was so good, all the characters were very distinct and I...kind of...cared about them?
- It's not exactly Game of Thrones but it is a bad idea to care about characters.
- I binged the last 4 hours, which culminated in a huge action scene and things going wrong and I was there for it. There is no audiobook out for book 2 - I am going to be reading it from the blog now.
- I guess that means I recommend it? Even while being annoyed at it for like 30 hours of listening time? The story and setting and everything is questionable but it is also compulsively readable.
August 30, 2023
I gave it 43 hours worth of a chance and it never got better for me guys. It’s wild to me that the people I’m seeing loving this generally avoid YA and this was one of the most YA feeling books I’ve ever read. The subject matter in and of itself wasn’t so bad, the two main characters ruined everything for me. I literally cannot stand Erin OR Ryoka. Erin got a little better by the end but in the climax sequence she got ended up annoying me again and it took away from the redemption she had been earning.
It drove me nuts that the story continually shifted perspectives. Literally from one paragraph to the next we’d go from first person to third person to third person omniscient and it was giving me whiplash and added to this weird childish feel to the story. I know this is self published but even most self pub authors have at least some editing, and it’s not like this is the only popular self pub series out there, I don’t really feel like it’s an excuse at this point.
I read this on audio so I am essentially giving that second star to the outstanding effort the audiobook narrator put forth with this book. I'm not excessively picky when it comes to narrators and I only require a little bit of variations in inflections for different characters to keep me engaged but its always a special treat when the narrators go above and beyond with an array of voices for all the characters and we definitely got that here. If you actually like this series I think audio is the way to go for this one for added entertainment.
This book gave me all the same feelings that The Thousand Deaths of Ardor Benn gave me so if you really care to read more about that you can go check out my review there. All I can say is, I’m tired of the “it gets better on book 17, you just have to get to that point” that we all have going on, I think you have to like it at least a little to be able to push through to the “it gets better at book (blank)” trend we have going on right now and we should quit pushing people to read stuff they aren’t liking, I didn’t like this and I don’t foresee myself magically loving book 2 and beyond. I don't want to waste time reading things I don't like and I don't want to do that to others either so it was real, it was fun but it wasn't real fun The Wandering Inn.
It drove me nuts that the story continually shifted perspectives. Literally from one paragraph to the next we’d go from first person to third person to third person omniscient and it was giving me whiplash and added to this weird childish feel to the story. I know this is self published but even most self pub authors have at least some editing, and it’s not like this is the only popular self pub series out there, I don’t really feel like it’s an excuse at this point.
I read this on audio so I am essentially giving that second star to the outstanding effort the audiobook narrator put forth with this book. I'm not excessively picky when it comes to narrators and I only require a little bit of variations in inflections for different characters to keep me engaged but its always a special treat when the narrators go above and beyond with an array of voices for all the characters and we definitely got that here. If you actually like this series I think audio is the way to go for this one for added entertainment.
This book gave me all the same feelings that The Thousand Deaths of Ardor Benn gave me so if you really care to read more about that you can go check out my review there. All I can say is, I’m tired of the “it gets better on book 17, you just have to get to that point” that we all have going on, I think you have to like it at least a little to be able to push through to the “it gets better at book (blank)” trend we have going on right now and we should quit pushing people to read stuff they aren’t liking, I didn’t like this and I don’t foresee myself magically loving book 2 and beyond. I don't want to waste time reading things I don't like and I don't want to do that to others either so it was real, it was fun but it wasn't real fun The Wandering Inn.
April 13, 2023
I heard of this book and didn’t expect much but every glowing review made it more enticing , even the negative reviews had me curious. Non of them really explained what it was about and I just had to find out.
It’s over a thousand pages but I took my time, it took me 11 month to finish this story and most of this time was spent on the beginning chapters, It took me weeks switching between reading my kindle and listening to the audiobook and I was sorely tempted to quit the whole thing from the slow boring plot and character development. Even the world didn’t make sense. I pushed on with slow dipping in and out of each eternally slow chapter every few months.
There was no pressure to hurry it up, so read other books in between as characters, plot and world building slowly opened up and became interesting. I began to bond with some characters and got sucked into their struggles and making sense of the chaos of the different races, the magic, the world, and the increasing number of characters and this thing called levelling up! This is where characters gain higher levels of proficiency in different skills depending on the of difficulty, effort, focus and importance given it by the character. It was an intriguing idea!
I couldn’t have predicted the twists and turns of this book and the ending blew me away. Talk about making up for a slow beginning. What an adventure and there’s still more to come and many equally exciting follow on book to read in this series. The ending left enough questions, mysteries and exciting suggestions that all my favourite characters will meet up , while others… well this is a land of mystery, miracles and magic I live in hope! I’m off to find out what happens next to my favourite characters!
It’s over a thousand pages but I took my time, it took me 11 month to finish this story and most of this time was spent on the beginning chapters, It took me weeks switching between reading my kindle and listening to the audiobook and I was sorely tempted to quit the whole thing from the slow boring plot and character development. Even the world didn’t make sense. I pushed on with slow dipping in and out of each eternally slow chapter every few months.
There was no pressure to hurry it up, so read other books in between as characters, plot and world building slowly opened up and became interesting. I began to bond with some characters and got sucked into their struggles and making sense of the chaos of the different races, the magic, the world, and the increasing number of characters and this thing called levelling up! This is where characters gain higher levels of proficiency in different skills depending on the of difficulty, effort, focus and importance given it by the character. It was an intriguing idea!
I couldn’t have predicted the twists and turns of this book and the ending blew me away. Talk about making up for a slow beginning. What an adventure and there’s still more to come and many equally exciting follow on book to read in this series. The ending left enough questions, mysteries and exciting suggestions that all my favourite characters will meet up , while others… well this is a land of mystery, miracles and magic I live in hope! I’m off to find out what happens next to my favourite characters!
August 28, 2018
An excellent character focused story
I've been going though quite a litrpg binge recently, and a lot of them are good, but quite similar. Male power fantasies, with reasonably flat female characters.
This story shines from the start. It's characters of both sexes feel real, driven, with real issues.
Normally for most of my reviews, I have commented that the book would be good for litrpg fans. While there are litrpg elements here, they are light, and in some cases totally overruled by the characters themselves!
I would have to say this book is a must read for any fantasy fan.
Excellent. Go buy it now.
I've been going though quite a litrpg binge recently, and a lot of them are good, but quite similar. Male power fantasies, with reasonably flat female characters.
This story shines from the start. It's characters of both sexes feel real, driven, with real issues.
Normally for most of my reviews, I have commented that the book would be good for litrpg fans. While there are litrpg elements here, they are light, and in some cases totally overruled by the characters themselves!
I would have to say this book is a must read for any fantasy fan.
Excellent. Go buy it now.
August 21, 2021
In the end, this book wasn't for me. I'm honestly not sure how/why I finished it, but can only blame it on the fact that I don't really have anything else in my library that I wanted to listen to instead.
This book was... well, originally it was a web-series, and that shows. There's a lot of meandering about without any real plot, and while there were interesting moments and characters, they all kinda went down hill after a while.
I get writing flawed characters, but all the characters had the same flaws, it seemed, and they were all actually the same, when you looked at it.
Everything felt half-assed, and in the end I was just angry with this whole book.
It kept stringing the reader along, and even the ending made my blood boil because it felt so cheap.
I will not be continuing on with the series.
The notes I made while reading this book:
page 50 of 1158
I don't know. The writing is very repetitive, and there's a lot of the MC just sitting around. Each chapter starts with a recap of who the MC is, which I really don't need at chapter 7
58 of 1158
And the MC keeps forgetting everything! I have a spotty memory from illness, but even I'm not this bad!
Also, who don't know how to butcher* a fresh fish? Doesn't everyone learn that in grade school?
*because I don't remember the propper English word
300 of 1158
Ok, so things got drastically better after around page 75, and I'm actually curious what the future holds for the Innkeeper, then we change POV?! Come on!
305 of 1158
And now the whole period thing. I initially loved that they included it, but the MCs reaction and execution and just general thoughts around the subjects really annoyed me.
"How was Lara Croft supposed to climb a mountain with a diaper?" that feels like a very male-take on the subject. I can rant about this, but I'm too tired. May do it in the review...
50% done
So the book switches between two POVs semi-regularly. The stories are OK, but I'm getting a little annoyed that they're staying so separate. Sure, the chances of them running into each other are small, but the way this is written, it's just annoying.
The rest is not all bad, thought. I'm still listening, after all.
51% done
Note so I'll remember (because my mind is all foggy): the change of tense in the middle of the chapters isn't for me, and I find it messy. In Erin's case, it's OK, for it's a clear switch in POV, but for R it doesn't make much sense. It doesn't change POV away from her, even if parts is told in third person, and others in first. It keeps jaring me out of the story.
75% done
Erin has become a serious bitch, and it makes me rather disinterested in continuing with her story...
The way you treat those who can't defend themselves tells a lot more about your character than the way you treat your peers.
This book was... well, originally it was a web-series, and that shows. There's a lot of meandering about without any real plot, and while there were interesting moments and characters, they all kinda went down hill after a while.
I get writing flawed characters, but all the characters had the same flaws, it seemed, and they were all actually the same, when you looked at it.
Everything felt half-assed, and in the end I was just angry with this whole book.
It kept stringing the reader along, and even the ending made my blood boil because it felt so cheap.
I will not be continuing on with the series.
The notes I made while reading this book:
page 50 of 1158
I don't know. The writing is very repetitive, and there's a lot of the MC just sitting around. Each chapter starts with a recap of who the MC is, which I really don't need at chapter 7
58 of 1158
And the MC keeps forgetting everything! I have a spotty memory from illness, but even I'm not this bad!
Also, who don't know how to butcher* a fresh fish? Doesn't everyone learn that in grade school?
*because I don't remember the propper English word
300 of 1158
Ok, so things got drastically better after around page 75, and I'm actually curious what the future holds for the Innkeeper, then we change POV?! Come on!
305 of 1158
And now the whole period thing. I initially loved that they included it, but the MCs reaction and execution and just general thoughts around the subjects really annoyed me.
"How was Lara Croft supposed to climb a mountain with a diaper?" that feels like a very male-take on the subject. I can rant about this, but I'm too tired. May do it in the review...
50% done
So the book switches between two POVs semi-regularly. The stories are OK, but I'm getting a little annoyed that they're staying so separate. Sure, the chances of them running into each other are small, but the way this is written, it's just annoying.
The rest is not all bad, thought. I'm still listening, after all.
51% done
Note so I'll remember (because my mind is all foggy): the change of tense in the middle of the chapters isn't for me, and I find it messy. In Erin's case, it's OK, for it's a clear switch in POV, but for R it doesn't make much sense. It doesn't change POV away from her, even if parts is told in third person, and others in first. It keeps jaring me out of the story.
75% done
Erin has become a serious bitch, and it makes me rather disinterested in continuing with her story...
The way you treat those who can't defend themselves tells a lot more about your character than the way you treat your peers.
February 16, 2022
This is my new bedtime audiobook series, and it's perfect for that purpose!
Easy to follow, definitely on the light side (even though there's plenty of death and murder) and lo g enough so I don't constantly need to choose a new one when I have a couple of bad sleep nights in a row.
This is nice if you like LitRPG, or a fantasy does just doesn't take itself to seriously. I quickly clicked with the characters and loved the way Erin adapted to her new environment in this very strange new world. From just running away screaming (definitely me if I accidentally stumble across a monster) to just getting fed up and knocking th out with a frying pan. She's wonderful!
I enjoyed the quirky side characters, and how different they are. For a light and fun read the different cultures also were quite well developed!
From drakes to ant-people, goblins, hyena like people, elves to minotaurs and more.
From mages, runners, warriors, adventurers to strategists and more.
And all the monsters! Ghouls, acid flies, boulder crabs, zombies, random homicidal fish, shield spiders and so many more.
I just enjoyed how much there is to discover. Always something new and fascinating to see. Always action or fun to be had. It definitely never gets boring.
I started right into the second the moment I finished this!
Easy to follow, definitely on the light side (even though there's plenty of death and murder) and lo g enough so I don't constantly need to choose a new one when I have a couple of bad sleep nights in a row.
This is nice if you like LitRPG, or a fantasy does just doesn't take itself to seriously. I quickly clicked with the characters and loved the way Erin adapted to her new environment in this very strange new world. From just running away screaming (definitely me if I accidentally stumble across a monster) to just getting fed up and knocking th out with a frying pan. She's wonderful!
I enjoyed the quirky side characters, and how different they are. For a light and fun read the different cultures also were quite well developed!
From drakes to ant-people, goblins, hyena like people, elves to minotaurs and more.
From mages, runners, warriors, adventurers to strategists and more.
And all the monsters! Ghouls, acid flies, boulder crabs, zombies, random homicidal fish, shield spiders and so many more.
I just enjoyed how much there is to discover. Always something new and fascinating to see. Always action or fun to be had. It definitely never gets boring.
I started right into the second the moment I finished this!
April 9, 2019
Book one of (so far) four available as an ebook variant of the ongoing web serial. Book one was recommended to me on Amazon and exceedingly well reviewed and, at (iirc) $1.99, I figured I’d give it a try. Subsequently rapidly devoured the entire serial available to date. Takes a well-worn trope or two (folks from our world appear in a different world with magic, goblins, etc. etc. - and not only that but also a world in which people have (literally) classes and levels) - all stuff one might expect a 16-year-old gamer kid to write (poorly) about. But (albeit perhaps with a little roughness at the beginning) it’s done REALLY well - interesting characters and world, good plotting, and ongoing development of all thereof. Absolutely well worth the read. Rapidly moves from 4 stars to 4.5 as series progresses.
March 12, 2023
Man is this a hard book to rate. There are two main POVs and one interlude POV. The POV for Erin Solstice is a pretty consistent 4-5 stars while the interlude POV is a middling 3 stars, the main issue I had was with the overpowered Mary Sue character Ryoka Griffin’s POV with ranges from a low 1 star to lower 2-star rating. I seriously thought about DNFing the book nearly every time one of her chapters was featured. Maybe if Erin Solstice and her side character’s chapters weren’t so entertaining I could’ve liked Ryoka’s chapters more but I doubt it. Ryoka was so arrogant, unlikeable, and overpowered that I would hate read the chapters hoping that she would be killed or at least have her ass handed to her. I will need a break before continuing on to the second book, but if it doesn’t get better then most likely I’ll be dropping the series regardless of how good parts of it are.
3.25/5
3.25/5
September 5, 2018
This first book was outstanding. The first couple of chapters were a bit slow but then again Erin had just discovered herself on a new world being pursued by little Goblins and was totally out of her element, having taken one step on Earth to the next step on a different world. I really enjoyed this book, the plot moves along very nicely and I laughed and sobbed (it is worth it, altho my heart still aches at the losses). The adventure continues online at the Wandering Inn web page, which I am currently enmeshed in. A definitely read for anyone who enjoys fantasy.
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