Annie Ellicott’s narration starts out strangely slow and stunted, but as the book goes on her pacing becomes more natural. Jeff Hays does a good job, as always, but his parts are pretty minor. Overall, the narration is pretty good and doesn’t tank the experience.
After an exciting start where we are thrown into a boss battle the book permashifts into drudgery mode. Seriously, I kept asking myself, “When is something going to happen?” Then we are treated to vast tracts of beginner mode. No cool companions, no cool weapons, no cool dungeons or ruins, no cool monsters…just perfunctory snake killing. It has the same fun factor as crafting 1,000 daggers to level up smithing or casting 1,000 spells on a dead horse to increase your magic.
I kept waiting to be hooked, to care, to experience a scintilla of anticipation or dread. Instead, the book just plods and exasperates and becomes tedium incarnate. I bailed out around 2/3 of the way through. Maybe later the juice becomes worth the squeeze, maybe it just has a slow burn and gradually becomes more awesome for the patient reader…but I feel emotionally scarred and hoodwinked. I expected excitement and swashbuckling adventure, but received a white bread lunch at the senior center on a gloomy Tuesday afternoon.
I do not recommend this one.