I really enjoyed the majority of this book.
I would be happy to read the first 70% of this book again. I may read the second book once it is finished, but I am about 5 months from when this was published. The end of the book sets up for a sequel and it seems that is the goal of the last 20-30%. You may find yourself immensely enjoying the book then slowly lose that at. This is a major world building book.
Nondescript but decent Spoilers that may affect your interest ahead. You have been warned.
The book does something new plot wise and I find that I don’t feel good about it overall.
The world changes and the character learns how to transition very well. JR does a splendid job with mixing wonder, world building, harsh reality points, and fun.
The problem I have is that there are 4 understandable start points where the main character transitions from the current plot flow and has to change goals, start from zero and learn new things, and you are introduced to a new scope of world building.
This book doesn’t focus on Jake’s Magical Market, instead spiraling out of focus on Jake and his small dreams of a simple shopkeep, and the expected climax points (big bad guys) are left for some other side characters to resolve. No plot resolution is a huge problem I have with this book. Visibly frustrated. No resolution. Just strings you to the next new thing.
It did surprise me though. yay.
I did immensely enjoy the humor and technology/magic of it all, but after a while my desire for plot resolution overcame any excitement of new gimmicks. “I promise we will have a big fight with this villain eventually” turns into humor/quick resolution or “nah, just character motivation”.
I started counting down hours left in the book wondering when plot points would be wrapped up and hoping that I could find a measure of satisfaction, but the last 30% of the book disguised itself as resolution then tossed away the covers at the final 5% to reveal that it was all a setup for the next book. By then I was ready to stop reading.
At points I felt displeased of what was happening to the character, then interested as i saw how it helped transition, then was ultimately sad because I am led to believe that we will never see the payoff.
Good world building, enjoyable characters, but this book did not resolve as standard books are expected to. I did not enjoy finishing this book.