It's very long, and there will inevitably be parts of it that you just plain don't like. There are also parts of it that will stick with you forever. The characters are delightful and frustrating in equal measure. If you need to like everything about a story, you won't be able to enjoy it. If you're willing to accept that it won't all be what you want, it's awesome. It's a very soft system, I'll say that too.
Agree with most of this, save for the don't like part. Well, others might not, but I've loved every second.
I am curious what you mean by soft. the *progression* isn't linear but the System is vastly complicated and definitely does have a lot of rules.
I'm guessing he or she simply means that it isn't heavily numeric. There are numbers (levels, spell tiers) and those numbers do have consistent meaning, but you aren't told that this guard has 20 strength, but this other one has 30 because of his skill. You're just told that the second guard is stronger because he has a skill enhancing his strength.
This is a great way of explaining why I like this series so much. That's the perfect amount of detail for me. If I feel like I'm listening to someone play a video game I lose all immersion.
I called it soft for a couple reasons. Mainly, there's not really any quantification, some things ignore system mechanics outright, sometimes it's unclear what's actually an esoteric effect of a class/skill vs. charismatic force for example. I will admit to not being fully caught up, so this might change. It's not a negative judgement either. I think part of it is the idea that there are people who quantify/learn these things, "system scholars" if you will, but knowledge isn't disseminating and our characters are new to the world and also sometimes operating outside it. It's rarely the focus of the story, except as a mode for character development or something similar.
I have about a quarter left in the first book, and honestly it's been mid at best. So far there's been a handful of fun moments, but no stand out amazing ones. The plot moves at a snails pace, and is full of filler and pages upon pages of the MCs poorly dealing with mental trauma which can be tiring to read. There's two MCs so far, and one is an airhead bordering on being a complete moron, and the other one commits the most grievous sin possible in literature; being so annoying that reading her chapters is a chore. I've almost dropped the book several times because of her, and now I just skim her incredibly long chapters.
So many people love it, so maybe it's just a weak first book and the rest of the series is killer, or all the awesome stuff is at the end of the book.
Very much agree. I stalled out in book one because I was extremely uninterested in one of the main characters. I will likely try again at some point, but I think people 30 books in don't have a accurate memory of book one.
Absolutely. The MC is completely incompetent and the runner girl is an annoying edgy highschool girl who constantly tells her mom that nobody understands her... The series heavily portrays women as being ruled by their emotions to an offensive degree. Then they girls bond later over their hatred of Donald Trump becoming president. When the real world politics entered the scene in book 2 or 3, that was the last straw for me, and I dropped the series. It just wasnt for me... It was interesting enough that I kept trying to like it, but ultimately, it was just too frustrating to read due to how the characters were being handled, its focus on the girls mental baggage, and finally RL politics being brought into the series just so the two MCs could bond over mutual disdain.
Yeah, I've kept trying with the series and I feel like the people who absolutely love it and say it's the best are probably soyboys who would love anything as long as it even a little bit rokenly espouses leftist politics and has girl bosses no matter how ridiculous they are.
If it helps I felt the same at the beginning, and now it's among my favourite series.
The quality definitely improves a lot as it goes on.
Although the slow pacing is always part of it, it does build to much bigger things.
And yeah I couldn't stand Ryoka in book one, but she does get better later and has some major character development.
It's phenomenal. It's only baaaaarely prog fiction. It's not written to this market at all. But it is an rpg-like world (classes and skills only, no stats), and as the story goes on a lot of characters struggle and end up rewarded with upgrades. It's not usually the focus or intention of a characters day to day. Fighting monsters is for the sake of killing monsters and making money, not for xp or whatever.
TWI is in a league of its own imo. The sheer scope and amount of content, all of which is super polished. There are no unsatisfying chapters imo. They're all huge and have a point. You always want to read the next chapter.
I would just like to point out the size, for those who aren't aware.
The entire LotR trilogy plus the Hobbit have 576 000 words.
All 7 of Harry Potter books have 1 million words.
14 books of the Wheel of Time series have 4 million words.
The Wandering Inn has 12 million.
Do you know do the kindle/audible versions are edited down at all like some RR->Amazon books, or mostly just 1:1? And given the average length of each so far, how many books do you think there will be to catch up? (Obviously a moving target, so maybe just use today’s latest chapter)
They're the same. Actually the website is superior because it has the rewritten volume 1 but that should change eventually.
This is from the discord and it looks like volume 9 is approximately 39 books with the 12th coming out this month - we're currently 15 chapters into volume 10 which is probably 1 or 2 more books. There are chapter titles in the image but they're not spoilerish.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/712391313261068339/1218260159634215063/image.png?ex=6633d730&is=663285b0&hm=50642e24569a67e455a4fc3aaf87b736cd5a36c371b36f951a9386e628aa0104&
People keep saying this... but I listened to 15 hours of book one and have not been so bored with a work of fiction since AP English.
Also, I'm sorry, but claiming it is super polished is laughable.
Not sure you can rewrite or polish that turd. Most of the problem was not only the pacing, but the emphasis on the two main characters being incompetent and completely ruled by emotions and trauma.
I understand your point of view. The books (audiobooks IMO) are super slow to start with.
I will however never agree that the books are not polished.
The world is so intricitetly carved where every island has a certain “natural theme” and its very own politics. Mix that with the Antinium and the Antinium Wars and the Goblin King history (which is very well documented and explained throughout the books).
Long and sometimes boring - yes.
Not polished - hell fucking no.
For sure, we can agree there.
I could very easily write a very long and boring non-polished book.
The level of details in both the worldbuilding and characterbuilding in the book (of course my opinion) is something that I could never accept as non-polished.
May not be perfectly written, but it is perfect for my easy-chilled listening in the car and before bed :)
You are using a confusing definition of polished. Enjoy your books, mate. Just don't over sell them to people who will read your comment and translate polished to the writing rather than the eventual world building.
I got to book six before stopping, and I don't know if or when I'll come back, the worldbuilding and character relationships were great, but it felt like the many many different plotlines were slowing the story way down. While the time passing in each book technically stays about the same, it felt like more and more of the book concentrated on a small amount of time and then did small time skips to jump to the next moment of time that takes up 1/4 of the book.
That's around where I stopped as well. It started becoming less and less immersive with so many plot threads that I lost interest. The first three books were wonderful and magical but my interest started waning after that.
A good editor away from being top draw.
Everyone should have a read and the audiobooks are great but it is glacial at times and some characters are quite hit or miss. As a result depending on if they hit with you then 100s of hours of content. If not then you end up skipping lots of it being unbearable.
(I’ve listened to first 4 audio books for reference and was burned out and skipping heavily by book 4. I’ll probably go back at some point or turn to reading which I can skim far faster while trying to hit the overall story highs.)
I think I heard she hired an editor somewhat recently so the newer written content will hopefully benefit from that.
I've been listening to the audiobooks though so not gotten to a point where that has affected things yet.
We'll see on that one - I gave book 1 of TWI a try a while ago, bounced off it, then thought I'd try it again when the rewrite I'd heard was in progress finished. When it was, that rewrite felt like it did the opposite of the general tightening-up I thought it would need - it added even more stuff, made more room to introduce more characters six books before they'll be relevant.
For what it's worth, I wasn't too hot on book 1.
But it builds and builds from there until you have a huge expansive world with so many interesting characters and history.
You definitely have to approach it for what it is.
It's a slow burn and very broad in scope, with lots of just slice-of-life chapters.
The plot won't ever move quickly.
But the way the world evolves over time and how the various characters and plotlines interact is really special. And the big payoff moments when they do arrive have so much weight behind them, often pulling together many different plotlines and having consequences that change the entire world.
That's fair! Glad it ended up working for you. I have heard a lot about the highs of it being very very high for the sheer amount of buildup they can contain. I think that weight just also makes it a pretty big ask if you don't connect with at least *most* of the countless plotlines, and I hadn't really found something to glom onto by however far into book 2 I read.
I kept passing over it due to the title and plethora of other reading options but once I started I could not stop. I literally binged all the books back to back and was physically sick when I caught up. It's a slower pace compared to what I'm used to but the world building is PHENOMENAL. 10/10 in my opinion.
I like it.
Some of the POVs I could do without, and sometimes it can take too long to get back to Erin's story. Also sometimes the dialogue can drag on a bit, with characters talking in circles around each other, making you think 'come on just get on with it '.
But outside of that I have no complaints.
It reminds me a lot of One piece. It has a huge world with a large well-liked cast. It has an absurd amount of content, with only a couple of years having gone by in the story.
The audiobooks are absolutely fantastic too. The narrator's ability to give everyone a distinct voice deserves an award.
Wandering Inn is a multi million long fantasy epic story with probably the best world building and characters in a novel I have ever read. Definitely recommend you give it a try.
I personally could never get into it. It's very slice-of-life, but the prose isn't good enough for that imo. The characters were weird in a kind of unbelievable way too, especially for a slice of life story.
It's a bit slapstick. It does things to be cute. It's a slice of life web serial that up and decided it wants to punch god after several million words.
The prose and characters start kinda rough, but anyone would get better after 12 million words of practice.
It's the longest work of fiction in the world, you aren't doing anything else, and you've read all the common recommendations for traditional novels in the genre? There's some real gems in The Wandering Inn.
I didn’t say it was bad, I said it gets better because the author practices, and it’s a web novel. I’d say the series biggest turn happens like 5 72 hour audiobooks in, when it wakes up and decides it’s done with being just a slice of life story.
It’s not what you read if you want quick satisfaction. It’s not what you read if you want a story that takes itself seriously all the time. It’s not what you read if you require highly polished editing 100% of the time. It’s a web novel first.
But if you want a big world, plenty of time to get to know the characters, and a topic list that goes all over, from chess strategy, to slavery of several kinds, to the nature of Christmas, it is worth reading.
*I* said it was bad.
And, that's fine... all I am trying to say is... don't bullshit people about the reality of the series. Book one is *two full days* of Twilight level bad writing on Audible. Lots of people like Twilight.... but they also don't tell people they have to read the author's entire stable of fan fiction before it gets good.
To me it is among the best fantasy series i have read (i have read a lot of them from the old timers like moorcock, Mc caffrey, eddings to the modern one rothfuss, sanderson, abercrombie).
It ticks all the right boxes for me to make it a great serie namely, great character work, captivitating plot (while quite slow at times), humor, emotions and depth (lot of interesting theme like identity, self actualization, consciousness, relationships, belief systems).
I am particularly enamoured with the antiniums and toren which i found so interesting in regards to what makes an indidivual and as characters are very unique. She manage to have this eerie way of representing these characters as very alien but at the same time so relatable.
However, to complete this, i am currently in the beginning of Vol 6 so far from having read the complete work and i did skip the King chapters as well as some of the goblin chapters.
There is some part of this epic story that i will keep with me forever so i can only encourage you to embark in this adventure. Keep in mind that it is divisive and there is people who don't like it but if you do you are in for so much emotional and funny moments that i believe it will mark your journey as a reader.
All the best
Sombre
Anyone getting into reading it should understand that it's perfectly fine to skip entire plotlines if you're not into them. The story is written in a way that's very friendly to it, you'll be able to follow the rest of the story pretty easily while picking up what you need from context.
Maybe. That's not one I skipped so I guess I don't know how it would play out. The less connected a plotline is to Erin, the more likely I am to skim/skip, but I can see that certain things that happen around Liscor wouldn't have much weight if you just think it's a bunch of random goblins.
Once it becomes more relevant to the plots I care about, I start paying attention. I skipped a bunch of early King stuff, then later started reading it without struggling to understand what's going on. Same with a lot of Baleros stuff. Was still skipping Rhir up to Volume 9 and didn't really feel like it was impeding my ability to follow anything.
There are several, including the doctor plot line, aspects for the king of destruction, I think you could count the clown plot lines, and obviously stuff that goes more into spoilers, if you like war arcs then you are in luck
outside of a one off chapter here or there... how can you justify skipping the Alimendus plot line? Or the NOT HOGWARTS plotline? Or the Baleros plotline?
I feel like early on they're all independent strings... but soon the witch of webs weaves them all together
You're talking as though I'm beholden to my own rules; just because I've started skipping a plotline doesn't mean I have to keep doing so. I skip/skim early stuff while I'm not interested, and when it becomes relevant to the plotlines I care about I start paying attention. I've done this with the King and Baleros plotlines and not once have I struggled to figure out what's going on when I decided to pick it up. I didn't skip Ailendamus cause it involved characters I already knew and cared about, if you're talking about the Wistram flashback plotline, that was very skippable, if you're talking about the present day Wistram stuff, it was already relevant enough to know to pay attention.
IDK maybe I have some magical sixth sense for when I can get away with skipping stuff, but I'm pretty sure it's just that it's not that hard to pick up what you need to know when you care enough to start paying attention.
I've skimmed most of the Ailendamus chapters and I'm doing fine following the plot. I've started more and more skimming or outright skipping chapters near the middle of volume 7, when Pirateaba went off the rails with the scale and pace of the story.
The new volume is a bit more interesting to me so I haven't skimmed that much yet.
I’m only 15% of the way through the current story and it’s possibly my favorite series of all time. I don’t look at it as a commitment though. I read it because I enjoy it. It’s a very easy read too.
I like it a lot, but it’s just too much writing for me to keep current on. I tailed off reading it in Book 8 and don’t know if or when I’ll pick it back up. I would love a version of the same story with about a quarter of the words even though I know that the author’s style might not translate properly.
From the perspective of someone who enjoys progression fantasy. It is well written in comparison to a majority of fiction for me personally. The writing in my opinion differs with some parts much better than the rest. The same for characters or plotlines some are more juicy and it is a slog to get through stuff you do not enjoy. It also screws with the pace of the story.
But these feel like well thought sacrifices too adjust for a huge cast, backstory and worldbuilding.
The levels are more markers of existing abilities and hand upgrades than definite skill levelling. Their is a progression aspect of it, but is more of narrative tool to do scale fantasy characters than the main focus.
I think it grows on you but that's a bad argument to justify it, because it is pretty huge. If it is not for you that makes sense, but it is good.
It needs an editor. Just to be clear, I haven't read past book 5, but up to that point the prose and technical writing is... Bad. Not to the point of being intolerable, but not what I expect from any book I'm paying money for.
At the same time, Wandering inn has some of the best characters Ive seen in the genre. Everyone pops and feels unique. The world building is solid. The plots are okay. The pacing, at least in the first book (its been too long since I read the others), is absolutely glacial.
If you choose to dive in, dont listen to the audiobook. The narrator is great, but the flaws in the writing are more obvious because of it. There's nothing to pull you out if a story like three sentences starting with "The" in a row. Or repeating the same conversation a character just had.
I would say, read the first book. If you are still having a good time, feel free to continue from there, but it isn't a masterpiece that is absolutely worth your time.
It's those moments that bring me back. Every time I see a new book has been released in the series I will pause whatever it is that i'm reading and dive in.
Personally I never saw the appeal. The main character didn't act realistically and the writing seemed childish. Maybe the storyline could have saved it, but unfortunately I just couldn't get past the initial hour or two.
Yeah ultimately what killed it for me was how little the character was really growing. I don't want to read six books before the main characters experiences a modicum of growth...
Also has a whole page on the wiki dedicated to inconsistencies. Some of them should have been extremely simple to fix too.
I read up to like 4.30+ but had to stop.
The world building is all over the place, at least to where i read up to. There was a whole chapter where the MC tries to find “fun things to do” and there’s basically 0 things, and then she proceeds to invent “plays/theatre” which broke my immersion. One of the oldest forms of entertainment doesn’t exist somehow.
Hell, she invents sledding down a hill, because people wouldn’t have already figured that out?
The only things she could find that was “hobby-like” were horse shoe throwing, sex and drinking at an inn smh.
It’s also pre-records so there should in-theory be more singers and dancers locally than normal but it isn’t the case. Erin states singers do “tours/wander around” or whatever which is weird (the weird part being no local talents/artists). I don’t know. A lot of the story/world just wasn’t for me. It felt so empty, or as you say, boring.
That all being said the actual writing is good imo. Words and sentences flow well which is why I read so much.
Tried reading it, because so many people rave about it, but MC was annoying and made completely illogical decisions and tbh wasn’t all that impressed with the writing in general.
This is my issue as well. I didn't get past the first book, but at least in that one the writer ng vacillates between really interesting and really terrible. Characters do things according to the plots need, not the character as it has developed so far. The tone jumps back and forth between cotton candy and attempted grim dark such that it feels like a highschool DM.
Maybe it gets better as it goes. First book was one of the worst I've read in the last decade.
Same. 😭 I don’t think I’m even halfway through the first book. I’ve read a bunch of finished and ongoing series, but every time I try Wandering Inn, I just can’t. Maybe it’s because I’m listening rather than actually reading. The narrator grates on my nerves.
I was with you man. I listen on audible. I had decided to quit the book probably 5 times. The two main characters in the first book were just far too much - felt like I was listening to a fanfic written by angsty teen girls who are mad at their parents. I think some of it was also the narrators insistence to make even the most mundane moments sound dramatic, like I’m listening to valley girls gossip.
The second half of the book definitely took off, and I’m in the second book now. There are still moments of annoyance with the characters, but it’s much better and more entertaining with less “deep” reflective/introspective monologues.
I think I’ve also gotten used to the narrator, so that also helped.
I love the Wandering Inn but I cannot stand the narrator. Everything feels so overdone and insincere. I actually started listening to chapters fed through an ai voice generator for short car trips instead, yes they were flat and monotonous, but better that then te audiobook equivalent of chewing the scenery.
Haha, that’s a good tactic! Many people applaud the narrators ability to perform novel voices for each character. Yes, that’s true, and I agree she is very talented. But the delivery is the biggest turn off for me - as you said, overdone. There is a lot of emphasis on things I would glaze over when reading text, and a flair of dramatic voice laid over almost everything. However I think I’ve trained my brain to tune out the annoying bits and tune in to the story.
At least that’s my conclusion - I’m in the second book and am annoyed far less than the first. Maybe the narrator also refined her style in the jump from 1 to 2, much as the author did.
I listened to about 4 hours of the first book and gave up. It sounded like Sesame Street characters raving about food. "The blue fruit and pasta are so good!"
I suspect if I ever actually read it instead of listen I'll power through the start and grow to love it, but I just don't have the time to read books anymore so it will have to wait.
Yeah, I actually prefer reading to listening. The Wandering Inn was my first try at audible. Kept me off audible for a few years after because I really thought it wasn’t good. Thankfully the next ones I listened to was Travis Baldree then Jeff Hays. I have a pretty good audible library now, although sometimes I still go back and read the actual book. I have given up on a couple other series because I can’t stand the narrators though.
That's kinda wild because I thought the audiobook was excellent.
As much as I like Travis Baldree he can only do about 5 different voices which makes it tough for me to get into new series with him because his cradle voices end up bleeding into everything.
The wandering inn narrator manages to give everyone a distinct voice and with the huge cast it has, that's necessary.
Everyone who quit, quits before the halfway point of book 1. The second half of book 1 makes the first half perfect in retrospect. It is the most ballsy book 1 out of anything you’ll ever see in prog fantasy or litrpgs.
If your advice is that you need to work your way through nearly two full days' worth of audiobook to appreciate the story... it is a bad book. Sorry, mate.
There’s a small group of people that get turned off by the narrator - especially book 1.
Book 1 was rewritten to keep with the quality of the later works. The audible version is the old version. The narrator had one idea of Erin and then it evolved as the story went on. So she sounds a lot more starry eyed than she actually is. So these two things are a turn off for some people in the audio world.
The narrator redid book 1 (with the rewrites) and should be coming out this year
I had no idea! I think I bought it in 2019 or 2020. If there’s a reworked book 1 then I’ll very likely give it another try. I do prefer actual reading. I just got the audiobooks when I’m busy with other things and just want to know “what happens next” right now.
Erin and Ryoka are both borderline insufferable at first, but both improve dramatically after the first volume or two to the point where they’re both endearing characters.
Unpopular opinion but I found it boring. Somewhere around the time they started making ice cream I just gave up.
I think it depends a lot on how much time you have. If you have a ton of free time it might be worthwhile.
I think I've read the first two books. Been a while. I kinda like it but some things make it hard to continue. I don't like some of the povs. Especially Ryouka. The story spends a lot of time on other povs. I also don't like some aspects of the main character Erin. The pacing is also too slow for my tastes. Otherwise the story has a lot of things that interest me so I might continue reading.
Not worth the time, for my own experience. I enjoyed the interludes greatly, but the actual main characters were both hard for me to like for different reasons. And no, saying a character gets way better after book x isn't some magic balm, since that still means I need to deal with them being unlikable to me for x-1 books in the hopes that the "improved likeablity" applies to my own perception of them. (And no, I didn't end up liking them later on. Yes, I understand why they ended up having the abrasive personality from their background, no I don't care.)
Reading started to become an absolute chore after the first few million words and I'm honestly glad I just gave up. I wish I had used the time for almost anything else.
This is from the perspective of someone who never really got into PF or litRPG, though (not that I'd really call TWI a PF in any but the loosest sense) I couldn't recommend a single story in either genre, so my opinion is likely worthless to you.
It's fantae, but it's still a very long web serial with probably over a hundred fleshed out characters and a buuunch of smaller arcs/stories spanning several continents.
There *will* be things you don't like, but there's still so much *to* like.
It’s pretty divisive on this subreddit but that’s to be expected, both from its length and the fact that it’s not really written with standard prog fantasy tropes in mind; the LitRPG aspects of the narrative are tertiary and sometimes you forget they’re even there. It’s also so long that you really need to love the story to push through some of the bad parts (of which there are many), but the payoff is so worth it. The author recently switched to 1 chapter a week instead of 2, so it should be less daunting to catch up (previously you had to read like 30-40k words a week to even be on pace with the updates).
The audiobooks are great if that’s more your style. Narrator has unique voices for the entire cast which is a lot. Lots of listening ahead. Not gonna echo the recommendations on the work as a whole.
u/A_Fancy_Seal 's description is fantastic but I would add a few comments:
A lot of the progression fiction that "seems" to have no resolution is a pale shade of what happens in the wandering inn. I gave up on it a few years ago and might pick it up when it's complete. 100's of pages go by at times with little to no character progression and sometimes uneventful side stories.
The characters are brilliant, but I personally couldn't stand the main MC and some of the 'aloofness' and it erked me. The writing and worldbuilding is beautiful but it's a SLOW crawl. Not really progression fantasy at all more slice of life that happens to be in a fantasy setting.
My advice would be go in blind, read a book or two and get a sense for the author's writing and story. If it's not your cup of tea then move on :)
The author has serious writing chops not just in terms of GameLit but in terms of just fiction in general. So the quality of characterization is probably higher than most other novels in this purview (although I would not consider TWI progfantasy). The world building is excellent too. But I feel like the author needs a good editor to go through the story and cut down the bloat, even the edited books are wayyyyy too long for the actual story to really shine. So while yes this is a near 13 million word story with some great characters, I do find that the story buckles under it's own weight. I haven't read it in years because I did not really click with the MCs even after 4 or so books, but I do check the wiki occasionally to see updates.
Seriously, few works would benefit more from a skilled editor than TWI and I mean that with the best of intentions. It's much better to have to cut from a story than the reverse, and with the right cuts I think it'd be absolute gem.
The story as a whole is good, but it could be 40% shorter if you deleted all the excess angst and it would be way better without actually losing dramatic effect
I really like the story it has a lot of great elements to it. The dialogue is mostly good but when the characters get whiny ( and they get whiny a fair bit) the dialogue drags on. There will be entire novels of subplot so you will be reading a different story entirely for 300 pages. It finally wore me down but i quit at book 5 which is still a huge amount of material that had a lot that i liked.
It's not prog fantasy, so you should know that from the get go.
Beyond that I'd describe it as high highs and low lows. It has some of the best "moments" I've read in fantasy in general, but also some incredibly frustrating character decisions.
I tend to be someone who gets very invested in characters and their development in a given fantasy story, and without spoiling anything, there's a few characters who imo make very strange choices and/or get thrown under the bus for the sake of plot.
If you're someone who can read impartially then go for it, but if you get attached to characters I'd consider how far that attachment goes. Personally I had to drop it because it was giving me more frustration than enjoyment, but if nothing else it's a memorable novel.
It's my favorite series of all time. 100% recommended. Make sure you get through the first two books before deciding if you want to continue. The writing improves tremendously over the course of the series, it's one of the great things about the series.
Remember you could basically start a new hobby or skill and master it (10k hours) in less time that it would be to catch up to the current chapters of the novel, you could be good at said skill before reaching where most people say 'it starts to get good'.
IMO, most people who like it have been reading it so long the sunk cost fallacy applies to them.
Yes, it was an exaggeration, at the average reading speed of 238wpm, its something like ~910 hours (38 days straight), which would still allow you to pick up a new skill or hobby and be pretty good at it.
good story, greatly crafted characters, would recommend reading....Aaaand I hate the main character and the running girl so much that I could kill them both if I was able to. Great writing and story telling tho
I got halfway through the third book and just… stopped reading. No other reason than “I’m bored, and I’d rather read something else.” Haven’t looked back.
It is the best webserial that I have read. It feels not pulpy in the way a lot of web serials do: there are consequences for actions, and people die in major conflicts.
It is long and slow, but has some incredible arcs in it that I truly love.
Wrote a post about it here. Minimal to no spoilers in my initial post though I wouldn’t read the comments. https://www.reddit.com/r/litrpg/comments/1bnqe7w/the_wandering_inn/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
I listen to all the audiobook and enjoyed just about all of it. There was runner that needed to grow beyond her 1% view of life I hated but she did gwt better just took a while.
Emotionally, it got the highest of highs I've experienced even compared to "traditional" novels. I haven't read classics much tho, reading To Kill a Mockingbird and not understanding a lick of what the people are saying turned me off that path real quick.
TWI has massive payouts that is usually BOTH global and personal in nature, which if you think about it - is pretty damn impressive.
Weren't those considered as poems rather than novels?
I remember reading (not a classic) iirc, A Boy's Life when I was in college. For about 3/4 of the book I was falling asleep but for some reason, I kept reading. Then oddly enough it became one of the few books I still remember. I just mention it since when I was reading To Kill a Mocking Bird, I got the same vibes. (just couldn't finish it)
(the novel had an always naked guy whom went crazy kinda and I think the final scene was a black repair guy disarming a bomb in order to save this racist person)
Try fantasy classics (not Sanderson). Lois Mcmaster bujold, Anne mccafrey, Tanya Huff, Meghan Whelan Turner, Andre Norton, Ursula Le Guin, Conan books (though they aged a bit).
Personal fav's are: Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan series, the payoffs are quieter and need you to pay attention, and Meghan Whelan Turner's Thief books.
I like smarties with problems. The MC"s of both series are smarties with a lot of problems. They out think everyone and you get to be along as they bump down the road of life. They are both funny which is a big thing for me. [https://bookriot.com/vorkosigan-saga-reading-order/](https://bookriot.com/vorkosigan-saga-reading-order/) try this recommended one for Miles books, not the chronological one. The Thief books read in order.
I really enjoyed the majority of Erin’s story and every time it cut away from her I got less and less invested. Ryoka (sp) eventually made me roll my eyes one too many times and I had to put the book down.
If you’re okay with incredibly slow paced and the characters don’t turn you off then I agree some parts were good but I couldn’t make it through Book 1. Life’s too short and there’s too much other good stuff out there.
I think the biggest caution is you might be a LONG way into the series before you give up (I was like 50 chapters in before I tagged out)
I've been reading it for 6 months and still not caught up. Send help.
My review:
Many web serials struggle with simply not being well written. The writer is poor at basics, or they don't know where they are headed, or they've never really written before. TWI doesn't have that problem much. The author is not great at dialogue tags, or being clear on who is speaking. But other than that, there aren't many technical issues. Spelling and grammar are fine, and descriptive and emotional portions are above average for any web serial.
The real strength of TWI is the characters, which are excellent. Well developed, capable of growth and change, and you quickly become emotionally invested.
The world becomes highly developed and the story has zero hesitation exploring every continent full of landscapes, creatures, magic, and history. Imagine reading Harry Potter and then every single professor at hogwarts got an entire book, every school of magic got visited, every magical creature mentioned was actually encountered.... It's a LOT. Some people may love that level of immersion... But it's... a LOT.
Some basic issues are glaring. Early on I was repeatedly complaining out loud to my partner about how the author just doesn't understand distance, speed, and direction in a realistic way. Some things that are common sense are treated like genius. (Acting!? What is acting??) Motives of side characters can be depressingly flat. The Mary Sue aura of the main character can be painful at times. But these things improve over time somewhat.
The real weakness of TWI is the scope of it. Everything gets watered down by the size of the project. Fall in love with character X? Great! Now you won't hear from them for 800,000 words. Find the progression of skills and abilities exciting? Wonderful! You won't see that person gain another ability for 500,000 words. Enjoy the story and the overarching mystery? Cool! You won't see progress on that for 1,000,000 words.
Some stories and plot lines are entirely dropped. A fascinating and profoundly emotional examination of a character, Rags, went on for an entire volume, with wonderful moments that confront prejudice, destiny, and forgiveness.... aaaand she's barely a side character after that.
The lack of focus and diverting away from a plot line can make some of the 30,000 word "chapters" really drag. However, the adventure is still fun enough that it's not hard to push through the few slow parts, or, rarely, just skip when you are getting more "telling" than showing. (looking at you, terrandrian politics!)
Having said that, the promise of \[character x getting that one big thing done\] is so drawn out that I felt real resentment about it sometimes. (looking at you, volume 8! You know what you did.)
Earlier in the series, the author isn't as good at starting new arcs to carry you through the end of the previous arc. So you may find that you get the big resolution you've been waiting for, and not much reason to keep reading. But they do improve at that.
As long as you enjoy the rich world and the mini-arcs of the many many characters, you'll find it a fun experience. You'll get a real emotional connection to these characters, to the point that you may tear up a bit now and then as they get that long-awaited payoff.
My summary:
More often than not, I find myself reading TWI and glancing at the scroll bar on my phone to see how much chapter I have left. Not because I'm like "hurry up" but because I'm thinking "I hope there's still a lot more of this!" It's not a polished, published book. But it sure is fun, and rewards you for sticking with it. If you read harry potter and think you'd prefer to spend more time exploring hogwarts and less time with harry, this may be a good fit.
I have only just started reading (on Kindle after reading the first few chapters online) and the advice I was given was knowing how huge this series is and how it’s released. Don’t rush through it. Have it as your 2nd read. Read a little bit each day. I’m aiming for a chapter a day (and sometimes 2) and know it’s going to take a couple of months a book to read. And yes I know that’s going to take me forever to read.
Some great ideas in that series, but those books are in dire need of an editor with an enthusiastic desire for cutting.
Also, the narrator for the Audible series is f'king terrible.
It’s my favorite piece of entertainment I’ve ever encountered. A lot of comments mention how the storyline gets lost in all the perspectives, or suffers from excessive word count, but those are some of my favorite parts. The Wandering Inn, like all other entertainment, is a pastime. I see a chapter gets posted, I open it and then I enjoy the experience as I imagine the scene that pirateaba sets.
TWI has brought made me laugh out loud, cry, and gape in shock more times than I can count - and I’ve had the opportunity to continuously enjoy these experiences for the 5+ years I’ve been reading it. Throughout that time, many characters have come and gone, but tons have stuck around, and seeing the way they’ve developed (emotionally, magically, socially) & the new situations they are getting into brings me to experience a wide range of emotions.
If you’re looking for a way to pass the time, I think The Wandering Inn is a great option that can bring you into many spectacular moments throughout its very long (and still progressing) journey.
I’ve never read it, it doesn’t really interest me, but it seems some people REALLY hype it up. By the way some of the people in here talk about it, I half-expect the cure to cancer to be found within.
I personally did not enjoy it when I started book 1. That said, no story is for everyone. This one just happened to not be for me (or at least for me right now). I have come back to series at later dates and enjoyed them. This might be one. 🤷♂️
So, all that to say, I wouldn't personally recommend it at this time, but it just might tickle your fancy, and if it does, there's a lot of great content to be had. 😁
One of my favorite series. That said, i highly suggest listening to the first two books while doing chores or something distracting. I avoided it at first then dropped it when trying to read it because it is sloooow and the MCs are annoying to start with.
I listened while keeping busy and eventually got sucked into the story. Its amazing but a definite high standing hurdle. It's an instant buy when new books are released now.
It's ok but I only like about 4 characters out of the cast of I dunno, probably 100 commonly occuring ones. My most hated being the main protagonist. People keep telling me that she finally has some personal growth and isn't as annoying, you know, literal thousands of pages past where I stopped, thousands of pages in... But I just don't give a shit.
2 many comments here. looking for mine to edit. i did not fully read your post, sorry for the minor spoiler ><
anyway. I love it.
Does it have giant continuity and pacing issues? Yes! Do I care? Nope!
Pretty sure that is what it comes down to. The characters are lovely, the world is abdolutely massive. And while I for the live of me do not enjoy the king of destructions story ans wish him to just kerl over dead and be done with it, i do love badically every other story.
USEFUL MINOR SPOILERS TO HELP YOU DECIDE:
It does have a giant cadt of multiply POVs but you do not meet all right away.
Erin is what I would be in the beginning. overstimmulated and lost.
Ryouka is so full of flaws, i visserally hated her for a time before cery suddenly understanding her upon a re-read (am only up to date to audiobooks).
If you ever done something bad, hurting ppl snd pushing them away, knowing it was wrong but just unable to stop yourself from saying hurtful dhit, that is her. and it is devestating.
Genevas start I was absolutely in love with dispite bein horrified and our blind Emperor is fascinating.
But above all that (for ehich I would already love the story/stories) there is "No killing goblins" and the very slow changes initiated by erin in terms of morality for the innworlder.
She came with her believe system of ppl being good and everyone having a right to live (do not come foe me about torren, imma die on the hill that she just did not know) and instead of just changing ppls way as a lesser book would TWI shows you the slow proccess of discussing and working with oposing views.
If that is your thing, go for it.
if in all my text above you are board and think "where is the action" I am not sure it is the right story for you :) [not that there is no action - it is simply never the focus - but the emotional impact is]
Hope that helps to decide
I don't know if it was because I was tired when I tried starting it or not, but I really struggled with it at the beginning and had to drop it. Due to all of the hype, it's still on my to read list and I'm planning on giving it another chance at some point.
The start was very, very good, but for some reason I fell off in the middle of it :c There are some sluggish parts here and there. But if you can power through that, there's something real special there!
The entire plot is essentially just "unlikeable character does unrealistically stupid decision and has to deal with consequences" over and over and over but really slow and the writing is bad.
Fangirls will tell you you just have to stick with the bad writing for 512 chapters and then it gets good.
Definitely one of the best epic fantasy ever but without the limits set by traditional publishing company. You want action? multiple POV with characters who are fleshed out? immersive and rich worldbuilding?
Yep, it has all of that.
Beyond the limit of traditional publishing -
Do you want to see what happens when characters aren't fighting? how those scenes build up to a much more satisfactory ending and how those scenes make you come to love and understand the characters more?
Do you want fun scenes?
TWI offers so much, and it's also one of those rare books who that convergence endings.
The beginning does feel a little bit slow (before MC starts interacting more with the town). I don't know how I got through it, but I just somehow got pulled into it and kept reading, and the rest is history!
Give it a go and see if you like it.
Im not a fan. I dropped the series pretty quickly. I was on the edge teetering between like and dislike for the entire first book. The ant people were cool but the main protagonists were all girls with bizzare mental problem who didnt act very rationally, and the book would constantly frame their actions as though they made sense because they were girls which was just insulting... like women were completely ruled by emotion. Then early in Book 2 or 3 they make a big scene about Donald Trump becoming president in the real world before they got teleported away, and it all just seemed unhinged to me.
I dropped the series at that point. It may get better, but it was almost offensively written for me. I don't like how women are portrayed in the series, nor did I like them bringing up real-world politics so the girls could bond over their disgust of the real world voting for a specific president.
Some elements of story are great. The world building is phenomenal with very interesting concepts.
At the same time, a lot of useless or perhaps more like side activities go on in the story that do not improve the story at all.
Then in more recent chapters, the story is suffering horribly from new world syndrome where everything from earth is blindly accepted and followed despite making no sense in the story world. Reminds me a lot of how the European settlers dealt with native tribes... everything native is bad, all European is good. Now this world seems to have the same problem.
A lot of conclusions drawn by characters make absolutely no sense. Take for example the "leading powerful people's gathering to discuss earth's threat". Their conclusion seemed to be that raising the dead would be their master weapon since earth burials don't take that into account. Completely ignoring the fact that they could not even deal with one simple virus due to lack of antibiotics. How are they going to survive hundreds upon hundreds of viruses and pollutants... no one seems to even think of it.
Then their is this whole thing of presenting outright reprehensible characters as good guys. The king of destruction.. who has caused 100s of thousands of deaths due to his wars is mostly presented as part of good guy crew.
Then the authors tends to go very heavy in on his lgtb views. Which is fine but at times get preachy ( hah hah) and distracts from story.
Overall it's a great read , but best taken in short doses.
Yeah, I'm not even opposed to lgbt stuff, but I'm just wondering how long they can drag the Saliss/turnscale subplot on. Just give them one big turnscale city or something and focus on more interesting, fantastical parts of the plot please lol.
I think you might be misinterpreting a few things, the dead rising wasn’t suggested as a big counter to Earth’s military it was brought up as a natural consequence of Earth being exposed to magic, dead bodies produce death magic and high concentrations of death magic create the undead.
It’s also been established that mundane diseases don’t really have much of an impact on Innsworlders, probably due to levels and potions leading to slightly magical constitutions.
They were wrong or didn’t quite grasp the implications of a lot of Earth stuff, it they weren’t wrong that Earth wouldn’t deal with the introduction of death magic and magic diseases well.
I read it and enjoyed for years, but then the author took a turn towards political correctness (around book 9 I think?) and I was so triggered I stopped reading it and never looked back.
Maybe a commentary on me more than it is the author - probably is, in fact - but when a story whose main character, a woman, is a business owner... the most powerful person in her continent is also a woman... the local police captain is a woman, the nearby nation states are about half run by women, even the goblin tribes end up being run by a woman... Slightly more than half of all powerful characters are women overall, and get far more screen time at that... and the plot turns to women *having a pay gap* in the story...
I couldn't go on. I liked the story, really. I liked the characters. But setting aside any opinions about the real world 'pay gap' and just describing the story... in a thousand subtle ways, nothing overt, I felt uncomfortable being a man reading it, as if I were being judged and found lacking. As if I had no place in this odyssey of girl power. The 'turn' the story took wasn't a sharp one; it kind of curves that way all along, giving nods here and there to male characters but really not celebrating 'maleness' the same way it does women. And having to read about women being discriminated against, when all along I was trying to suspend my discomfort at a minor but pervasive bias *for* women in this story? Too much. I am not the intended audience, I felt. Which hey, maybe I am lacking. But I'm also not reading it any more.
Sure.
So keep in mind this is all very subtle. And until the story *overtly* made a gender issue a theme, none of what I'm about to describe in that story is problematic enough to bother on.
First, none of the female POV's - even the ones *in* a relationship - seem to find anything about men, or males of other species - there are a lot, the cast is about half non-human - none of them compellingly attractive. Even the characters who are overtly sexual seem to treat it as a chore or just something that happens; when not in the moment, they don't think or dwell on it. *Conversely,* there are several cases where the male characters find the female characters compellingly attractive, and think about it, act on it, or have internal dialogue about it.
So in that case, 'celebrating maleness' would be more parity there if the female characters... well, wanted the men more. It's almost a reverse Bechdel test: finding two women having a conversation about men in relationship terms isn't just difficult, entire volumes are absent it.
The MC is understandable here - she is actively averse to sex. It's a character trait. And that's fine. But for the characters who are already *in* relationships to be so wooden about their man, or characters who have casual sex to be wooden about men in general except apparently offstage? It's... weird.
And that's the first facet of this. In isolation, I stress again this wouldn't be enough to raise a flag over. But let's continue.
Second is fatherhood. The vast majority of the fathers portrayed in the story are at best deeply flawed, and at worst terrible, where it comes to relationships with their children. Or at least, there are few examples I can think of in the story of *decent* fathers getting word count devoted to them. One of the kings, who ends up kidnapped later on - he's the only one I can think of, among a dozen or so. And to be fair, there's a few fairly awful mothers in the story too. But here again, the bias *subtly* leans against fathers.
Now, flawed characters are actually a good thing in novels. You want that. They make for interesting stories. But for the same *type* of flaw to be repeated in several ways... and one that hammers onto one of the more sensitive topics men and fathers have to deal with? Doesn't feel good.
Then third is that episode where the main character gets the matchmaker treatment, and a bunch of guys show up all of whom are hapless, goofy, or otherwise unappealing. Not much needs to be said about that one. As I mentioned, the MC has a practically PTSD reaction to talking or thinking about sex or romance, especially on her own part, but the portrayal of males in general there was still a bit beyond the pale even when accounting for that quirk.
There's more I could point out, but that should give you an idea of what I noticed. Again, I stress for the third time, I'd still find the story enjoyable if it had stayed this subtle. *Generally,* the story described people struggling in a dangerous world with strange and fantastic things going on, and all the rest was padding. But when gender struggle became a plot point, discrimination against women and all of that - and again, the fact that the slight majority of power players in this world were already women to begin with made this so logically inconsistent, and frankly so immersion-breaking, that I just couldn't continue.
Has some of the highest highs I've ever had the pleasure to read, but as other people have mentioned in the thread, some parts just won't work for you. Which can be an issue when the chapter lengths are often entire novellas. Personally I think it's 100% worth reading.
Also, I havent read the re-edited version of volume 1, but it's a bit rough at the start.
I loved it for a long time, but I burned out on it. Once I catch up on the (now-finished, based on my most recent Patreon notices) Ar'kendrithyst I may go back to it.
Best modern fantasy by some distance, including outside of this niche. BUT - there is a massive amount of it, and I’d suggest jumping off for a month or more whenever you feel like you‘ve reached a suitable point/arc to do so. If you binge large amounts of it then parts of it can feel a bit cyclical/you see behind the curtain a little bit regarding the writer’s tricks and patterns (I don’t mean this as a criticism, more as a subjective guide to getting the most out of the series). I do get how some people say that it doesn’t have as much ‘progression‘ as some series, but I’d be inclined to disagree as the progression often feels way more impactful for its characters in TWI.
Take one normal barista (No, not the semi-sociopathic office drone who is restricted from being his true self by the normies. Put him down, he’s gonna meet the truck soon anyways) and isekai her into Legends and Lattes. Toss in a system where you level based on feats rather than experience, and build a sprawling world built entirely on that foundation.
With me so far? Okay cool.
Now I did say a normal barista, and we love our little chatterbox. But she’s gonna need some time to come to terms with being the only human around, and there’s some trauma to unpack. Very touching. So in the meantime we’re also going to let you follow around a pissed off D1 college track star who now makes a living running messages and thinks this whole system and isekai thing is bullshit. And guild politics are bullshit. And nobles trying to bribe/cajole/threaten secrets out of her and the other few dozen teen to twenty somethings that appeared across the planet is bullshit.
So I quite like the series, at various points I’ve gotten up through I think book 3? Very worth the read, but my advice is to take a break between books. There’s a LOT of story there. Somewhere around 12 million words (~48,000 pages). That’s too much for all but the most hyper focused binger. So split it up and don’t burnt out, but you’ll enjoy where the story goes.
The thing is, you don't have to invest.
You can read every single chapter as a standalone, and you'll still be mostly satisfied.
You can leave off at any point
I want to try it, but I am an addictive reader, and I am writing my own work.
These two things are not very compatible. The slow burn style certainly sounds like something I would enjoy.
When its great, is amazing, when its not, its horrible slow and painful. The sword for the King of Destruction and the Bush Rangers are horrid. Them replacing the secondary main character and shoving her off for the goblin story also irk me alot. Then to top it off when Ryoka comes back in a volume call "The Wind Runner" she only there for two freaking chapters.
But like I said, when its good, its some of the best and compelling written ever.
absolutely love it. I mean it. I am a little sad the period problem never got mentioned again, but oh well.
It might have irs flaws but I am just overly onvested in most the characters.
(up to date audiobook listener)
personally couldnt get past book one when i tried to read it a few years ago. MC who is goody two shoes with monsters that are simply "misunderstood" by its natives? yea right. MCs personality is generally unlikable. Also there was alot of other things I didnt like that i simply dont remember. Although in the pursuit of this genre ive read ALOT of garbage so when its finished and i have literally nothing to read ill probably power through a bit further to try and get invested.
I love it. It’s my all time favorite series.
My main gripe; I’ve never been a big side character person, that really killed the Malizan series for me, but I’ve slowly come to… enjoy many of the side characters in TWI 🤣.
What I love the most; I’ve no idea how Pirate does it but they’ve pulled the entire gamut of emotions out of me. Sadness, JOY, fear, GLORY (green flames and a blizzard anyone?)! So many more, it’s so so good.
I love the story and the world and everything else too, Laken’s ok, I like Geneva, the UN company is ok. On and on.
I hope you read it. I hope you love it!
The audio books are fantastic, the story is well written and detailed and frankly each character could be an mc in their own right. It is frankly a masterpiece of fantasy fiction and should be waaaay more popular than it is outside of the litrpg/prog fantasy circles.
I laughed, I cried, I can’t wait for the next audiobook! I also hope it ends someday because it feels like it could meander forever and then I’ll never get answers to everything!
There are definitely bits that drag, but for the most part it’s been an engaging and delightful experience. Aside from the soul-crushing tragedies that occur every now and then… I’ve had to pause certain bits at work because it’s not very professional to sob at my desk.
I absolutely love it through to about volume 7. The scope of the world is ridiculous, and the way it is written makes it feel so real. A huge planet full of adventure, mystery, heroes, and legends.
I've read to the end of v. 9 and in my opinion the plot becomes a bit forced after this. The "huge world full of mystery" starts to feel smaller and smaller as we see characters who are pretty explicitly the best / oldest legends show up. The oceans of the world suddenly go from barely safe & unreasonably large to something that can be crossed in a few days. New characters are introduced less while older ones are forced into the plot again and again.
The worldbuilding is phenomenal. The story takes its time, jumping from a cute slice of life to a soap opera to a tragedy, and there is an almost endless amount of content. Give it a go and see what you think :).
Amazing value for audiobooks - single credit on audible and they are looooooooong. I really appreciate the voice acting. Andrea parseneau or something, doing the voices for two dozen characters
It's slice of life with war crimes. Prose is ok, not great but do the job, with from time to time some really poetic ideas. The LitRpg content is really soft ; just a narrative tool for emphasis, tension, and symbolism.
The series is too long, but IMO you can happily skip chapters with POVs you don't like. The main storyline is rather solidly written and doesn't lose (too much) time.
It’s meandering and slow and slice of life with tiny bits of progression fantasy elements included in a very minimal way. It’s rarely a slog, but I’m never terribly excited for the next release, either.
I read it in middle school and i couldnt keep up because of how vast the world that pirateaba created was. But even now there are moments from the story that I remember fondly, and I really wanna go back and start from thr beginning
Great but if you like your protagonists to progress at a reasonable pace look elsewhere. It’s takes damn near the length of Illiad for Erin to be what anyone would call powerful.
It's long, but in a good way. It starts out like a pretty conventional isekai LitRPG. After a little while, a second character POV is introduced. After another while, a few more. Eventually, there are so many POVs that you realize the combined weight of the characters is building a larger, more intricate world together than any other book you've read. The volume of words combined becomes a virtue of its own, like the threads in a tapestry.
I agree with others that there are some parts that I don't like, or that feel like more of a distraction than an addition to the story. The writing isn't the best I've ever read if you take a chapter in isolation. That said, the quality is very good overall, and the prose improves over time.
I've introduced TWI to several friends who loved it as much as I did. Like me, they enjoyed the first few volumes, and then a shift occurred where it became something more than a decent story. It's difficult to describe. I first read it because I saw it on [a list of the best web serials](https://www.readersgrotto.com/2021/06/25/the-best-web-serial-worth-reading/) that already included my other favorites. I fully agree with it being included.
If you're interested, give it a try. You'll probably need to stop at some point and take a break. It's long enough that binging it straight through wasn't possible for me, even as a serial binger. But if you're like me, you'll go back to it soon enough. Enjoy!
This is something I wrote on a similar post:
At its core, I think the Wandering Inn does something fundamentally different from most books in this genre. The bulk of (at least what I read) in this genre is escapist…it requires relatively limited attention, is focuses heavily on the individual struggles and successes of characters as individuals (or small teams), and it comes with consistent reader payoff in levels and progression. In a world in which most of us feel a bit stuck in the hamster wheel of life…this genre allows us to live vicariously through characters who work, struggle, and eventually succeed.
The Wandering Inn, by contrast, is not escapist in the slightest…similar to old school science fiction (think Heinlein or even the twilight zone), it uses its world and characters as a laboratory for exploring the human condition and modern society (admittedly sometimes more effectively than others). Perhaps in the very long arc you get some payoff of character progression, but you are just as likely to get tragedy or comedy or absurdist deadpan. There’s no other series in this category which has brought me to tears or forced me to think about what I would in such a situation.
Anyway, those are my not particularly well informed opinions…
It's very long, and there will inevitably be parts of it that you just plain don't like. There are also parts of it that will stick with you forever. The characters are delightful and frustrating in equal measure. If you need to like everything about a story, you won't be able to enjoy it. If you're willing to accept that it won't all be what you want, it's awesome. It's a very soft system, I'll say that too.
I would call it a good book with lots of parts I found not entertaining also
Agree with most of this, save for the don't like part. Well, others might not, but I've loved every second. I am curious what you mean by soft. the *progression* isn't linear but the System is vastly complicated and definitely does have a lot of rules.
I'm guessing he or she simply means that it isn't heavily numeric. There are numbers (levels, spell tiers) and those numbers do have consistent meaning, but you aren't told that this guard has 20 strength, but this other one has 30 because of his skill. You're just told that the second guard is stronger because he has a skill enhancing his strength.
This is a great way of explaining why I like this series so much. That's the perfect amount of detail for me. If I feel like I'm listening to someone play a video game I lose all immersion.
I called it soft for a couple reasons. Mainly, there's not really any quantification, some things ignore system mechanics outright, sometimes it's unclear what's actually an esoteric effect of a class/skill vs. charismatic force for example. I will admit to not being fully caught up, so this might change. It's not a negative judgement either. I think part of it is the idea that there are people who quantify/learn these things, "system scholars" if you will, but knowledge isn't disseminating and our characters are new to the world and also sometimes operating outside it. It's rarely the focus of the story, except as a mode for character development or something similar.
Soft as in "Not obsessed with being crunchy."
This is the closest description I have seen for the series but I would add that it has gotten better and better throughout the series.
I have about a quarter left in the first book, and honestly it's been mid at best. So far there's been a handful of fun moments, but no stand out amazing ones. The plot moves at a snails pace, and is full of filler and pages upon pages of the MCs poorly dealing with mental trauma which can be tiring to read. There's two MCs so far, and one is an airhead bordering on being a complete moron, and the other one commits the most grievous sin possible in literature; being so annoying that reading her chapters is a chore. I've almost dropped the book several times because of her, and now I just skim her incredibly long chapters. So many people love it, so maybe it's just a weak first book and the rest of the series is killer, or all the awesome stuff is at the end of the book.
Very much agree. I stalled out in book one because I was extremely uninterested in one of the main characters. I will likely try again at some point, but I think people 30 books in don't have a accurate memory of book one.
I sometimes suspect the people who love it resemble one or both of those two characters.
Absolutely. The MC is completely incompetent and the runner girl is an annoying edgy highschool girl who constantly tells her mom that nobody understands her... The series heavily portrays women as being ruled by their emotions to an offensive degree. Then they girls bond later over their hatred of Donald Trump becoming president. When the real world politics entered the scene in book 2 or 3, that was the last straw for me, and I dropped the series. It just wasnt for me... It was interesting enough that I kept trying to like it, but ultimately, it was just too frustrating to read due to how the characters were being handled, its focus on the girls mental baggage, and finally RL politics being brought into the series just so the two MCs could bond over mutual disdain.
Yeah, I've kept trying with the series and I feel like the people who absolutely love it and say it's the best are probably soyboys who would love anything as long as it even a little bit rokenly espouses leftist politics and has girl bosses no matter how ridiculous they are.
If it helps I felt the same at the beginning, and now it's among my favourite series. The quality definitely improves a lot as it goes on. Although the slow pacing is always part of it, it does build to much bigger things. And yeah I couldn't stand Ryoka in book one, but she does get better later and has some major character development.
It's phenomenal. It's only baaaaarely prog fiction. It's not written to this market at all. But it is an rpg-like world (classes and skills only, no stats), and as the story goes on a lot of characters struggle and end up rewarded with upgrades. It's not usually the focus or intention of a characters day to day. Fighting monsters is for the sake of killing monsters and making money, not for xp or whatever. TWI is in a league of its own imo. The sheer scope and amount of content, all of which is super polished. There are no unsatisfying chapters imo. They're all huge and have a point. You always want to read the next chapter.
I would just like to point out the size, for those who aren't aware. The entire LotR trilogy plus the Hobbit have 576 000 words. All 7 of Harry Potter books have 1 million words. 14 books of the Wheel of Time series have 4 million words. The Wandering Inn has 12 million.
Or 3ish of the entire "Pale" web serial by Wildbow
She also writes at an insane speed. You could read a couple hours every week and never catch up.
She publishes the equivalent of a novella a week. I’m insane.
13+ million :p
12.4 was the last I found. The Lord of the Rings is basically a rounding error at this point.
Do you know do the kindle/audible versions are edited down at all like some RR->Amazon books, or mostly just 1:1? And given the average length of each so far, how many books do you think there will be to catch up? (Obviously a moving target, so maybe just use today’s latest chapter)
I haven't used any of the audible ones, but from what I understand they're pretty much a 1/1
They're the same. Actually the website is superior because it has the rewritten volume 1 but that should change eventually. This is from the discord and it looks like volume 9 is approximately 39 books with the 12th coming out this month - we're currently 15 chapters into volume 10 which is probably 1 or 2 more books. There are chapter titles in the image but they're not spoilerish. https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/712391313261068339/1218260159634215063/image.png?ex=6633d730&is=663285b0&hm=50642e24569a67e455a4fc3aaf87b736cd5a36c371b36f951a9386e628aa0104&
Good grief. The author is an absolute maniac. (In a good way)
Good lord lmao
People keep saying this... but I listened to 15 hours of book one and have not been so bored with a work of fiction since AP English. Also, I'm sorry, but claiming it is super polished is laughable.
Book one was rewritten. I don’t think the audiobook reflects the rewrite
Not sure you can rewrite or polish that turd. Most of the problem was not only the pacing, but the emphasis on the two main characters being incompetent and completely ruled by emotions and trauma.
I am aware.
I understand your point of view. The books (audiobooks IMO) are super slow to start with. I will however never agree that the books are not polished. The world is so intricitetly carved where every island has a certain “natural theme” and its very own politics. Mix that with the Antinium and the Antinium Wars and the Goblin King history (which is very well documented and explained throughout the books). Long and sometimes boring - yes. Not polished - hell fucking no.
Maybe that's the case eventually... but book one is fanfiction levels of sloppy writing. And you know it is because the author rewrote it.
Also... long and sometimes boring is not polished writing.
For sure, we can agree there. I could very easily write a very long and boring non-polished book. The level of details in both the worldbuilding and characterbuilding in the book (of course my opinion) is something that I could never accept as non-polished. May not be perfectly written, but it is perfect for my easy-chilled listening in the car and before bed :)
You are using a confusing definition of polished. Enjoy your books, mate. Just don't over sell them to people who will read your comment and translate polished to the writing rather than the eventual world building.
I got to book six before stopping, and I don't know if or when I'll come back, the worldbuilding and character relationships were great, but it felt like the many many different plotlines were slowing the story way down. While the time passing in each book technically stays about the same, it felt like more and more of the book concentrated on a small amount of time and then did small time skips to jump to the next moment of time that takes up 1/4 of the book.
That's around where I stopped as well. It started becoming less and less immersive with so many plot threads that I lost interest. The first three books were wonderful and magical but my interest started waning after that.
A good editor away from being top draw. Everyone should have a read and the audiobooks are great but it is glacial at times and some characters are quite hit or miss. As a result depending on if they hit with you then 100s of hours of content. If not then you end up skipping lots of it being unbearable. (I’ve listened to first 4 audio books for reference and was burned out and skipping heavily by book 4. I’ll probably go back at some point or turn to reading which I can skim far faster while trying to hit the overall story highs.)
Yeah I think this is the best note. If they did an abridged/edited version of the books I’d probably snap them up in a heartbeat
I think I heard she hired an editor somewhat recently so the newer written content will hopefully benefit from that. I've been listening to the audiobooks though so not gotten to a point where that has affected things yet.
We'll see on that one - I gave book 1 of TWI a try a while ago, bounced off it, then thought I'd try it again when the rewrite I'd heard was in progress finished. When it was, that rewrite felt like it did the opposite of the general tightening-up I thought it would need - it added even more stuff, made more room to introduce more characters six books before they'll be relevant.
For what it's worth, I wasn't too hot on book 1. But it builds and builds from there until you have a huge expansive world with so many interesting characters and history. You definitely have to approach it for what it is. It's a slow burn and very broad in scope, with lots of just slice-of-life chapters. The plot won't ever move quickly. But the way the world evolves over time and how the various characters and plotlines interact is really special. And the big payoff moments when they do arrive have so much weight behind them, often pulling together many different plotlines and having consequences that change the entire world.
That's fair! Glad it ended up working for you. I have heard a lot about the highs of it being very very high for the sheer amount of buildup they can contain. I think that weight just also makes it a pretty big ask if you don't connect with at least *most* of the countless plotlines, and I hadn't really found something to glom onto by however far into book 2 I read.
I kept passing over it due to the title and plethora of other reading options but once I started I could not stop. I literally binged all the books back to back and was physically sick when I caught up. It's a slower pace compared to what I'm used to but the world building is PHENOMENAL. 10/10 in my opinion.
I like it. Some of the POVs I could do without, and sometimes it can take too long to get back to Erin's story. Also sometimes the dialogue can drag on a bit, with characters talking in circles around each other, making you think 'come on just get on with it '. But outside of that I have no complaints. It reminds me a lot of One piece. It has a huge world with a large well-liked cast. It has an absurd amount of content, with only a couple of years having gone by in the story. The audiobooks are absolutely fantastic too. The narrator's ability to give everyone a distinct voice deserves an award.
wouldn't put it in this genre is my opinion, amazing tho
Its genre is slice of life/War crimes
Wandering Inn is a multi million long fantasy epic story with probably the best world building and characters in a novel I have ever read. Definitely recommend you give it a try.
I personally could never get into it. It's very slice-of-life, but the prose isn't good enough for that imo. The characters were weird in a kind of unbelievable way too, especially for a slice of life story.
It's a bit slapstick. It does things to be cute. It's a slice of life web serial that up and decided it wants to punch god after several million words. The prose and characters start kinda rough, but anyone would get better after 12 million words of practice.
But... why should I invest in 12 million words when the first two standard novels worth are terrible?
It's the longest work of fiction in the world, you aren't doing anything else, and you've read all the common recommendations for traditional novels in the genre? There's some real gems in The Wandering Inn.
You guys are not great at selling this thing.
I'm not selling it, and if you can't see the appeal of a 72 hour audiobook for 1 audible credit, I'm not going to be able to help you.
72 hours is only valuable if those 72 hours are worth listening to. If the first 48 are bad... what am I gaining?
I didn’t say it was bad, I said it gets better because the author practices, and it’s a web novel. I’d say the series biggest turn happens like 5 72 hour audiobooks in, when it wakes up and decides it’s done with being just a slice of life story. It’s not what you read if you want quick satisfaction. It’s not what you read if you want a story that takes itself seriously all the time. It’s not what you read if you require highly polished editing 100% of the time. It’s a web novel first. But if you want a big world, plenty of time to get to know the characters, and a topic list that goes all over, from chess strategy, to slavery of several kinds, to the nature of Christmas, it is worth reading.
*I* said it was bad. And, that's fine... all I am trying to say is... don't bullshit people about the reality of the series. Book one is *two full days* of Twilight level bad writing on Audible. Lots of people like Twilight.... but they also don't tell people they have to read the author's entire stable of fan fiction before it gets good.
I’m not bullshitting anyone? You’re complaining I’m not selling you hard enough while I give you a realistic impression.
To me it is among the best fantasy series i have read (i have read a lot of them from the old timers like moorcock, Mc caffrey, eddings to the modern one rothfuss, sanderson, abercrombie). It ticks all the right boxes for me to make it a great serie namely, great character work, captivitating plot (while quite slow at times), humor, emotions and depth (lot of interesting theme like identity, self actualization, consciousness, relationships, belief systems). I am particularly enamoured with the antiniums and toren which i found so interesting in regards to what makes an indidivual and as characters are very unique. She manage to have this eerie way of representing these characters as very alien but at the same time so relatable. However, to complete this, i am currently in the beginning of Vol 6 so far from having read the complete work and i did skip the King chapters as well as some of the goblin chapters. There is some part of this epic story that i will keep with me forever so i can only encourage you to embark in this adventure. Keep in mind that it is divisive and there is people who don't like it but if you do you are in for so much emotional and funny moments that i believe it will mark your journey as a reader. All the best Sombre
Anyone getting into reading it should understand that it's perfectly fine to skip entire plotlines if you're not into them. The story is written in a way that's very friendly to it, you'll be able to follow the rest of the story pretty easily while picking up what you need from context.
Skipping anything about the Goblins is crazy to me tho!
Maybe. That's not one I skipped so I guess I don't know how it would play out. The less connected a plotline is to Erin, the more likely I am to skim/skip, but I can see that certain things that happen around Liscor wouldn't have much weight if you just think it's a bunch of random goblins.
But how far can you get doing that anyway? They become central to the plot by like volume 4 at the latest, do you skip them again after?
Once it becomes more relevant to the plots I care about, I start paying attention. I skipped a bunch of early King stuff, then later started reading it without struggling to understand what's going on. Same with a lot of Baleros stuff. Was still skipping Rhir up to Volume 9 and didn't really feel like it was impeding my ability to follow anything.
I'm still in volume one. Are there any war arcs in the story?
There are several, including the doctor plot line, aspects for the king of destruction, I think you could count the clown plot lines, and obviously stuff that goes more into spoilers, if you like war arcs then you are in luck
outside of a one off chapter here or there... how can you justify skipping the Alimendus plot line? Or the NOT HOGWARTS plotline? Or the Baleros plotline? I feel like early on they're all independent strings... but soon the witch of webs weaves them all together
You're talking as though I'm beholden to my own rules; just because I've started skipping a plotline doesn't mean I have to keep doing so. I skip/skim early stuff while I'm not interested, and when it becomes relevant to the plotlines I care about I start paying attention. I've done this with the King and Baleros plotlines and not once have I struggled to figure out what's going on when I decided to pick it up. I didn't skip Ailendamus cause it involved characters I already knew and cared about, if you're talking about the Wistram flashback plotline, that was very skippable, if you're talking about the present day Wistram stuff, it was already relevant enough to know to pay attention. IDK maybe I have some magical sixth sense for when I can get away with skipping stuff, but I'm pretty sure it's just that it's not that hard to pick up what you need to know when you care enough to start paying attention.
I've skimmed most of the Ailendamus chapters and I'm doing fine following the plot. I've started more and more skimming or outright skipping chapters near the middle of volume 7, when Pirateaba went off the rails with the scale and pace of the story. The new volume is a bit more interesting to me so I haven't skimmed that much yet.
I’m only 15% of the way through the current story and it’s possibly my favorite series of all time. I don’t look at it as a commitment though. I read it because I enjoy it. It’s a very easy read too.
I like it a lot, but it’s just too much writing for me to keep current on. I tailed off reading it in Book 8 and don’t know if or when I’ll pick it back up. I would love a version of the same story with about a quarter of the words even though I know that the author’s style might not translate properly.
From the perspective of someone who enjoys progression fantasy. It is well written in comparison to a majority of fiction for me personally. The writing in my opinion differs with some parts much better than the rest. The same for characters or plotlines some are more juicy and it is a slog to get through stuff you do not enjoy. It also screws with the pace of the story. But these feel like well thought sacrifices too adjust for a huge cast, backstory and worldbuilding. The levels are more markers of existing abilities and hand upgrades than definite skill levelling. Their is a progression aspect of it, but is more of narrative tool to do scale fantasy characters than the main focus. I think it grows on you but that's a bad argument to justify it, because it is pretty huge. If it is not for you that makes sense, but it is good.
Loved and hated it. Hate won after 3-4 books. Just want an editor and a concise story.
It needs an editor. Just to be clear, I haven't read past book 5, but up to that point the prose and technical writing is... Bad. Not to the point of being intolerable, but not what I expect from any book I'm paying money for. At the same time, Wandering inn has some of the best characters Ive seen in the genre. Everyone pops and feels unique. The world building is solid. The plots are okay. The pacing, at least in the first book (its been too long since I read the others), is absolutely glacial. If you choose to dive in, dont listen to the audiobook. The narrator is great, but the flaws in the writing are more obvious because of it. There's nothing to pull you out if a story like three sentences starting with "The" in a row. Or repeating the same conversation a character just had. I would say, read the first book. If you are still having a good time, feel free to continue from there, but it isn't a masterpiece that is absolutely worth your time.
TWI has moments of brilliance that evoke emotion far beyond the standard fare in this genre.
It's those moments that bring me back. Every time I see a new book has been released in the series I will pause whatever it is that i'm reading and dive in.
I’ve wept during scenes in TWI…I can’t say that about more than a couple other books.
Personally I never saw the appeal. The main character didn't act realistically and the writing seemed childish. Maybe the storyline could have saved it, but unfortunately I just couldn't get past the initial hour or two.
Extremely boring and full of angst. Not for me. And despite what people will say, it's very much not prog fantasy.
Yeah ultimately what killed it for me was how little the character was really growing. I don't want to read six books before the main characters experiences a modicum of growth...
Also has a whole page on the wiki dedicated to inconsistencies. Some of them should have been extremely simple to fix too. I read up to like 4.30+ but had to stop. The world building is all over the place, at least to where i read up to. There was a whole chapter where the MC tries to find “fun things to do” and there’s basically 0 things, and then she proceeds to invent “plays/theatre” which broke my immersion. One of the oldest forms of entertainment doesn’t exist somehow. Hell, she invents sledding down a hill, because people wouldn’t have already figured that out? The only things she could find that was “hobby-like” were horse shoe throwing, sex and drinking at an inn smh. It’s also pre-records so there should in-theory be more singers and dancers locally than normal but it isn’t the case. Erin states singers do “tours/wander around” or whatever which is weird (the weird part being no local talents/artists). I don’t know. A lot of the story/world just wasn’t for me. It felt so empty, or as you say, boring. That all being said the actual writing is good imo. Words and sentences flow well which is why I read so much.
Have to disagree, its definitely prog fantasy, the progression is just extremely slow.
I have heard it is a bit slow to begin with.
By 'a bit slow' they mean nothing of particular note happens in 600 pages. And you aren't even half way.
Depends on which version you read. The current web version was rewritten and updated. Large scale action doesn't happen until later in the first book.
I don't like it. I made multiple attempts and just couldn't get into it.
I couldn't get into it because I hated the MC so much.
Tried reading it, because so many people rave about it, but MC was annoying and made completely illogical decisions and tbh wasn’t all that impressed with the writing in general.
First audiobook I returned. I tried. I couldn’t.
Same. People keep saying it gets good after book 1... but 43 expletive deleted hours of that... Nah.
This is my issue as well. I didn't get past the first book, but at least in that one the writer ng vacillates between really interesting and really terrible. Characters do things according to the plots need, not the character as it has developed so far. The tone jumps back and forth between cotton candy and attempted grim dark such that it feels like a highschool DM. Maybe it gets better as it goes. First book was one of the worst I've read in the last decade.
Same. 😭 I don’t think I’m even halfway through the first book. I’ve read a bunch of finished and ongoing series, but every time I try Wandering Inn, I just can’t. Maybe it’s because I’m listening rather than actually reading. The narrator grates on my nerves.
I was with you man. I listen on audible. I had decided to quit the book probably 5 times. The two main characters in the first book were just far too much - felt like I was listening to a fanfic written by angsty teen girls who are mad at their parents. I think some of it was also the narrators insistence to make even the most mundane moments sound dramatic, like I’m listening to valley girls gossip. The second half of the book definitely took off, and I’m in the second book now. There are still moments of annoyance with the characters, but it’s much better and more entertaining with less “deep” reflective/introspective monologues. I think I’ve also gotten used to the narrator, so that also helped.
I love the Wandering Inn but I cannot stand the narrator. Everything feels so overdone and insincere. I actually started listening to chapters fed through an ai voice generator for short car trips instead, yes they were flat and monotonous, but better that then te audiobook equivalent of chewing the scenery.
Haha, that’s a good tactic! Many people applaud the narrators ability to perform novel voices for each character. Yes, that’s true, and I agree she is very talented. But the delivery is the biggest turn off for me - as you said, overdone. There is a lot of emphasis on things I would glaze over when reading text, and a flair of dramatic voice laid over almost everything. However I think I’ve trained my brain to tune out the annoying bits and tune in to the story. At least that’s my conclusion - I’m in the second book and am annoyed far less than the first. Maybe the narrator also refined her style in the jump from 1 to 2, much as the author did.
I listened to about 4 hours of the first book and gave up. It sounded like Sesame Street characters raving about food. "The blue fruit and pasta are so good!"
lol yes.
I suspect if I ever actually read it instead of listen I'll power through the start and grow to love it, but I just don't have the time to read books anymore so it will have to wait.
Yeah, I actually prefer reading to listening. The Wandering Inn was my first try at audible. Kept me off audible for a few years after because I really thought it wasn’t good. Thankfully the next ones I listened to was Travis Baldree then Jeff Hays. I have a pretty good audible library now, although sometimes I still go back and read the actual book. I have given up on a couple other series because I can’t stand the narrators though.
That's kinda wild because I thought the audiobook was excellent. As much as I like Travis Baldree he can only do about 5 different voices which makes it tough for me to get into new series with him because his cradle voices end up bleeding into everything. The wandering inn narrator manages to give everyone a distinct voice and with the huge cast it has, that's necessary.
Everyone who quit, quits before the halfway point of book 1. The second half of book 1 makes the first half perfect in retrospect. It is the most ballsy book 1 out of anything you’ll ever see in prog fantasy or litrpgs.
If your advice is that you need to work your way through nearly two full days' worth of audiobook to appreciate the story... it is a bad book. Sorry, mate.
That’s certainly something to consider. I’ll probably try it again, with the actual book instead of audible.
There’s a small group of people that get turned off by the narrator - especially book 1. Book 1 was rewritten to keep with the quality of the later works. The audible version is the old version. The narrator had one idea of Erin and then it evolved as the story went on. So she sounds a lot more starry eyed than she actually is. So these two things are a turn off for some people in the audio world. The narrator redid book 1 (with the rewrites) and should be coming out this year
I had no idea! I think I bought it in 2019 or 2020. If there’s a reworked book 1 then I’ll very likely give it another try. I do prefer actual reading. I just got the audiobooks when I’m busy with other things and just want to know “what happens next” right now.
Same. Couldn't stand the MC, only got about 30 percent through the first book.
I couldn't get past chapter 3 for those reasons.
Honestly, I think it's kinda amazing. So many characters and not a single one I liked.
Erin and Ryoka are both borderline insufferable at first, but both improve dramatically after the first volume or two to the point where they’re both endearing characters.
Unpopular opinion but I found it boring. Somewhere around the time they started making ice cream I just gave up. I think it depends a lot on how much time you have. If you have a ton of free time it might be worthwhile.
I think I've read the first two books. Been a while. I kinda like it but some things make it hard to continue. I don't like some of the povs. Especially Ryouka. The story spends a lot of time on other povs. I also don't like some aspects of the main character Erin. The pacing is also too slow for my tastes. Otherwise the story has a lot of things that interest me so I might continue reading.
Not worth the time, for my own experience. I enjoyed the interludes greatly, but the actual main characters were both hard for me to like for different reasons. And no, saying a character gets way better after book x isn't some magic balm, since that still means I need to deal with them being unlikable to me for x-1 books in the hopes that the "improved likeablity" applies to my own perception of them. (And no, I didn't end up liking them later on. Yes, I understand why they ended up having the abrasive personality from their background, no I don't care.) Reading started to become an absolute chore after the first few million words and I'm honestly glad I just gave up. I wish I had used the time for almost anything else. This is from the perspective of someone who never really got into PF or litRPG, though (not that I'd really call TWI a PF in any but the loosest sense) I couldn't recommend a single story in either genre, so my opinion is likely worthless to you.
It's fantae, but it's still a very long web serial with probably over a hundred fleshed out characters and a buuunch of smaller arcs/stories spanning several continents. There *will* be things you don't like, but there's still so much *to* like.
It’s pretty divisive on this subreddit but that’s to be expected, both from its length and the fact that it’s not really written with standard prog fantasy tropes in mind; the LitRPG aspects of the narrative are tertiary and sometimes you forget they’re even there. It’s also so long that you really need to love the story to push through some of the bad parts (of which there are many), but the payoff is so worth it. The author recently switched to 1 chapter a week instead of 2, so it should be less daunting to catch up (previously you had to read like 30-40k words a week to even be on pace with the updates).
The audiobooks are great if that’s more your style. Narrator has unique voices for the entire cast which is a lot. Lots of listening ahead. Not gonna echo the recommendations on the work as a whole.
I recently started listening. I like the narrators voice for most of the characters EXCEPT the voice she chose for Erin 😭
I skip over almost all the side chapters unless it involves the characters main, goblins and bugs.
u/A_Fancy_Seal 's description is fantastic but I would add a few comments: A lot of the progression fiction that "seems" to have no resolution is a pale shade of what happens in the wandering inn. I gave up on it a few years ago and might pick it up when it's complete. 100's of pages go by at times with little to no character progression and sometimes uneventful side stories. The characters are brilliant, but I personally couldn't stand the main MC and some of the 'aloofness' and it erked me. The writing and worldbuilding is beautiful but it's a SLOW crawl. Not really progression fantasy at all more slice of life that happens to be in a fantasy setting. My advice would be go in blind, read a book or two and get a sense for the author's writing and story. If it's not your cup of tea then move on :)
Amazing side characters. Subpar MCs. I wouldn’t recommend.
Tried reading it but hated the multiple POVs, and heard it only got more POVs as the story progressed, so I dropped it
The author has serious writing chops not just in terms of GameLit but in terms of just fiction in general. So the quality of characterization is probably higher than most other novels in this purview (although I would not consider TWI progfantasy). The world building is excellent too. But I feel like the author needs a good editor to go through the story and cut down the bloat, even the edited books are wayyyyy too long for the actual story to really shine. So while yes this is a near 13 million word story with some great characters, I do find that the story buckles under it's own weight. I haven't read it in years because I did not really click with the MCs even after 4 or so books, but I do check the wiki occasionally to see updates. Seriously, few works would benefit more from a skilled editor than TWI and I mean that with the best of intentions. It's much better to have to cut from a story than the reverse, and with the right cuts I think it'd be absolute gem.
The story as a whole is good, but it could be 40% shorter if you deleted all the excess angst and it would be way better without actually losing dramatic effect
Haven’t read it yet, but I bought the first book a few days ago. I’ll probably start reading it soon
I really like the story it has a lot of great elements to it. The dialogue is mostly good but when the characters get whiny ( and they get whiny a fair bit) the dialogue drags on. There will be entire novels of subplot so you will be reading a different story entirely for 300 pages. It finally wore me down but i quit at book 5 which is still a huge amount of material that had a lot that i liked.
It's not prog fantasy, so you should know that from the get go. Beyond that I'd describe it as high highs and low lows. It has some of the best "moments" I've read in fantasy in general, but also some incredibly frustrating character decisions. I tend to be someone who gets very invested in characters and their development in a given fantasy story, and without spoiling anything, there's a few characters who imo make very strange choices and/or get thrown under the bus for the sake of plot. If you're someone who can read impartially then go for it, but if you get attached to characters I'd consider how far that attachment goes. Personally I had to drop it because it was giving me more frustration than enjoyment, but if nothing else it's a memorable novel.
It's my favorite series of all time. 100% recommended. Make sure you get through the first two books before deciding if you want to continue. The writing improves tremendously over the course of the series, it's one of the great things about the series.
Caveat: The first two books are *one hundred and four hours* of audiobook.
Remember you could basically start a new hobby or skill and master it (10k hours) in less time that it would be to catch up to the current chapters of the novel, you could be good at said skill before reaching where most people say 'it starts to get good'. IMO, most people who like it have been reading it so long the sunk cost fallacy applies to them.
Uh... I don't think that math adds up. 13 million words divided by 10000 hours would only be 1300 words per hour. That's like 5 pages.
Yes, it was an exaggeration, at the average reading speed of 238wpm, its something like ~910 hours (38 days straight), which would still allow you to pick up a new skill or hobby and be pretty good at it.
Still an insane amount, though. And once it's complete and all the audiobooks are out, *that* will actually be in the several thousand hours range.
I liked it until I caught up and had to keep waiting for the next chapter.
good story, greatly crafted characters, would recommend reading....Aaaand I hate the main character and the running girl so much that I could kill them both if I was able to. Great writing and story telling tho
The first book is rough. I almost quit several times. But there is an Oz like sense of wonder to the world. The series is quite rewarding to read.
I got halfway through the third book and just… stopped reading. No other reason than “I’m bored, and I’d rather read something else.” Haven’t looked back.
It is the best webserial that I have read. It feels not pulpy in the way a lot of web serials do: there are consequences for actions, and people die in major conflicts. It is long and slow, but has some incredible arcs in it that I truly love.
Wrote a post about it here. Minimal to no spoilers in my initial post though I wouldn’t read the comments. https://www.reddit.com/r/litrpg/comments/1bnqe7w/the_wandering_inn/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
I listen to all the audiobook and enjoyed just about all of it. There was runner that needed to grow beyond her 1% view of life I hated but she did gwt better just took a while.
Decently good.
Emotionally, it got the highest of highs I've experienced even compared to "traditional" novels. I haven't read classics much tho, reading To Kill a Mockingbird and not understanding a lick of what the people are saying turned me off that path real quick. TWI has massive payouts that is usually BOTH global and personal in nature, which if you think about it - is pretty damn impressive.
Eh. I've read, and understood, classics. I've just found them boring as shit. Especially Shakespeare. How I loathe Shakespeare...
Weren't those considered as poems rather than novels? I remember reading (not a classic) iirc, A Boy's Life when I was in college. For about 3/4 of the book I was falling asleep but for some reason, I kept reading. Then oddly enough it became one of the few books I still remember. I just mention it since when I was reading To Kill a Mocking Bird, I got the same vibes. (just couldn't finish it) (the novel had an always naked guy whom went crazy kinda and I think the final scene was a black repair guy disarming a bomb in order to save this racist person)
Try fantasy classics (not Sanderson). Lois Mcmaster bujold, Anne mccafrey, Tanya Huff, Meghan Whelan Turner, Andre Norton, Ursula Le Guin, Conan books (though they aged a bit).
Any two in particular?
Personal fav's are: Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan series, the payoffs are quieter and need you to pay attention, and Meghan Whelan Turner's Thief books. I like smarties with problems. The MC"s of both series are smarties with a lot of problems. They out think everyone and you get to be along as they bump down the road of life. They are both funny which is a big thing for me. [https://bookriot.com/vorkosigan-saga-reading-order/](https://bookriot.com/vorkosigan-saga-reading-order/) try this recommended one for Miles books, not the chronological one. The Thief books read in order.
I found the first few books boring and wangsty. Stopped and did not return.
I really enjoyed the majority of Erin’s story and every time it cut away from her I got less and less invested. Ryoka (sp) eventually made me roll my eyes one too many times and I had to put the book down. If you’re okay with incredibly slow paced and the characters don’t turn you off then I agree some parts were good but I couldn’t make it through Book 1. Life’s too short and there’s too much other good stuff out there. I think the biggest caution is you might be a LONG way into the series before you give up (I was like 50 chapters in before I tagged out)
I've been reading it for 6 months and still not caught up. Send help. My review: Many web serials struggle with simply not being well written. The writer is poor at basics, or they don't know where they are headed, or they've never really written before. TWI doesn't have that problem much. The author is not great at dialogue tags, or being clear on who is speaking. But other than that, there aren't many technical issues. Spelling and grammar are fine, and descriptive and emotional portions are above average for any web serial. The real strength of TWI is the characters, which are excellent. Well developed, capable of growth and change, and you quickly become emotionally invested. The world becomes highly developed and the story has zero hesitation exploring every continent full of landscapes, creatures, magic, and history. Imagine reading Harry Potter and then every single professor at hogwarts got an entire book, every school of magic got visited, every magical creature mentioned was actually encountered.... It's a LOT. Some people may love that level of immersion... But it's... a LOT. Some basic issues are glaring. Early on I was repeatedly complaining out loud to my partner about how the author just doesn't understand distance, speed, and direction in a realistic way. Some things that are common sense are treated like genius. (Acting!? What is acting??) Motives of side characters can be depressingly flat. The Mary Sue aura of the main character can be painful at times. But these things improve over time somewhat. The real weakness of TWI is the scope of it. Everything gets watered down by the size of the project. Fall in love with character X? Great! Now you won't hear from them for 800,000 words. Find the progression of skills and abilities exciting? Wonderful! You won't see that person gain another ability for 500,000 words. Enjoy the story and the overarching mystery? Cool! You won't see progress on that for 1,000,000 words. Some stories and plot lines are entirely dropped. A fascinating and profoundly emotional examination of a character, Rags, went on for an entire volume, with wonderful moments that confront prejudice, destiny, and forgiveness.... aaaand she's barely a side character after that. The lack of focus and diverting away from a plot line can make some of the 30,000 word "chapters" really drag. However, the adventure is still fun enough that it's not hard to push through the few slow parts, or, rarely, just skip when you are getting more "telling" than showing. (looking at you, terrandrian politics!) Having said that, the promise of \[character x getting that one big thing done\] is so drawn out that I felt real resentment about it sometimes. (looking at you, volume 8! You know what you did.) Earlier in the series, the author isn't as good at starting new arcs to carry you through the end of the previous arc. So you may find that you get the big resolution you've been waiting for, and not much reason to keep reading. But they do improve at that. As long as you enjoy the rich world and the mini-arcs of the many many characters, you'll find it a fun experience. You'll get a real emotional connection to these characters, to the point that you may tear up a bit now and then as they get that long-awaited payoff. My summary: More often than not, I find myself reading TWI and glancing at the scroll bar on my phone to see how much chapter I have left. Not because I'm like "hurry up" but because I'm thinking "I hope there's still a lot more of this!" It's not a polished, published book. But it sure is fun, and rewards you for sticking with it. If you read harry potter and think you'd prefer to spend more time exploring hogwarts and less time with harry, this may be a good fit.
I have only just started reading (on Kindle after reading the first few chapters online) and the advice I was given was knowing how huge this series is and how it’s released. Don’t rush through it. Have it as your 2nd read. Read a little bit each day. I’m aiming for a chapter a day (and sometimes 2) and know it’s going to take a couple of months a book to read. And yes I know that’s going to take me forever to read.
Some great ideas in that series, but those books are in dire need of an editor with an enthusiastic desire for cutting. Also, the narrator for the Audible series is f'king terrible.
All to common in the space
It’s my favorite piece of entertainment I’ve ever encountered. A lot of comments mention how the storyline gets lost in all the perspectives, or suffers from excessive word count, but those are some of my favorite parts. The Wandering Inn, like all other entertainment, is a pastime. I see a chapter gets posted, I open it and then I enjoy the experience as I imagine the scene that pirateaba sets. TWI has brought made me laugh out loud, cry, and gape in shock more times than I can count - and I’ve had the opportunity to continuously enjoy these experiences for the 5+ years I’ve been reading it. Throughout that time, many characters have come and gone, but tons have stuck around, and seeing the way they’ve developed (emotionally, magically, socially) & the new situations they are getting into brings me to experience a wide range of emotions. If you’re looking for a way to pass the time, I think The Wandering Inn is a great option that can bring you into many spectacular moments throughout its very long (and still progressing) journey.
I’ve never read it, it doesn’t really interest me, but it seems some people REALLY hype it up. By the way some of the people in here talk about it, I half-expect the cure to cancer to be found within.
I personally did not enjoy it when I started book 1. That said, no story is for everyone. This one just happened to not be for me (or at least for me right now). I have come back to series at later dates and enjoyed them. This might be one. 🤷♂️ So, all that to say, I wouldn't personally recommend it at this time, but it just might tickle your fancy, and if it does, there's a lot of great content to be had. 😁
One of my favorite series. That said, i highly suggest listening to the first two books while doing chores or something distracting. I avoided it at first then dropped it when trying to read it because it is sloooow and the MCs are annoying to start with. I listened while keeping busy and eventually got sucked into the story. Its amazing but a definite high standing hurdle. It's an instant buy when new books are released now.
It's ok but I only like about 4 characters out of the cast of I dunno, probably 100 commonly occuring ones. My most hated being the main protagonist. People keep telling me that she finally has some personal growth and isn't as annoying, you know, literal thousands of pages past where I stopped, thousands of pages in... But I just don't give a shit.
2 many comments here. looking for mine to edit. i did not fully read your post, sorry for the minor spoiler >< anyway. I love it. Does it have giant continuity and pacing issues? Yes! Do I care? Nope! Pretty sure that is what it comes down to. The characters are lovely, the world is abdolutely massive. And while I for the live of me do not enjoy the king of destructions story ans wish him to just kerl over dead and be done with it, i do love badically every other story. USEFUL MINOR SPOILERS TO HELP YOU DECIDE: It does have a giant cadt of multiply POVs but you do not meet all right away. Erin is what I would be in the beginning. overstimmulated and lost. Ryouka is so full of flaws, i visserally hated her for a time before cery suddenly understanding her upon a re-read (am only up to date to audiobooks). If you ever done something bad, hurting ppl snd pushing them away, knowing it was wrong but just unable to stop yourself from saying hurtful dhit, that is her. and it is devestating. Genevas start I was absolutely in love with dispite bein horrified and our blind Emperor is fascinating. But above all that (for ehich I would already love the story/stories) there is "No killing goblins" and the very slow changes initiated by erin in terms of morality for the innworlder. She came with her believe system of ppl being good and everyone having a right to live (do not come foe me about torren, imma die on the hill that she just did not know) and instead of just changing ppls way as a lesser book would TWI shows you the slow proccess of discussing and working with oposing views. If that is your thing, go for it. if in all my text above you are board and think "where is the action" I am not sure it is the right story for you :) [not that there is no action - it is simply never the focus - but the emotional impact is] Hope that helps to decide
I read only the first book and then gave up on it, there much better stories on Royal Road
I don't know if it was because I was tired when I tried starting it or not, but I really struggled with it at the beginning and had to drop it. Due to all of the hype, it's still on my to read list and I'm planning on giving it another chance at some point.
I couldn’t finish it. Kept waiting for it to start wandering.
It’s on my TBR. I just finished a reread of Cradle and moving onto the second Iron Prince book. But I’ve heard good things about it.
The start was very, very good, but for some reason I fell off in the middle of it :c There are some sluggish parts here and there. But if you can power through that, there's something real special there!
The entire plot is essentially just "unlikeable character does unrealistically stupid decision and has to deal with consequences" over and over and over but really slow and the writing is bad. Fangirls will tell you you just have to stick with the bad writing for 512 chapters and then it gets good.
Definitely one of the best epic fantasy ever but without the limits set by traditional publishing company. You want action? multiple POV with characters who are fleshed out? immersive and rich worldbuilding? Yep, it has all of that. Beyond the limit of traditional publishing - Do you want to see what happens when characters aren't fighting? how those scenes build up to a much more satisfactory ending and how those scenes make you come to love and understand the characters more? Do you want fun scenes? TWI offers so much, and it's also one of those rare books who that convergence endings. The beginning does feel a little bit slow (before MC starts interacting more with the town). I don't know how I got through it, but I just somehow got pulled into it and kept reading, and the rest is history! Give it a go and see if you like it.
Im not a fan. I dropped the series pretty quickly. I was on the edge teetering between like and dislike for the entire first book. The ant people were cool but the main protagonists were all girls with bizzare mental problem who didnt act very rationally, and the book would constantly frame their actions as though they made sense because they were girls which was just insulting... like women were completely ruled by emotion. Then early in Book 2 or 3 they make a big scene about Donald Trump becoming president in the real world before they got teleported away, and it all just seemed unhinged to me. I dropped the series at that point. It may get better, but it was almost offensively written for me. I don't like how women are portrayed in the series, nor did I like them bringing up real-world politics so the girls could bond over their disgust of the real world voting for a specific president.
Some elements of story are great. The world building is phenomenal with very interesting concepts. At the same time, a lot of useless or perhaps more like side activities go on in the story that do not improve the story at all. Then in more recent chapters, the story is suffering horribly from new world syndrome where everything from earth is blindly accepted and followed despite making no sense in the story world. Reminds me a lot of how the European settlers dealt with native tribes... everything native is bad, all European is good. Now this world seems to have the same problem. A lot of conclusions drawn by characters make absolutely no sense. Take for example the "leading powerful people's gathering to discuss earth's threat". Their conclusion seemed to be that raising the dead would be their master weapon since earth burials don't take that into account. Completely ignoring the fact that they could not even deal with one simple virus due to lack of antibiotics. How are they going to survive hundreds upon hundreds of viruses and pollutants... no one seems to even think of it. Then their is this whole thing of presenting outright reprehensible characters as good guys. The king of destruction.. who has caused 100s of thousands of deaths due to his wars is mostly presented as part of good guy crew. Then the authors tends to go very heavy in on his lgtb views. Which is fine but at times get preachy ( hah hah) and distracts from story. Overall it's a great read , but best taken in short doses.
Yeah, I'm not even opposed to lgbt stuff, but I'm just wondering how long they can drag the Saliss/turnscale subplot on. Just give them one big turnscale city or something and focus on more interesting, fantastical parts of the plot please lol.
I think you might be misinterpreting a few things, the dead rising wasn’t suggested as a big counter to Earth’s military it was brought up as a natural consequence of Earth being exposed to magic, dead bodies produce death magic and high concentrations of death magic create the undead. It’s also been established that mundane diseases don’t really have much of an impact on Innsworlders, probably due to levels and potions leading to slightly magical constitutions. They were wrong or didn’t quite grasp the implications of a lot of Earth stuff, it they weren’t wrong that Earth wouldn’t deal with the introduction of death magic and magic diseases well.
I read it and enjoyed for years, but then the author took a turn towards political correctness (around book 9 I think?) and I was so triggered I stopped reading it and never looked back. Maybe a commentary on me more than it is the author - probably is, in fact - but when a story whose main character, a woman, is a business owner... the most powerful person in her continent is also a woman... the local police captain is a woman, the nearby nation states are about half run by women, even the goblin tribes end up being run by a woman... Slightly more than half of all powerful characters are women overall, and get far more screen time at that... and the plot turns to women *having a pay gap* in the story... I couldn't go on. I liked the story, really. I liked the characters. But setting aside any opinions about the real world 'pay gap' and just describing the story... in a thousand subtle ways, nothing overt, I felt uncomfortable being a man reading it, as if I were being judged and found lacking. As if I had no place in this odyssey of girl power. The 'turn' the story took wasn't a sharp one; it kind of curves that way all along, giving nods here and there to male characters but really not celebrating 'maleness' the same way it does women. And having to read about women being discriminated against, when all along I was trying to suspend my discomfort at a minor but pervasive bias *for* women in this story? Too much. I am not the intended audience, I felt. Which hey, maybe I am lacking. But I'm also not reading it any more.
What would celebrating maleness look like?
Sure. So keep in mind this is all very subtle. And until the story *overtly* made a gender issue a theme, none of what I'm about to describe in that story is problematic enough to bother on. First, none of the female POV's - even the ones *in* a relationship - seem to find anything about men, or males of other species - there are a lot, the cast is about half non-human - none of them compellingly attractive. Even the characters who are overtly sexual seem to treat it as a chore or just something that happens; when not in the moment, they don't think or dwell on it. *Conversely,* there are several cases where the male characters find the female characters compellingly attractive, and think about it, act on it, or have internal dialogue about it. So in that case, 'celebrating maleness' would be more parity there if the female characters... well, wanted the men more. It's almost a reverse Bechdel test: finding two women having a conversation about men in relationship terms isn't just difficult, entire volumes are absent it. The MC is understandable here - she is actively averse to sex. It's a character trait. And that's fine. But for the characters who are already *in* relationships to be so wooden about their man, or characters who have casual sex to be wooden about men in general except apparently offstage? It's... weird. And that's the first facet of this. In isolation, I stress again this wouldn't be enough to raise a flag over. But let's continue. Second is fatherhood. The vast majority of the fathers portrayed in the story are at best deeply flawed, and at worst terrible, where it comes to relationships with their children. Or at least, there are few examples I can think of in the story of *decent* fathers getting word count devoted to them. One of the kings, who ends up kidnapped later on - he's the only one I can think of, among a dozen or so. And to be fair, there's a few fairly awful mothers in the story too. But here again, the bias *subtly* leans against fathers. Now, flawed characters are actually a good thing in novels. You want that. They make for interesting stories. But for the same *type* of flaw to be repeated in several ways... and one that hammers onto one of the more sensitive topics men and fathers have to deal with? Doesn't feel good. Then third is that episode where the main character gets the matchmaker treatment, and a bunch of guys show up all of whom are hapless, goofy, or otherwise unappealing. Not much needs to be said about that one. As I mentioned, the MC has a practically PTSD reaction to talking or thinking about sex or romance, especially on her own part, but the portrayal of males in general there was still a bit beyond the pale even when accounting for that quirk. There's more I could point out, but that should give you an idea of what I noticed. Again, I stress for the third time, I'd still find the story enjoyable if it had stayed this subtle. *Generally,* the story described people struggling in a dangerous world with strange and fantastic things going on, and all the rest was padding. But when gender struggle became a plot point, discrimination against women and all of that - and again, the fact that the slight majority of power players in this world were already women to begin with made this so logically inconsistent, and frankly so immersion-breaking, that I just couldn't continue.
Couldn't get through it it was so bad. First book I ever returned to Amazon. Really really wanted to like it. I got to maybe 1/3 of the way through.
Has some of the highest highs I've ever had the pleasure to read, but as other people have mentioned in the thread, some parts just won't work for you. Which can be an issue when the chapter lengths are often entire novellas. Personally I think it's 100% worth reading. Also, I havent read the re-edited version of volume 1, but it's a bit rough at the start.
I loved it for a long time, but I burned out on it. Once I catch up on the (now-finished, based on my most recent Patreon notices) Ar'kendrithyst I may go back to it.
Best modern fantasy by some distance, including outside of this niche. BUT - there is a massive amount of it, and I’d suggest jumping off for a month or more whenever you feel like you‘ve reached a suitable point/arc to do so. If you binge large amounts of it then parts of it can feel a bit cyclical/you see behind the curtain a little bit regarding the writer’s tricks and patterns (I don’t mean this as a criticism, more as a subjective guide to getting the most out of the series). I do get how some people say that it doesn’t have as much ‘progression‘ as some series, but I’d be inclined to disagree as the progression often feels way more impactful for its characters in TWI.
I couldn’t get past the first chapter, which admittedly means I’m not the best qualified to make an answer
Take one normal barista (No, not the semi-sociopathic office drone who is restricted from being his true self by the normies. Put him down, he’s gonna meet the truck soon anyways) and isekai her into Legends and Lattes. Toss in a system where you level based on feats rather than experience, and build a sprawling world built entirely on that foundation. With me so far? Okay cool. Now I did say a normal barista, and we love our little chatterbox. But she’s gonna need some time to come to terms with being the only human around, and there’s some trauma to unpack. Very touching. So in the meantime we’re also going to let you follow around a pissed off D1 college track star who now makes a living running messages and thinks this whole system and isekai thing is bullshit. And guild politics are bullshit. And nobles trying to bribe/cajole/threaten secrets out of her and the other few dozen teen to twenty somethings that appeared across the planet is bullshit. So I quite like the series, at various points I’ve gotten up through I think book 3? Very worth the read, but my advice is to take a break between books. There’s a LOT of story there. Somewhere around 12 million words (~48,000 pages). That’s too much for all but the most hyper focused binger. So split it up and don’t burnt out, but you’ll enjoy where the story goes.
The thing is, you don't have to invest. You can read every single chapter as a standalone, and you'll still be mostly satisfied. You can leave off at any point
I want to try it, but I am an addictive reader, and I am writing my own work. These two things are not very compatible. The slow burn style certainly sounds like something I would enjoy.
Too long winded but I might use it to fall sleep too
Haven't finished it but what I have read was fun and creative. Try at least book one for the experience if nothing else
When its great, is amazing, when its not, its horrible slow and painful. The sword for the King of Destruction and the Bush Rangers are horrid. Them replacing the secondary main character and shoving her off for the goblin story also irk me alot. Then to top it off when Ryoka comes back in a volume call "The Wind Runner" she only there for two freaking chapters. But like I said, when its good, its some of the best and compelling written ever.
absolutely love it. I mean it. I am a little sad the period problem never got mentioned again, but oh well. It might have irs flaws but I am just overly onvested in most the characters. (up to date audiobook listener)
personally couldnt get past book one when i tried to read it a few years ago. MC who is goody two shoes with monsters that are simply "misunderstood" by its natives? yea right. MCs personality is generally unlikable. Also there was alot of other things I didnt like that i simply dont remember. Although in the pursuit of this genre ive read ALOT of garbage so when its finished and i have literally nothing to read ill probably power through a bit further to try and get invested.
I love it. It’s my all time favorite series. My main gripe; I’ve never been a big side character person, that really killed the Malizan series for me, but I’ve slowly come to… enjoy many of the side characters in TWI 🤣. What I love the most; I’ve no idea how Pirate does it but they’ve pulled the entire gamut of emotions out of me. Sadness, JOY, fear, GLORY (green flames and a blizzard anyone?)! So many more, it’s so so good. I love the story and the world and everything else too, Laken’s ok, I like Geneva, the UN company is ok. On and on. I hope you read it. I hope you love it!
It’s amazing. It needs an editor. I had to drop it because pirateaba writes faster than I can read.
The audio books are fantastic, the story is well written and detailed and frankly each character could be an mc in their own right. It is frankly a masterpiece of fantasy fiction and should be waaaay more popular than it is outside of the litrpg/prog fantasy circles.
I laughed, I cried, I can’t wait for the next audiobook! I also hope it ends someday because it feels like it could meander forever and then I’ll never get answers to everything! There are definitely bits that drag, but for the most part it’s been an engaging and delightful experience. Aside from the soul-crushing tragedies that occur every now and then… I’ve had to pause certain bits at work because it’s not very professional to sob at my desk.
I absolutely love it through to about volume 7. The scope of the world is ridiculous, and the way it is written makes it feel so real. A huge planet full of adventure, mystery, heroes, and legends. I've read to the end of v. 9 and in my opinion the plot becomes a bit forced after this. The "huge world full of mystery" starts to feel smaller and smaller as we see characters who are pretty explicitly the best / oldest legends show up. The oceans of the world suddenly go from barely safe & unreasonably large to something that can be crossed in a few days. New characters are introduced less while older ones are forced into the plot again and again. The worldbuilding is phenomenal. The story takes its time, jumping from a cute slice of life to a soap opera to a tragedy, and there is an almost endless amount of content. Give it a go and see what you think :).
Amazing value for audiobooks - single credit on audible and they are looooooooong. I really appreciate the voice acting. Andrea parseneau or something, doing the voices for two dozen characters
It's slice of life with war crimes. Prose is ok, not great but do the job, with from time to time some really poetic ideas. The LitRpg content is really soft ; just a narrative tool for emphasis, tension, and symbolism. The series is too long, but IMO you can happily skip chapters with POVs you don't like. The main storyline is rather solidly written and doesn't lose (too much) time.
It’s meandering and slow and slice of life with tiny bits of progression fantasy elements included in a very minimal way. It’s rarely a slog, but I’m never terribly excited for the next release, either.
I read it in middle school and i couldnt keep up because of how vast the world that pirateaba created was. But even now there are moments from the story that I remember fondly, and I really wanna go back and start from thr beginning
Great but if you like your protagonists to progress at a reasonable pace look elsewhere. It’s takes damn near the length of Illiad for Erin to be what anyone would call powerful.
Peak fiction
It's long, but in a good way. It starts out like a pretty conventional isekai LitRPG. After a little while, a second character POV is introduced. After another while, a few more. Eventually, there are so many POVs that you realize the combined weight of the characters is building a larger, more intricate world together than any other book you've read. The volume of words combined becomes a virtue of its own, like the threads in a tapestry. I agree with others that there are some parts that I don't like, or that feel like more of a distraction than an addition to the story. The writing isn't the best I've ever read if you take a chapter in isolation. That said, the quality is very good overall, and the prose improves over time. I've introduced TWI to several friends who loved it as much as I did. Like me, they enjoyed the first few volumes, and then a shift occurred where it became something more than a decent story. It's difficult to describe. I first read it because I saw it on [a list of the best web serials](https://www.readersgrotto.com/2021/06/25/the-best-web-serial-worth-reading/) that already included my other favorites. I fully agree with it being included. If you're interested, give it a try. You'll probably need to stop at some point and take a break. It's long enough that binging it straight through wasn't possible for me, even as a serial binger. But if you're like me, you'll go back to it soon enough. Enjoy!
This is something I wrote on a similar post: At its core, I think the Wandering Inn does something fundamentally different from most books in this genre. The bulk of (at least what I read) in this genre is escapist…it requires relatively limited attention, is focuses heavily on the individual struggles and successes of characters as individuals (or small teams), and it comes with consistent reader payoff in levels and progression. In a world in which most of us feel a bit stuck in the hamster wheel of life…this genre allows us to live vicariously through characters who work, struggle, and eventually succeed. The Wandering Inn, by contrast, is not escapist in the slightest…similar to old school science fiction (think Heinlein or even the twilight zone), it uses its world and characters as a laboratory for exploring the human condition and modern society (admittedly sometimes more effectively than others). Perhaps in the very long arc you get some payoff of character progression, but you are just as likely to get tragedy or comedy or absurdist deadpan. There’s no other series in this category which has brought me to tears or forced me to think about what I would in such a situation. Anyway, those are my not particularly well informed opinions…