Reading this book gives me the rather odd feeling of oscillating between “this book is awesome” and “I should really just find this tedious, but I’m actually loving it.”
Let me explain. The Arcane Ascension series (of which this is #3, though there are some outrigger books that kind of complicate things) is LitRPG, so it’s got not only a story but lots of video game/role playing game elements packed into it. These need to be evaluated on their own merits, if I’m going to be fair.
The story is great fun. It’s got mysteries, adventures, challenges, and great characters. I particularly like that the protagonist and secondary protagonists, Corin and Sera, are brother and sister - they have a wonderful relationship, and it’s a nice change of pace to have zero sexual tension between the male and female leads. Throw in the fact that Corin is asexual (though not aromantic) and it’s just a nice read. I’m generally a big fan of romance plotlines, but having a book with that being a much toned-down element (it’s not gone completely) is very enjoyable.
The plot is nicely mysterious, and those mysteries are getting spun out at a good clip. The worldbuilding is a bit thin, mostly (I think) because Rowe wanted a world where he can do whatever RPG stuff he wants. It works. Lots to like here, in other words.
And the action is frequently interrupted for A) Corin to get super interested in the very fine technical points of how magic works, and B) literal dungeon crawls. As in “hey, let’s go through this dungeon and collect some loot and XP.” Though this book Rowe branches out a bit and has Corin doing tower defense as well. (note to Andrew, if you’re reading this: much as I appreciate Corin’s repeated use of the “pile of couches” item, he really should have had access to a Pea-shooter or a Wall-nut or Melon-pult or something.) I kept thinking these segments should be incredibly tedious, but they just … weren’t. It reminded me of nothing so much as the time I’ve spent over the years reading RPG books (by which I mean stuff like the Player’s Guide and Monster Manual) and the little inset booklets that used to come with video games and, to really date myself, things like the guidebooks they would publish that let you find all the hidden things in old school Final Fantasy games.
So … yeah. I firmly put this book, and series, in the “much more fun than they should be” column. Or maybe I’m just more like Corin than I’d like to admit.