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A Thousand Li: The First Stop by Tao Wong (2019)
The First Stop is the second book in the Thousand Li series. I really enjoyed The First Step, which was as close to a slice of life Cultivation novel as I’d ever read.
I say was because The First Stop is even more slice of life.
This is not a very dramatic book and I quite liked that. Whereas a lot of other cultivation novels have a sense of urgency behind them, the characters obsessing over getting as strong as possible as fast as possible, Wu Ying takes everything at a very slow pace, trying different things and seeing what style fits him and what to develop. Some of my favourite parts, in both the first book and this one, was when he went to the library to look up different styles of martial arts that he could think of practising and trying to figure out which one fits him best.
It’s a very relaxing book, at least for me, and builds nicely on the first. There was a certain amount of desperation in the first book, with Wu Ying striving to both earn his place in the sect and also survive when he’s sent out into the world for the first time since becoming a cultivator. This book has left
If this seems a bit dull to you, don’t worry, there is life threatening danger and excitement. Wu Ying is sent out on a few missions to defeat some monsters and on an expedition at the end. And there’s death defying heroics, (and some heroics that don’t quite defy death), and fun action scenes. But it’s not end of the world stuff. Life will go on if Wu Ying falls and it’s nice to read a series that doesn’t have that sense of urgency.
All in all, The First Stop is a nice continuation to the series and a fun, chill read.
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The Wandering Inn Book 10: The Wind Runner by Pirate Aba (2023)
Honestly, if you’re not going into this book still a little stunned about what happened at the end of Tears of Liscor then you probably didn’t actually read it. It was a stunning finale, which also lead to the death of a lot of characters. As it was the culmination of so many long-standing plots it also shook up a lot of the rest of the cast, leaving everything very different from where it was at the start of the book.
Also Ryoka’s back! Which isn’t a spoiler, she turned up at the very end of the last book and this one is called The Wind Runner so obviously she’s back. But I just want to take a moment to appreciate just how long she was gone for. The last time we saw Ryoka was when she was running off into the sunset at the end of The Last Light. That was five books ago, half the series. For arguably the second main character to take that big a leave of absence takes guts on behalf of the writer.
That being said she’s not actually in this book that much, having just two chapters to her name. And in fact that’s kind of true for a lot of characters. From the last half of Blood of Liscor the narrative has been very focused on Liscor and what’s happening there. And now that that’s resolved the focus has expanded so we get to see what’s been going on in other places.
Which leaves us with quite an interesting book. For the first time in a while Erin is arguable not what the majority of the book is about. Not that she’s missing. Oh no, she’s here and that’s good because one of the main questions I had at the end of last book was ‘what will Erin do next?’ But we also head to Chandrar to see what Flos, the King of Destruction, is up to and to Baleros to check in on the newly formed United Nations company. And that’s aside from catching up with the other characters scattered around Liscor.
Which means that this book, with its wide variety of characters, might not end up being your favourite in the series. But I don’t think it’s meant to be. After the end of Tears I don’t think it could be anything except what it is. The life returning to the forest after the fire, the first signs of green amidst the ash. And it does that really really well.
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The Wandering Inn Book 9: Tears of Liscor by Pirate Aba (2023)
Tears of Liscor is the 9th book in the series and the third part of Volume Five of The Wandering Inn Web Serial. And it is well named because by the end of this book I was bawling.
Blood of Liscor ended on such a high note, with everything and everyone coming together to defeat the Raskghar and free Mrsha and Ceria. And it would be so easy to keep it as a high note, to move onto the next adventure. But The Wandering Inn treats its characters as real people and so we don’t get to just walk on. We need to acknowledge that, although people are now safe, they underwent something horrific and they have trauma that they will have to deal with. And time is spent on that but not too much because Tears of Liscor has its own huge plot approaching.
It’s honestly got a lot to live up to as, arguably, everything in the series up until this book has been building to this point. I mentioned in the last book that one of the strengths of Blood was that it focused entirely on Liscor and what was happening there, instead of sending the readers’ perspective off somewhere else. Tears does the same trick but it doesn’t feel closed off from the rest of the world. Thanks to the scrying system set up in The Rains of Liscor moments of great import are broadcast around the world now, so we can see how some of the characters in far away places react to what’s happening. Which is just fantastic come the ending.
And as to the ending…look, I’ve already said that it left me in tears. My heart hurts to read it. But it’s so good and so well written. And it’s an emotional payoff that’s been masterfully build up over so many books and is absolutely deserved. It hurts me but I love this book.
It does leave me asking what’ll happen next though. As I said, most of the series basically built up to this point and now that it’s happened it’ll be nice to see what comes after it. The last chapter set up a lot of intriguing hints and I can’t wait to see where they lead. Tears of Liscor is an ending but it’s not the ending and I couldn’t be happier about that.
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The Wandering Inn Book 8: Blood of Liscor by Pirate Aba (2022)
When I reviewed Rains of Liscor I said that it was the best book so far. And it was, for a wide variety of reasons. The build up to the Face Eater Moth attack on Liscor, the fight being broadcast around the world, the different viewpoints and opinions, the triumphant finish and finally the re-enactment was easily the best bit. But the Redfang Goblins terrifying journey through the dungeon, the segments about Selys and, of course, the wonderful ending with Rags all helped to make the book one of my favourite to read and reread.
So when I tell you that Blood of Liscor is better please take it as the highest possible praise.
I think part of what elevates this book to me is the focus. The Wandering Inn cast and world have gotten pretty big by this point and there’s a lot going on with a lot of people. As such a lot of the books are a little fragmented and show stories from all over the place. And they’re good and enjoyable and add to the overarching narrative but it does sometimes seem like it’s more of a collection of shorter stories than a cohesive whole. But with Blood of Liscor a solid half of the book is focused on one place and one event.
And that focus pays off. As usual I don’t want to include spoilers but wow, this is maybe one of the hypest books I’ve ever read. There’s a constant feeling of something building throughout the book, of people pushing harder and harder and not quite getting there, of heroes endlessly rushing into the dark to try and achieve an objective they can’t quite see.
And then the ending!
Just damn. That’s the good stuff right there.
I’ve got a bad habit of dropping into books I’ve read before, tracking down my favourite scenes and rereading them again and again. I can’t do that with this book because it’s half the book and once I start reading I just can’t stop. The reveals, the perils, the trials…just, it’s all so good and I’m honestly struggling not to just grab the book and reread it again right now.
Look, I’m not really sure who this review is for. If you’ve gotten this far in the Wandering Inn series then you’re probably in it for the long haul and have already decided to buy it. But if there’s a chance that you haven’t, if you’re wondering whether you should continue then all I can say is yes. So much yes.
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The Wandering Inn Book 7: The Rains of Liscor by Pirate Aba (2022)
We’re seven books into The Wandering Inn series at this point. There’s been highs and lows (emotionally, the quality of the writing has remained fairly high), characters have come and gone. There’s been jokes, horror and sorrow. And one thing I can say without exaggeration.
This book is the best so far.
It just doesn’t let up. Every single chapter is readable and rereadable, there are no low points or bits you might want to skip on a second readthrough. It is everything good about the previous books turned up to 11 and it never lets up.
The last book ended with General Zel Shivertail getting jumped by the Necromancer in the middle of a battle and going down hard. And that’s a big deal that this book does not skate over. But it’s not the first big death that Erin has faced and though her heart still bleeds it has hardened. The world and the story, after a brief pause, goes on.
Once again I’m awed by the sheer variety of moods this series is able to evoke. Most of the time it’s fairly light-hearted, full of jokes and whimsy. Menacing characters get lost, fights are stopped with the tactical throw of a cake and people can be silly. But then something dramatic happens, there’s an attack and everyone’s fighting for their lives and it’s all really tense. Because the work has been put in, we’ve lost major characters before and we might lose more. And at times, usually when people start exploring a dungeon, the story turns into a horror.
I really like the horror aspect of dungeon delving. A lot of LitRPG’s treat it as just part of the adventure and occasionally a kind of contrived part. But Wandering Inn treats them properly. They are places of great treasure, yes, but also of great danger, with unspeakable monsters and traps lurking around every corner. I still go back and read the encounter with Skinner in the first book and it still evokes the same sense of fear in it. It’s all so fantastically written.
Finally there’s another battle in this book and I just love the way that it’s written. The build up to it, the fight itself, seeing the perspectives of so many different people, including in a [Message] conversation, and then the reactions to everything afterwards. It’s so good and I’ve read that bit separately from everything else over and over again.
And this book is only the first third of Volume Five! If anything it’s just a set up and things get real in the next book. And it just keeps getting better!
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The Wandering Inn Book 6: The General of Izril by Pirate Aba (2022)
We’re back with the 6th book and the second half of the 4th volume. When we last left off The Wandering Inn was the site of a dramatic attack by the Necromancer, Az-Kerash, who wanted to make sure that Ryoka absolutely would stay silent about the fact that he was still alive. People died, friendships and property were destroyed and Ryoka set off into the sunset for an indeterminate amount of time.
But, while a thrilling conclusion to the 5th book, it wasn’t really what the volume was about as a whole. And as the second half of volume four, the 6th book continues a lot of the themes from the last one. The Antinium’s continual search for what it means to be an Individual in a Hive takes up a large part of this book and it’s a joy to read. This is combined with the surprise reappearance of some characters who haven’t appeared since the third book and I don’t want to spoil anything but they quickly take centre stage.
We also get four chapters covering Tom, the [Clown] in Rhir. He had two chapters in the second book and his character and possible role going forward gets fleshed out a lot here. There was a theme in those chapters of what a clown really was and it’s added to nicely by the introduction of a [Fool], to compare and contrast the different approaches the two have. It’s a lot of fun and it reveals a lot.
However the real star of this book is the last 20% of it. It starts off by giving us the background on the Second Antinium War, through a book written by the same writer who covered the first one in book 2. What’s great about this though is that a wide variety of people all over the continent of Izril are reading it at the same time and giving their own opinions on it and why it sucks. It’s a fantastically dynamic bit of writing and has some just great scenes. I’m not going to spoil that either but let me just say that the line ‘Prepare for irregular reinforcements’ gets me incredibly hyped.
And then the book ends with a battle, the first proper one we’ve seen where the focus is on the battle itself. And it’s well described, shows the interesting ways that Levels impact the battlefield and is heartbreaking. Once again, a fantastic finish to the book and to volume four.
And after this we get into volume five and the three books that cover it are some of the best I’ve ever read.
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The Wandering Inn Book 5: The Last Light by Pirate Aba (2021)
The Last Light is the 5th published book in the Wandering Inn series and covers the first half of Volume Four. By this time we’ve settled into a comfortable format for the books. While Erin and Ryoka are obviously still the main characters the side characters get several chapters that focus on them as well. In particular the book starts off by focusing on Flos, The King of Destruction.
It’s got to be said, I really love Flos. In a world filled with actual magic and wonder he still somehow manages to be one of the most magical things there. A conquering king whose thoughts are on his people, who has a magnetic personality and attracts people to him and is almost as big as his larger than life personality. We’ve not actually seen much of him up until now, just his awakening and a chapter where some of his Seven return to him, so it was nice to have a nice big segment to properly flesh him out.
We also have some chapters back in Baleros, partially centred around Geneva, the Doctor that also appeared in the third book, Flowers for Esthelm. That segment was a brutal and heart-wrenching story and, honestly, this one is the same. Of all the characters in this world I feel she’s had the worst time of it.
Finally we have the events in Liscor and they’re a joy to read. From Lyon slowly coming to terms with Erin’s return and working out how best to live alongside her to the Antinium’s continuing search for identity and what it really means there’s a lot of fantastic stuff to read. And Erin’s right alongside all of it, lending a helping hand that may honestly just spark more chaos. It’s great.
The ending is also fantastic, as they usually are in this series. Although it’s the first half of the volume you wouldn’t know it by the ending, which has been building up for a while before it explodes. It pulls a bunch of things together and is once again a brilliant, and occasionally sad, series of chapters.
I mean if you’ve gotten this far then you probably know what you’re in for. So all I can say is yes, this series continues to be ones of the best.
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The Wandering Inn Book 4: Winter Solstice by Pirate Aba (2021)
Book 4 of The Wandering Inn covers the second half of Volume 3 of the series. As such a lot of what was true about book 3 is true of this one. To begin with both Erin and Ryoka aren’t featured heavily. This is a look about the effect they had on the world around them and what it looks like now that they’re temporarily gone. Whether it’s Erin’s influence on Rags or Lyonette trying to keep the inn going by herself it’s wonderful to see just how people they’ve come into contact with have changed.
Also we get backstory on Ceria and Pisces and a look at their time together in the magical island school of Wistram. Which was a fun and slightly sad read. Pirate Aba is really good at character building and having people react in very realistic ways. It explains a lot and fills in some holes, though also leaves some more tantalising questions.
Of course Erin can’t stay away from the inn forever and the latter half of the novel sees her return, bringing everything full circle. And what a return it is, because of course things have changed in her absence and she herself has changed. But she remains, in a way, very much herself.
Honestly, I don’t think I can talk enough about how interesting a character Erin Solstice is. She doesn’t like violence, hates that she’s good at it, and is in some ways very silly. But she’s got a rock hard core of determination and guts, plus the willingness to do whatever it takes to protect people and stand up for what she feels is right.
This book also contains more of one of my favourite things, which is ‘characters learning the lore behind Erin.’ It doesn’t happen all that often but when a more newly introduced character learns that she can fight off shield spiders or poked out the eye of a Named Adventurer, it is very entertaining.
It all wraps up in an amazing finale, managing to end on a very eery note. Frankly the second last chapter would also be a great one to end on but the actual ending we got was amazing. The author keeps pulling surprise and terror into this world in new and innovative ways. It’s astounding that a book that has one of the main characters squealing because they almost touched a poo slime could also include that.
Basically this series continues to be amazing, building layer upon layer to make something fantastic. It’s a slow build at points and the books continue to be long but oh what a journey it is.
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The Wandering Inn Book 3: Flowers of Esthelm by Pirate Aba (2020)
The last book, Fae and Fare, focused on what happened after the disastrous attempt at the dungeon of Liscor, that lead to Skinner being unleashed and the death of so many. It was an interesting look at life going on, while still setting up a lot more plotlines that would be developed along with the world going forth. And then it ends with Erin stranded in Celum, far from home but safe and flourishing as only Erin can.
With that in mind, for the first time we’ve got a book that doesn’t actually focus on Erin or Ryoka. Not that they’re not in it, they are and their storylines are decent fun, but the majority of the book is focusing on other characters. Most of which the girls know and have personally affected. So while the second book was about the effects of the dungeon disaster, in a very real way the third book is about the effects of Erin changing the world around her and then suddenly being gone.
And it’s so much fun! From small changes to big ones it’s nice to see just what a change Erin has brought to the world. In a lot of ways this book could be considered more a collection of different stories than a cohesive narrative but, having read more in the series, seeing how they will all come together is amazing.
Although the books do tend to have short looks into different people who have come to the world, two chapters set in a different continent that just gives context. The last one was of a man who became a [Clown]. And this one is about a Doctor in a world filled with warfare and magic healing potions. It’s honestly an incredible and heart-wrenching story and worth reading if nothing else in the book is.
But everything in the book is worth reading, with more segments that I go back to and read over again and again. It’s also worth noting that the whole of volume three of the story that was posted online isn’t contained in this book. It’s only the first part of it. But despite that the book managed to have a really good ending. I know I keep mentioning this every time I review one of these books but good endings are my jam and they’re hard to do properly. To hit a natural stopping point, having everything in a satisfactory state and yet leave the reader wanting to read what happens next is tricky to pull off and yet again and again this series manages to pull it off. It’s honestly amazing.
In short, Flowers of Esthelm is a fantastic continuation to the series, enlarging the cast of characters in a way that is natural and adds to the roaring river that this narrative contains.
Library of Alexander 