(This novel is the e-book version of the free web serial. You may read the entire ongoing story at wanderinginn.com free of charge.)
“No killing Goblins.”
So reads the sign outside of The Wandering Inn, a small building run by a young woman named Erin Solstice. She serves pasta with sausage, blue fruit juice, and dead acid flies on request. And she comes from another world. Ours.
It’s a bad day when Erin finds herself transported to a fantastical world and nearly gets eaten by a Dragon. She doesn’t belong in a place where monster attacks are a fact of life, and where Humans are one species among many. But she must adapt to her new life. Or die.
In a dangerous world where magic is real and people can level up and gain classes, Erin Solstice must battle somewhat evil Goblins, deadly Rock Crabs, and hungry [Necromancers]. She is no warrior, no mage. Erin Solstice runs an inn.
She’s an [Innkeeper].
My Opinion: 1158 pages, $3.99, Not Available on Kindle Unlimited
There’s no real way to summarize the massive 1st volume of this ongoing story that online is already up to volume 5. It’s a serial story, that’s been written over the last couple of years and continues to grow weekly.
It’s essentially a slice of life LitRPG story that in this volume is a bit light on the RPG stuff. Characters level, magic and skills exist in the world but it’s more part of the cultural aspect of the world than anything pointedly game oriented.
If you’re bothered by light RPG mechanics, don’t be, the story more than makes up for that. The story follows two humans (hints at more) that were transported to a fantasy world where RPG mechanics are apart of the world. One gets the Innkeeper class when she stumbles into an abandoned inn and struggles to survive. The other becomes a runner, a on foot package delivery person, because she loves to run and be free. While neither story sounds compelling, they are.
Though the start of the novel is a bit slow, things pick up by the 5% and the story explodes with world building, progression, character growth, and even some comedy. It’s a slice of life story, which means you follow the two characters as they just do things daily in this new world but it’s still very interesting. I personally loved the thought and time the author put into developing the unique cultures of the monster races. The insect people were different from the lizard people and the gnolls. Each felt like they had a distinct culture and outlook on the world.
And that end, woah, was that an amazing action fest.
Not only is this novel a huge value for the page count, it’s engaging enough to keep you reading late into the night for multiple days. I just couldn’t put the thing down. It’s light LitRPG, but truly a great read.
Score: 8 out of 10