The Wandering Inn Review
Book One, Part One
By pirateaba
Reviewed by Oren Raynes
Book 14 of 2026
The Writing
I started this book thinking that I was in for trash writing. The novel was originally written as a web serial by an unknown author, and I have previously had poor experiences with web novels. Also, the writing of the first chapter or two was not the greatest. But a good friend recommended it to me, so I gave it a chance. And holy shit, I am glad that I did! The writing did get better (or I noticed it less), but I don't think that it ever got great.
Putting aside the writing skill, pirateaba is a fantastic character- and world-builder. The characters in this story have such a unique feel to them and are incredibly interesting. I was so emotionally invested in all of them. Which is so strange: usually when there is a large cast of characters, I only seem to invest in one or two and the rest are deemed boring. I love every single character.
And the world is so rich, vibrant, and unique. There is so much in this world that just feels unique, instead of recycling someone else's ideas (blue fruit trees, the Antinium, and rock crabs), even the things that are recycled from elsewhere feel unique to this story (goblins, drakes, adventurers).
The Story
The story itself follows Erin after being plucked out of her world and deposited into a new, strange, and fantastical world. She finds an inn and starts cleaning it and surviving, which leads to her gaining and leveling the Innkeeper class. It's a bit slow-paced, but every moment left me wanting more.
She meets two guardsmen from the nearby walled city of Liscor, Relc (a drake) and Klbkch (an Antinium). They help her with info and gold. Later she meets Pisces the Necromancer. She gets chased by goblins, then kills their hobgoblin chieftain, and then befriends and feeds a few of them. Erin teaches several characters how to play chess.
I don't want to spoil too much. The story feels fresh and unique, and has unique twists on LitRPG. Admittedly, I am not an expert on LitRPG, having only read this and the first four of the Dungeon Crawler Carl books. I can't wait to get my hands on the next installments.
The Takeaway
Books rarely make me care about a whole cast at once; usually I'm waiting for the boring ones to get off the page so the interesting ones can come back. The Wandering Inn never gave me a boring character or scene. That alone earns my recommendation. Go get your copy from your local bookshop, if possible. :)
Next Post
I am going to create a recap post for The Wandering Inn. This is something that I have been wanting to do for a while now. If you have ever watched any of the YouTubes "movies in 5 minutes", then you'll know exactly what I want to try. I want to have a resource so that when it comes time to read the next novel (or the 20th), I can easily recall what has happened up to that point. I'm going to try to write it without putting in my opinion and in a quick bite-size read. Just quick facts to refresh the memory.
Join me at:
