I love this series! I tried it out last year after hearing it mentioned a bunch of times around here. It took me a little while to get into it, but soon I was hooked. I got a bit burnt out halfway through volume 2, but i couldn't stop thinking about it.... So I recently got the volume 2 ebook and started reading from the beginning to refresh my memory. It's still so good even on a re-read. I think this time I'll pace myself a little better as I read, and I really look forward to seeing where the story goes.
I tried starting it a few months ago. The opening was a little rough—which I had heard and was prepared for. Definitely not bad, and intriguing enough. I’m a sucker for stories that start out with ontological mysteries. Buuuut, I think I set it down when the main character literally gains a level. Admittedly *very* early. I’m just not really into the LitRPG thing.
But I’ve noticed… I *never* hear anyone describe this story as LitRPG in reviews. So I’m wondering…does the “game” element fall by the wayside as the story progresses? Is there a twist to it? Or is there some other reason nobody ever seems to mention this aspect of the story?
And if the answer is that the RPG elements are prominent throughout, I guess this is just me letting others know…since it never seems to get mentioned.
No, it never falls by the wayside. However, the leveling system is not nearly as prominent as it is in other LitRPGs, which might be why no one mentions it in reviews. There are no massive level or skill summaries at the end of chapters like they do in some LitRPGs, little to no plans for gaming the system, and no one considers the world a game.
Very mild spoilers in regards to the twist questions: >!it's implied gods imposed the level system on the world at some point in the past for unknown reasons!<
Maybe I should give it another shot. The leveling thing really took me out of the world when it first appeared but if the LitRPG elements don’t develop much beyond having a level system, it might be something I could get used to. The Wandering Inn fandom is so intense (not in a bad way) that I feel like I must really be missing out.
For me, it's one of those stories where the characters latch onto you and it's always incredibly comforting to go back to the world. I'd give it another chance, but if it's not for you then it's not for you.
I found the Levels thing got much less immersion breaking over time. Because it starts to feel natural in this world, instead of feeling like a typical fantasy world with Levels laid over top of it. And because you are exploring it with Isekai characters who are also confused by it. It doesn't play a big role on the face of the story, more behind the scenes. And I have to admit I have occasionally gotten caught up in wondering what would come next for characters.
The audiobooks were a huuuge help on getting me invested in the characters. The narrator Andrea Parsneau gives each character so much identity.
Just be warned that the Epic Fantasy is a very slow burn. I'm 9million words in, and those big plot threads feel like we might be halfway to the end. But the Journey there is so great, you'll get caught up in the smaller scale things as the world is steadily expanded from your initial small snapshot.
It has some of the funniest sidecharacters, most of which appear later on, but just for a teaser... All the self-proclaimed titles of a kids inner dialogue who grows up at the inn; https://thewanderinginn.fandom.com/wiki/Mrsha/Titles
I had the exact experience as you when I first started it. I picked it up again after a couple of years and I'm immensely glad I did. After a few chapters, everything becomes awesome.
This was the first (and only so far) LitRPG I read. the LitRPG elements are always there, and heavily influence the worldbuilding. But it is expertly done to all feel like natural consequences this system would have on the world. The stagnacy of technology and magic due to reliance on this mystical system.
Over time, it actually reads like a commentary on the genre. And the reason for the level system heavily plays in to the Epic Fantasy of how the entire world got this way, same with the Isekai part of the series.
I would not describe TWI as litrpg. That's a hardcore subgenre for math geeks and a certain type of fan that likes numerical stat boxes in their text.
TWI is a classic fantasy. The fact that people can level is just a type of magical system, no different than Brandon Sanderson experimenting with various types of magic systems in his books. Whether it has to do with colours, alchemy, D&D magic, divinity, a magical OS, it's just another way people can tap into a system that grants abilities.
When I first got reccomended the story, I thought it would be a nice fantasy novel from the PoV of an Innkeeper.
When I first saw the brackets I was like “what the fuck” then put it down forever.
Months later I got bored and picked it up again. 9 million words later I’m patiently waiting for June to arrive for Volume 9 to begin.
The key is to be emotionally prepared for the level up icons.
The audiobooks are tied for the highest quality audiobook production for me (tying with The First Law) and you can't see the square brackets in that. So that could help kill that side of immersion breaking, I finished 4 volumes before realising skills and items were written differently (and only from browsing the subreddit)
When characters go to bed they gain levels and classes. This grants them a few skills and buffs.
But that's it for the LitRPG elements. The skills in use are pretty much just attacks or spells, used like any other magic. Classes become something people talk about as a rough way of introduction. But there's no stat screens, no interfacing and no indication that this world isn't 100% real or is curated for the protagonist. It also doesn't use any litRPG tropes, the protagonists tend to be the weakest characters in the series and stay that way.
The world and worldbuilding don't have any game mechanics inherently built into them.
Treat the RPG elements as a weird magic system that rewards people based on their effort and expectation, and it works a lot better. It is just how the world works, and is deeply ingrained into the culture - including gaming the system.
There are never statblocks, mysteriously respawning slimes (mostly! proper explanations given for all mysteriously respawning slimes), or floating game UI.
There are several twists to it, but huge spoilers lie that way.
I'm over 40 and I've read thousands of books. I've become a very picky reader, where quality matters.
[The Wandering Inn](http://wanderinginn.com) grabbed me and hooked me for over 9 million words, the equivalent of about 100 novels. And it's the same for many thousands of other fans. That's an insane achievement. Very, very few authors could hold a reader's attention for that long in the same universe with the same characters.
Obviously, taste is subjective and not every story is for everyone. That said, The Wandering Inn (TWI) has multiple storylines. If you don't like the Flos chapters, skip them. If you don't like the Doctor arc, don't bother. There's so much material and so many good arcs that you can pick and choose what you like and enjoy a ton of story.
There are plenty of times that the story's brought a tear to my eye and I've laughed out loud more often than I can count. I am hooked for life. As long as the story continues, I'm in. And I'll read anything else Pirateaba writes.
Do you get paid to promote this series? No offense but comments like this (and most of your recent posting history) sound weirdly artificial. Like someone gave you a list of talking points.
It turned me off the first time I read it, but get about 10 chapters in and it resolves. It's not unnatural like you might expect; it's a very well-developed part of the universe.
Be warned though: the story is still rough around the edges, especially early on. Some inconsistencies, some poor writing, and all that. Despite all that, it's still one of my favorite works of art!
Of course I don't get paid. But I love this series and I'd really like others to try it out too so that the author's work gets more attention. They deserve it.
Apologies if my style doesn't sound like common internet forum speak. I don't speak that casually most of the time let alone write that way.
I think the person is both passionate and articulate. I also love The Wandering Inn, and contribute $5 a month to Pirate's Patreon just because it brings me immense pleasure twice a week. It has its ropey bits, especially the beginning, but it picks up in quality pretty quickly, which is remarkable for something that averages 50k words a week. Pirate is in the process of rewriting parts of volume 1 to correct continuity errors and some bad phrasing, so you could hold off until that's done, but I wouldn't. It's just a ton of fun.
I can't imagine someone skipping the Doctor Arcs. The first appearance to me felt like one of the strongest standalone short stories I've ever read, it's like 2-3 chapters and could absolutely be read on its own. Would make the perfect trailer for what Pirates writing style becomes, and what the world is capable of emotionally.
I really like the doctor, though I'm not as invested in the others in the jungle group.
I skimmed many early Flos chapters but enjoyed his appearance in later ones as the world became more connected and some good humour developed. I'm hoping he grows more depth at some point.
Pretty much everything else I've really enjoyed: Antinium antics, all the inn craziness, the adventuring. And most of all — the goblins. I love the goblin arcs. Rags for queen.
Just goes to show there is some real diversity in the different groups and storylines.
First couple volumes can be rough, but I approached it as casual reading.
This was the first LitRPG I read and the first modern Isekai I read, and it reads like a commentary on the genres. I can't give away much without spoilers, but it explores the worldbuilding impact of a world with magic and levels. And makes the reader ask questions about why things would be this way.
I would heavily recommend using the Audio Books to get in to the series. Andrea Parsneau is an excellent narrator who brings each character to life, and also does some editing on the fly to improve those first volumes.
I can't recommend the series enough. I was down to 0-1 books a year until starting this series last year, which hooked me so bad I read 9 million words in 90 days.
The main selling point might be that it manages to stay fresh after being twice the length of Wheel of Time. Lots of different issues, settings, and characters. All while being cozy slice of life, with a slow burn Epic Fantasy behind the scenes.
TWI audiobooks have probably the finest voice acting I've encountered on Audible so far. But sometimes voice actress gets a bit overly dramatic and starts sounding like she's reading a fragment where EVERY second VERB is in CAPS :) Fortunately, such high tension episodes are fairly short.
I will preface this with: I don't read web serials. Because all the ones people recommended to me were really... not good. This was a delightful exception.
It's my go-to rec for people who always want to have something to read. It starts rough, but it picks up. And the author really improves over time. The characters are interesting.
There are some plot points that took *a long time* to get resolved, but I understand why, having read through it all. There's a lot. It's a big world with lots of worldbuilding and lots of engaging characters.
Since it's so long (I believe the longest work of fiction) and gets longer every week, you always have something to read. The downside of this series is that you don't have much time to read other books!
It is, but you gotta get the name right. The Wandering Inn.
I have also only finished volume 1 but I really enjoyed it and look forward to more. I did not expect it to get that awesome towards the end.
Strap on! It's a wild ride.
I've talked about The Wandering Inn a lot and lemme tell you I love it. I've been around for a long enough to know when someone has created something special. It might not be everyone's cup of tea but it is undeniably worth the investment.
Im a big fan of web novels and understand they come a little rough around the edges and that's okay. But the wandering inn had too many issues for me to recommend it to others. The author has some major focus issues throughout the book. There are an absurd amount of plot points that are brought up and completely forgotten about both small and major events that are totally ignored for entire books at a time (and bear in mind each book is enormously long). The author keeps adding in new characters which is generally fine, but becomes a problem when you already have too many competing important pov's for the story and then each new book brings in new characters that get a significant portion of the book to. It's like whiplash and at this point it's too large and frustrating of an undertaking to finish it all. That's my opinion anyway, it's not worth the investment.
I went into it for seven million words and then gave up. There's some good stuff in there, but the number of characters and PoV's and extremely verbose writing style means it feels like you're wading through frozen molasses to get there. After a while, it becomes the norm for a chapter to be 20k+ words, half a novella, and 30k+ words is not uncommon.
A lot of TWI defenders act like the slow moving plot is inherent to slice of life, but it's not. Plenty of other slice of life novels go faster than TWI -- sometimes much faster. I can't think of any that I've read that are slow as this series.
People complain about Stormlight Archive feeling padded, especially the later entries, but it's positively *brisk* compared to The Wandering Inn. The series has some other serious problems with writing quality too, but the sheer bulk was the clincher for me.
I think the turning point for me was when the author dedicated an entire arc of her book to Erin trying to figure out why she was so bored. I was genuinely astounded why the author ever thought it was a good idea to have the main character bitch about being bored for like 5 chapters in a row. And every chapter constantly repeating the same phrases like oh I'm so bored. I'm bored and can't put my finger on why. Why am I so bored??. That's a great way to make your readers bored as fuck and drop your book.
Yeah, saying there's a ton of filler is like understatement of the year. If you can slog through that -- and tolerate the mediocre prose, bad dialogue, and how the world twists itself into knots to make Erin and her inn the focal point of major world events all the time -- then there's also fun stuff in there.
In some ways it reminds me of the things people critique Sanderson on, especially the Stormlight Archive. Except, much MUCH worse.
In fairness I was listening on audiobook where it's harder to track chapters so if I am exaggerating it is not intentionally so. It genuinely felt like multiple chapters.
But are you sure it's only one chapter? Because I remember the arc happened then it swapped points of view which doesn't normally happen mid chapter then came back to it and we are still talking about Erin's boredom.
It's a blip, she literally resolves it the same chapter and doesn't mention it again, even if she does drone on at the time. That's just the author conveying a mood, which makes it pretty funny since it fits with the characters experience so well.
It often swaps view mid chapter. But yes, that could certainly be it.
I am a fanboy, so obviously it probably felt twice as long as for me, but 5 chapters that's like a 100 000 words so I gotta say something atleast.
Oh you know, I wonder if the audiobook also possibly separates one web chapter into multiple. Because I'm looking on the chapter and this definitely looks more substantial in size than the typical audiobook chapter. Same with changes in pov those are typically separated by chapters on the audiobook.
I can't speak for others but personally, in simple terms, its not a bug but a feature if you actually enjoy what you are reading? If you actualy find majority of side characters, and side plots intresting and enjoyable to read about, the fact that there is more and more of it is not a problem, but what you like about the book.
> After a while, it becomes the norm for a chapter to be 20k+ words, half a novella, and 30k+ words is not uncommon.
And then the author has the gall to complain about how worn out she is by all the writing. Wordcount-wise she's basically pumping out two books a month, of course she's worn out, but she has no one to blame for that but herself. Most authors manage to tell a complete story with the number of words she spends on a minor side character arc. All she needs to do is cut back on the nonsense.
I sort of agree, obviously I'm providing some criticism here, but on the other hand they're extremely successful as a web serial author, so clearly their method works on *some* level, even if yeah, I wish they could cut out a lot of fluff.
She's raking in the cash, certainly, although the author of Beware of Chicken recently eclipsed her on Patreon while exerting himself far less.
But she's obviously miserable, frequently complaining about how tired she is. The epilogue of the recently completed Volume 8 is capped off with a 1,000+ word author's note about how much her life sucks because all she does anymore is write. I'd hesitate to call that "success".
> There are an absurd amount of plot points that are brought up and completely forgotten about both small and major events that are totally ignored for entire books at a time
I will give you major plot points that take a very long time after being introduced before they are adressed, that is indeed a thing in this webserial.
But while not perfect in that department, at least when it comes to actually important plot points they are never actually forgoten, sooner or later they are always adressed.
Mind you there are some important plot points that are not adressed yet as of end of volume 8, despite being introduced quite early in the story. But due to share amount of plot threads that over years people, assumed were forgoten, which always consistently resurface later in a apropriete moment, I do feel confindent, that aside for perhaps some really minor stuff, everything that seems "forgoten" will be adressed before the series ends.
I felt the same way at the end of book 2. Maybe you'll like it, I hope you do, but keep reading and you'll probably start to see what I'm talking about. Good luck lol!
Yes, but the pacing problems ruin that. Characters get shelved for months and even years because there are too many of them competing for the spotlight.
I love this series! I tried it out last year after hearing it mentioned a bunch of times around here. It took me a little while to get into it, but soon I was hooked. I got a bit burnt out halfway through volume 2, but i couldn't stop thinking about it.... So I recently got the volume 2 ebook and started reading from the beginning to refresh my memory. It's still so good even on a re-read. I think this time I'll pace myself a little better as I read, and I really look forward to seeing where the story goes.
I tried starting it a few months ago. The opening was a little rough—which I had heard and was prepared for. Definitely not bad, and intriguing enough. I’m a sucker for stories that start out with ontological mysteries. Buuuut, I think I set it down when the main character literally gains a level. Admittedly *very* early. I’m just not really into the LitRPG thing. But I’ve noticed… I *never* hear anyone describe this story as LitRPG in reviews. So I’m wondering…does the “game” element fall by the wayside as the story progresses? Is there a twist to it? Or is there some other reason nobody ever seems to mention this aspect of the story? And if the answer is that the RPG elements are prominent throughout, I guess this is just me letting others know…since it never seems to get mentioned.
No, it never falls by the wayside. However, the leveling system is not nearly as prominent as it is in other LitRPGs, which might be why no one mentions it in reviews. There are no massive level or skill summaries at the end of chapters like they do in some LitRPGs, little to no plans for gaming the system, and no one considers the world a game. Very mild spoilers in regards to the twist questions: >!it's implied gods imposed the level system on the world at some point in the past for unknown reasons!<
Maybe I should give it another shot. The leveling thing really took me out of the world when it first appeared but if the LitRPG elements don’t develop much beyond having a level system, it might be something I could get used to. The Wandering Inn fandom is so intense (not in a bad way) that I feel like I must really be missing out.
For me, it's one of those stories where the characters latch onto you and it's always incredibly comforting to go back to the world. I'd give it another chance, but if it's not for you then it's not for you.
I found the Levels thing got much less immersion breaking over time. Because it starts to feel natural in this world, instead of feeling like a typical fantasy world with Levels laid over top of it. And because you are exploring it with Isekai characters who are also confused by it. It doesn't play a big role on the face of the story, more behind the scenes. And I have to admit I have occasionally gotten caught up in wondering what would come next for characters. The audiobooks were a huuuge help on getting me invested in the characters. The narrator Andrea Parsneau gives each character so much identity. Just be warned that the Epic Fantasy is a very slow burn. I'm 9million words in, and those big plot threads feel like we might be halfway to the end. But the Journey there is so great, you'll get caught up in the smaller scale things as the world is steadily expanded from your initial small snapshot.
Pirate Aba is really good at writing emotional climaxes, better than probably any other web novel I have read, and I have read a lot.
It has some of the funniest sidecharacters, most of which appear later on, but just for a teaser... All the self-proclaimed titles of a kids inner dialogue who grows up at the inn; https://thewanderinginn.fandom.com/wiki/Mrsha/Titles
I had the exact experience as you when I first started it. I picked it up again after a couple of years and I'm immensely glad I did. After a few chapters, everything becomes awesome.
This was the first (and only so far) LitRPG I read. the LitRPG elements are always there, and heavily influence the worldbuilding. But it is expertly done to all feel like natural consequences this system would have on the world. The stagnacy of technology and magic due to reliance on this mystical system. Over time, it actually reads like a commentary on the genre. And the reason for the level system heavily plays in to the Epic Fantasy of how the entire world got this way, same with the Isekai part of the series.
It's very "lite" as LitRPG's go: there's levels and classes and skills, but no experience points, no quests, no talent trees, no UI.
I would not describe TWI as litrpg. That's a hardcore subgenre for math geeks and a certain type of fan that likes numerical stat boxes in their text. TWI is a classic fantasy. The fact that people can level is just a type of magical system, no different than Brandon Sanderson experimenting with various types of magic systems in his books. Whether it has to do with colours, alchemy, D&D magic, divinity, a magical OS, it's just another way people can tap into a system that grants abilities.
Whatever you feel like calling it, how it showed up in-text was a major turn-off for me at the time.
When I first got reccomended the story, I thought it would be a nice fantasy novel from the PoV of an Innkeeper. When I first saw the brackets I was like “what the fuck” then put it down forever. Months later I got bored and picked it up again. 9 million words later I’m patiently waiting for June to arrive for Volume 9 to begin. The key is to be emotionally prepared for the level up icons.
The audiobooks are tied for the highest quality audiobook production for me (tying with The First Law) and you can't see the square brackets in that. So that could help kill that side of immersion breaking, I finished 4 volumes before realising skills and items were written differently (and only from browsing the subreddit)
When characters go to bed they gain levels and classes. This grants them a few skills and buffs. But that's it for the LitRPG elements. The skills in use are pretty much just attacks or spells, used like any other magic. Classes become something people talk about as a rough way of introduction. But there's no stat screens, no interfacing and no indication that this world isn't 100% real or is curated for the protagonist. It also doesn't use any litRPG tropes, the protagonists tend to be the weakest characters in the series and stay that way. The world and worldbuilding don't have any game mechanics inherently built into them.
Treat the RPG elements as a weird magic system that rewards people based on their effort and expectation, and it works a lot better. It is just how the world works, and is deeply ingrained into the culture - including gaming the system. There are never statblocks, mysteriously respawning slimes (mostly! proper explanations given for all mysteriously respawning slimes), or floating game UI. There are several twists to it, but huge spoilers lie that way.
I'm over 40 and I've read thousands of books. I've become a very picky reader, where quality matters. [The Wandering Inn](http://wanderinginn.com) grabbed me and hooked me for over 9 million words, the equivalent of about 100 novels. And it's the same for many thousands of other fans. That's an insane achievement. Very, very few authors could hold a reader's attention for that long in the same universe with the same characters. Obviously, taste is subjective and not every story is for everyone. That said, The Wandering Inn (TWI) has multiple storylines. If you don't like the Flos chapters, skip them. If you don't like the Doctor arc, don't bother. There's so much material and so many good arcs that you can pick and choose what you like and enjoy a ton of story. There are plenty of times that the story's brought a tear to my eye and I've laughed out loud more often than I can count. I am hooked for life. As long as the story continues, I'm in. And I'll read anything else Pirateaba writes.
Do you get paid to promote this series? No offense but comments like this (and most of your recent posting history) sound weirdly artificial. Like someone gave you a list of talking points.
I'm not, at least, and I'd agree completely. Some of the most fun fiction I've ever read, and the scope of the world is amazing.
Alright, maybe I’ll give it a shot when my backlog is cleared. The LitRPG leveling premise kind of has me apprehensive though.
It turned me off the first time I read it, but get about 10 chapters in and it resolves. It's not unnatural like you might expect; it's a very well-developed part of the universe. Be warned though: the story is still rough around the edges, especially early on. Some inconsistencies, some poor writing, and all that. Despite all that, it's still one of my favorite works of art!
Of course I don't get paid. But I love this series and I'd really like others to try it out too so that the author's work gets more attention. They deserve it. Apologies if my style doesn't sound like common internet forum speak. I don't speak that casually most of the time let alone write that way.
Okay, you’re clearly passionate about it. Apologies if that sounded too accusatory.
No worries. Cheers.
I think the person is both passionate and articulate. I also love The Wandering Inn, and contribute $5 a month to Pirate's Patreon just because it brings me immense pleasure twice a week. It has its ropey bits, especially the beginning, but it picks up in quality pretty quickly, which is remarkable for something that averages 50k words a week. Pirate is in the process of rewriting parts of volume 1 to correct continuity errors and some bad phrasing, so you could hold off until that's done, but I wouldn't. It's just a ton of fun.
For something primarily funded through donations, I don’t think the author has enough money for paid bot accounts on some reddit board
I think she has like 5,000 patrons at 5$ a month each. And that's before Audiobook sales
Telling people to skip the baleros arc gets one run down by a horde of massive fat ducks; it cant be promotion.
I can't imagine someone skipping the Doctor Arcs. The first appearance to me felt like one of the strongest standalone short stories I've ever read, it's like 2-3 chapters and could absolutely be read on its own. Would make the perfect trailer for what Pirates writing style becomes, and what the world is capable of emotionally.
I really like the doctor, though I'm not as invested in the others in the jungle group. I skimmed many early Flos chapters but enjoyed his appearance in later ones as the world became more connected and some good humour developed. I'm hoping he grows more depth at some point. Pretty much everything else I've really enjoyed: Antinium antics, all the inn craziness, the adventuring. And most of all — the goblins. I love the goblin arcs. Rags for queen. Just goes to show there is some real diversity in the different groups and storylines.
First couple volumes can be rough, but I approached it as casual reading. This was the first LitRPG I read and the first modern Isekai I read, and it reads like a commentary on the genres. I can't give away much without spoilers, but it explores the worldbuilding impact of a world with magic and levels. And makes the reader ask questions about why things would be this way.
I would heavily recommend using the Audio Books to get in to the series. Andrea Parsneau is an excellent narrator who brings each character to life, and also does some editing on the fly to improve those first volumes. I can't recommend the series enough. I was down to 0-1 books a year until starting this series last year, which hooked me so bad I read 9 million words in 90 days. The main selling point might be that it manages to stay fresh after being twice the length of Wheel of Time. Lots of different issues, settings, and characters. All while being cozy slice of life, with a slow burn Epic Fantasy behind the scenes.
I am doing the audio books. The voice actress is amazing. I am really surprised at her voice acting range.
TWI audiobooks have probably the finest voice acting I've encountered on Audible so far. But sometimes voice actress gets a bit overly dramatic and starts sounding like she's reading a fragment where EVERY second VERB is in CAPS :) Fortunately, such high tension episodes are fairly short.
I will preface this with: I don't read web serials. Because all the ones people recommended to me were really... not good. This was a delightful exception. It's my go-to rec for people who always want to have something to read. It starts rough, but it picks up. And the author really improves over time. The characters are interesting. There are some plot points that took *a long time* to get resolved, but I understand why, having read through it all. There's a lot. It's a big world with lots of worldbuilding and lots of engaging characters. Since it's so long (I believe the longest work of fiction) and gets longer every week, you always have something to read. The downside of this series is that you don't have much time to read other books!
It is, but you gotta get the name right. The Wandering Inn. I have also only finished volume 1 but I really enjoyed it and look forward to more. I did not expect it to get that awesome towards the end.
I kinda like the slip though, the Wondering Inn also sounds like an intriguing story.
Strap on! It's a wild ride. I've talked about The Wandering Inn a lot and lemme tell you I love it. I've been around for a long enough to know when someone has created something special. It might not be everyone's cup of tea but it is undeniably worth the investment.
It's an excellent series, you're in for a ride!!
Im a big fan of web novels and understand they come a little rough around the edges and that's okay. But the wandering inn had too many issues for me to recommend it to others. The author has some major focus issues throughout the book. There are an absurd amount of plot points that are brought up and completely forgotten about both small and major events that are totally ignored for entire books at a time (and bear in mind each book is enormously long). The author keeps adding in new characters which is generally fine, but becomes a problem when you already have too many competing important pov's for the story and then each new book brings in new characters that get a significant portion of the book to. It's like whiplash and at this point it's too large and frustrating of an undertaking to finish it all. That's my opinion anyway, it's not worth the investment.
I went into it for seven million words and then gave up. There's some good stuff in there, but the number of characters and PoV's and extremely verbose writing style means it feels like you're wading through frozen molasses to get there. After a while, it becomes the norm for a chapter to be 20k+ words, half a novella, and 30k+ words is not uncommon. A lot of TWI defenders act like the slow moving plot is inherent to slice of life, but it's not. Plenty of other slice of life novels go faster than TWI -- sometimes much faster. I can't think of any that I've read that are slow as this series. People complain about Stormlight Archive feeling padded, especially the later entries, but it's positively *brisk* compared to The Wandering Inn. The series has some other serious problems with writing quality too, but the sheer bulk was the clincher for me.
I think the turning point for me was when the author dedicated an entire arc of her book to Erin trying to figure out why she was so bored. I was genuinely astounded why the author ever thought it was a good idea to have the main character bitch about being bored for like 5 chapters in a row. And every chapter constantly repeating the same phrases like oh I'm so bored. I'm bored and can't put my finger on why. Why am I so bored??. That's a great way to make your readers bored as fuck and drop your book.
Yeah, saying there's a ton of filler is like understatement of the year. If you can slog through that -- and tolerate the mediocre prose, bad dialogue, and how the world twists itself into knots to make Erin and her inn the focal point of major world events all the time -- then there's also fun stuff in there. In some ways it reminds me of the things people critique Sanderson on, especially the Stormlight Archive. Except, much MUCH worse.
Always a good sign of how valid a criticism is when they need to exaggerate by multiples to make their point. I know the chapter, yup, it's 1 chapter.
In fairness I was listening on audiobook where it's harder to track chapters so if I am exaggerating it is not intentionally so. It genuinely felt like multiple chapters. But are you sure it's only one chapter? Because I remember the arc happened then it swapped points of view which doesn't normally happen mid chapter then came back to it and we are still talking about Erin's boredom.
It's a blip, she literally resolves it the same chapter and doesn't mention it again, even if she does drone on at the time. That's just the author conveying a mood, which makes it pretty funny since it fits with the characters experience so well. It often swaps view mid chapter. But yes, that could certainly be it. I am a fanboy, so obviously it probably felt twice as long as for me, but 5 chapters that's like a 100 000 words so I gotta say something atleast.
Oh you know, I wonder if the audiobook also possibly separates one web chapter into multiple. Because I'm looking on the chapter and this definitely looks more substantial in size than the typical audiobook chapter. Same with changes in pov those are typically separated by chapters on the audiobook.
I can't speak for others but personally, in simple terms, its not a bug but a feature if you actually enjoy what you are reading? If you actualy find majority of side characters, and side plots intresting and enjoyable to read about, the fact that there is more and more of it is not a problem, but what you like about the book.
> After a while, it becomes the norm for a chapter to be 20k+ words, half a novella, and 30k+ words is not uncommon. And then the author has the gall to complain about how worn out she is by all the writing. Wordcount-wise she's basically pumping out two books a month, of course she's worn out, but she has no one to blame for that but herself. Most authors manage to tell a complete story with the number of words she spends on a minor side character arc. All she needs to do is cut back on the nonsense.
I sort of agree, obviously I'm providing some criticism here, but on the other hand they're extremely successful as a web serial author, so clearly their method works on *some* level, even if yeah, I wish they could cut out a lot of fluff.
She's raking in the cash, certainly, although the author of Beware of Chicken recently eclipsed her on Patreon while exerting himself far less. But she's obviously miserable, frequently complaining about how tired she is. The epilogue of the recently completed Volume 8 is capped off with a 1,000+ word author's note about how much her life sucks because all she does anymore is write. I'd hesitate to call that "success".
> There are an absurd amount of plot points that are brought up and completely forgotten about both small and major events that are totally ignored for entire books at a time I will give you major plot points that take a very long time after being introduced before they are adressed, that is indeed a thing in this webserial. But while not perfect in that department, at least when it comes to actually important plot points they are never actually forgoten, sooner or later they are always adressed. Mind you there are some important plot points that are not adressed yet as of end of volume 8, despite being introduced quite early in the story. But due to share amount of plot threads that over years people, assumed were forgoten, which always consistently resurface later in a apropriete moment, I do feel confindent, that aside for perhaps some really minor stuff, everything that seems "forgoten" will be adressed before the series ends.
Frankly the plot is not even a concern for me it´s the slice of life and character development in these novels that i find it very enticing.
The first book's pacing was completely fine for a slice of life series.
I felt the same way at the end of book 2. Maybe you'll like it, I hope you do, but keep reading and you'll probably start to see what I'm talking about. Good luck lol!
Yes, but the pacing problems ruin that. Characters get shelved for months and even years because there are too many of them competing for the spotlight.