I) OVERVIEW
I’ll admit; I’m addicted to this series. It’s never easy to admit such a thing as it often showcases a lapse in judgement when evaluating a series. But my counterargument is this: if you are five books into a series then there must be some reason why you’d continue on if you were enjoying it. Unless, you weren’t which I argue is a sunk cost fallacy, unless you are doing a critique of the series. But I digress.
Overall, Will Wight has hooked me line in sinker with this latest installment being the best one I’ve read so far. Especially after the dip in quality from book four. It isn’t perfect as there are some flaws that are prevalent. But compared to the last book, for every one thing I noticed was wrong two to three good things were prevalent.
SPOILERS FOR THE SERIES AND MINOR SPOILERS FOR THIS BOOK
TLDR: A bit of fast-pacing, lack of Aethan Aurelius, a bit too much of telling. Excellent character growth from Lindon, Yerin and Mercy. Amazing new characters and an engaging, consistent plot.
I) PERFORMANCE
Travis Baldree deserves a medal for how many voices he can do. While some of them blend(elder women), the range of his vocals are some of the best I’ve ever experienced from the audiobook format. I’d put him right up there with Simon Vance and a bit close to Tim Gerald Reynolds. though, Reynolds is a legend in my book(same league as Michael Krammer and Kate Reading).
I especially loved his vocal performance of Akari and Harmony Akura. Overall, vocal performances are as strong as ever before. Especially as Lindon.
II) STORY AND CHARACTERS
After the events of book four(which saw the blood Phoenix bested by the Akura Monarch), Lindon, Yerin and Mercy are sent to investigate Ghostwater: A pocket dimension created by the legendary Northstrider to investigate it before the dimension collapses . A unforeseen event happens and Lindon finds himself trapped in Ghostwater, surrounded by dangerous elements all around him. All the while Yerin and Mercy find a way to get in and save Lindon.
This is a survival story with our main characters put in a situation way over there head. In a way, this plot reminds me a lot of book one(which I’ll get to) and book three.
While I wished that we could have gotten a bit more dialogue in some places, Mercy was much better here, being much more proactive and having a solid character. In a way, she reminded me of Lindon when starting out with Yerin.
Yerin’s story was also good here, continuing her arc of cooping with the blood shadow which she had merged with in the last book and figuring out her powers further. I especially enjoyed the resolution of this arc which very much was a continuation of her arc setup from the beginning. A b-plot but one that was aided by some good characterization.
The real meat of this book is with Wei-Shi Lindon. In short, his growth here was fantastic. Harkening back to book one, we see someone once again being way over his head, having to survive and battle against forces that are above him. I have to praise Wight for being so careful in handling his growth and putting him through the ringer once more.
In a way, it reminded me a lot of Hatchet(one of my favorite books of all time) with Lindon needing to survive and adapt. Every step he took to ascend came off as very believable and natural and with the robust magic system established in this series, battles here were tense and engaging.
I have to praise the new characters as well. Akari, a dragon lady and Harmony Akura were good additions to this series. Being good antagonists against Lindon, pushing him to limits he never felt. I especially loved Zeal, a mysterious character who clearly had a lot more to offer.
Coupled with some nice exploration of the world, there is a lot of good. But I do have some gripes. One is that there is a character death which I won’t lie; came off as very contrived. It didn’t help that this character was only lightly fleshed out and in turn I saw what Mr. Wight was trying to do, playing up the death with mixed emotions. While it didn’t break the story, it is one of those problems that irked me. Plus, the book’s fast pacing does hinder it in terms of allowing the story to breathe and there was some telling.
It isn’t the end of the world as the dialogue was fine but it is a problem. Nevertheless, everything else was good.
III) WRAP-UP
Ghostwater is definitely my favorite next to Blackflame. While it struggles with its accelerated plot in telling a bit more than showing and it does have an annoying contrivance with a character death, Lindon’s journey alongside Yerin and their character arcs were strong alongside the antagonists.
This book definitely was a step up from the last one and is my favorite of the series so far alongside Blackflame.