Ultimately this is a fun take of the sci-fi fantasy mashup. Its a great take on the unlikely hero quest. SPOILER WARNING Originally I was intrigued by having the main character be an elderly man, because usually these tales center around the young. However I don’t know if it made for compelling relationships. He’s a solitary curmudgeon who essentially stays that way through the entire book. He makes 1 “friend” who he rarely talks to. All of his time is spent training alone or with his daughter who beats the crap out of him. His relationship with his daughter is straight up weird. It’s all sarcasm and aggression with no history or compassion to back it up. And the more they interacted the more petulant they became. I had to remind myself that they both were adults. Also his daughter thinks there’s something weird about the game but they don’t engage with that plot point at all. The setup is a mystery and then it forgets that and just settles into a milieu. They were supposed to be in a school but Finn learns everything by himself, the faculty get upset if you learn more than you teach them. Huh? And there are apparently hundreds of mages but the school large areas are completely empty enough for students to continuously attack each other for days on end without the faculty knowing. It just seems like the circumstances are too convenient. The performance is good. I don’t know about that accent though. It’s predictable and entertaining.
Review from Awaken Online: Ember →