I like funny when the situation is totally not funny. This book does that.
The deeply flawed protagonist is totally my jam. Vivian is likable at first, and then you get to know her better… I like that I don’t like her after that, because I, like her, want her to be better. What a fascinating and difficult angle to achieve! Props.
The world building setup is cool and I find myself easily liking, hating, distrusting, or admiring several of the… people/entities that pop up in this book. I really like how it’s easy to see the massive potential of the magic systems and where things could go without ruining the ceiling too much. There is sufficient power ratio to make confrontations and interactions satisfying without wrecking potential ceilings.
For the performance, I have to say I think this was a cool risk that was taken. The narrator and main character performer was excellent. The risks were more related to the following: Internal thoughts seem to be recorded with an echo to differentiate them from basic narration. I liked that though I haven’t heard that strategy before. Creatures make sounds. I am torn about that. On one hand, it feels immersive because yeah, it should make a noise, on the other, I find myself wondering what was written to create that sound, which pulls me out of the immersion. Catch 22. A character who may or may not be a robot sounds like a robot. That was cool. But other male voices were also the same robot voice, which was a confusing choice. I honestly don’t get it. I think maybe it was to portray a language barrier, that was bridged by the, ehem, robot, but they still had that voice in the absence of the golem. That doesn’t make sense to me.