So after the first book I immediately jumped into this one hoping it would continue along the same lines. Unfortunately, as other readers have mentioned, this book seems to depart from what made the first book great and almost feels like a side story meant to (hopefully) bridge the first and third books and (again hopefully) get some of the annoying but typical, for this genre, tropes out of the authors system.
The performance was, as always, excellent. Sound Booth never fails to please.
SLIGHT SPOILERS
As for my major complaints
There was very little dungeon building this time around, which is unfortunate as that’s one of the main reasons I picked up the first book. And while I get the whole new land, harder to acquire territory, etc. I can only hope this book is just a set up for a major return to this aspect of the story.
Also, the harem issue. I honestly despise this. It takes so much away from the story and makes the whole thing feel like a high school wet dream. The dynamic between the MC and his sister in law (re)turned confidant, or hell, our Fox mercenary who starts with just money money money and by the end of this book seems to be struggling to hold that as her sole form of loyalty, and even Lilith’s crazy (I honestly can’t think of a better way to put that with her) would have made for such a better focus than the turn toward the villain and his harem. It’s so played out at this point that I’ve outright stopped buying books from favored authors if this is part of one of their series. I get it, it’s a fun fantasy, but the genre is already flooded with this topic already.
All in all, I’ll pick up the next book in the hopes that there is a return to the setup of the first book. Part of me is hoping that the harem thing becomes more of a way to drive home the “lost and broken man” issue from the first book and that there will be a turn around because of this.