There are some interesting ideas in this book. I thought the friendship between the heroes Henry and Jason was the strongest point. They feel like real friends, and I enjoyed the contrasts between them.
Its mains flaws are a lack of a central struggle, and certain things just falling into our heroes’ laps at convenient moments. Life also seems too good for them too fast. There’s a bad case of power creep that has me wondering what could possibly pose a real threat to the cast at the end of the book, and for a lot of the inventions they create, I think they come up with them too quickly in universe. It comes across as less as them being great and more wondering what’s wrong with everybody else that they didn’t come up with it first. I’d have been less detached if they’d ended the book roughly at the power level they were at when they fought the bandits later on. It would have given them more room for growth. Also, some of the romance was good, other parts felt a little rushed.
Ultimately, I don’t feel compelled to find out what happens next, but I don’t regret my time spent on this book.
Also, Jeff Hays is always a joy to listen too. At first his voice for Jason was a little too close to the one for the succubus from Morningwood, but I got used to it. He made the characters come to life a little more and probably added a star to my review.