Ren of Atikala

Decent, creative, kinda two-note

Too many fractures of fantasy genre confuse the Kobold & the Gnoll…so it’s nice to get a true classic sense of a reptilian draconic Kobold society, values, and culture. Racial learning is handled really well.

The author isn’t great. I’m not saying he is bad: but he took the formula of Drizzt books complete with bold italics of personal journey ruminations before each section of the book.

The main character Ren is interesting and you root for her…but the big mystery of ‘who she is:’ is too quickly and too obviously ham fisted.

Her relationship with her ‘friend,’ and some of the mating rituals of the Kobold race: I don’t know man… it wasn’t necessary to the story and it was pretty again: ham fisted.

But at the end of everything: I bought the next one to read. I don’t have high expectations but for a quick sliver of a culture you don’t often hear about in fantasy lore… this is a cool concept.

I didn’t love the author’s style. If you sort through his subject though, and you find some pockets of hidden literary magic, I just don’t totally know if I needed to hold my breath through the stink cloud of some of his chapters to find it.

I really hope, for the character’s sake: it gets better.