This was a fantastic addition/prequel to Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore! I highly enjoyed the Easter eggs of the predecessors to and younger versions of the characters we come to live in the original book. This addition also provides insight into the relationship between Penumbra and Corvina, bearing witness to the weaknesses Corvina worked so hard to hide and the bravado he works so hard to maintain in the original novel. I'd be interested to know more about the eventual collapse of their friendship, but it was equally as interesting to see it form at the beginning. Part of me wonders if it's a subtextual commentary on internalized homophobia and/or the persuit of perfection in the face of all else, given Corvina's performance of self, but I see that might be a reach. Corvina is a complex character, and I enjoyed seeing more of him as a person before he became a looming figurehead. The scene in the tunnel under the bay is short but powerful. I listen to this as an audiobook and I need to go back through and listen again. Claude taps throughout the novel in a way that aligns with some Morse code letters, and I wouldn't put it past the author to add an extra message in an audiobook to help readers solve a puzzle, just like the Dragon Song Chronicles acting as a text within a text in Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore.