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A review by mrogows
Critical Role: The Mighty Nein — The Nine Eyes of Lucien by Madeleine Roux
1.0
This was....interesting....
I was a bit disappointed with Kith and Kin, the other Critical Role novel, so I had lukewarm expectations for this one. I was hoping that this would provide a bit of a better read and in some ways it did, but in other ways...well...
So let's get this out right from the front: Why continue the story after Lucien comes back from Molly? It left me wondering: Who is this written for?
The first half of the books was interesting for both fan and new to Critical Role in providing an interesting story of Lucien, even if I never really felt as if a plot was actually found (the major issue I personally had for season two of CR). It was just 'and then this happened, and then this happened, and then this happened' all as set up (ish) for the second half of the book. And once the second half starts, we just go through the events as they happened.
For fans of Critical Role, we already know what happens and it just becomes a rather boring recap of the events of the later quarter of the Mighty Nein's story. For new comers to the story, it would have been completely befuddling, with little to no lead up, or reason. Essek shows up at the end with zero explanation, just a 'dark elf is with the party'.
Finally, the motivation for any of the characters are never addressed. Why are the Tombtakers dropping everything to follow Lucien on his quest as the Nonogone? What do they have to gain? wy is Lucien so obsessed with this task? Why are the Mighty Nein here? It felt as if nothing was really flushed out.
In the end, I think I feel the same way as I did with Kith and Kin: disappointment as a waisted opportunity. I don't want to read about The Mighty Nein, we have countless hours with those characters on CR and all their back stories in the comics. What we don't have is the flushed out back story or motivation for Lucien, which is what I was really hoping for. Lucien's motivation is never really defined and he's left empty as a character.
I really hope the CR team can learn from these two books and get some better items on the shelf soon.
I was a bit disappointed with Kith and Kin, the other Critical Role novel, so I had lukewarm expectations for this one. I was hoping that this would provide a bit of a better read and in some ways it did, but in other ways...well...
So let's get this out right from the front: Why continue the story after Lucien comes back from Molly? It left me wondering: Who is this written for?
The first half of the books was interesting for both fan and new to Critical Role in providing an interesting story of Lucien, even if I never really felt as if a plot was actually found (the major issue I personally had for season two of CR). It was just 'and then this happened, and then this happened, and then this happened' all as set up (ish) for the second half of the book. And once the second half starts, we just go through the events as they happened.
For fans of Critical Role, we already know what happens and it just becomes a rather boring recap of the events of the later quarter of the Mighty Nein's story. For new comers to the story, it would have been completely befuddling, with little to no lead up, or reason. Essek shows up at the end with zero explanation, just a 'dark elf is with the party'.
Finally, the motivation for any of the characters are never addressed. Why are the Tombtakers dropping everything to follow Lucien on his quest as the Nonogone? What do they have to gain? wy is Lucien so obsessed with this task? Why are the Mighty Nein here? It felt as if nothing was really flushed out.
In the end, I think I feel the same way as I did with Kith and Kin: disappointment as a waisted opportunity. I don't want to read about The Mighty Nein, we have countless hours with those characters on CR and all their back stories in the comics. What we don't have is the flushed out back story or motivation for Lucien, which is what I was really hoping for. Lucien's motivation is never really defined and he's left empty as a character.
I really hope the CR team can learn from these two books and get some better items on the shelf soon.