What if I told you that there is a fantasy series that is 13 times bigger than all the Harry Potter books combined and three times the Wheel of Time series, and it’s all free? Yeah, sounds like fantasy, alright. The too-good-to-be-true kind. Don’t worry, I’m not selling anything, just sharing one of my favorite series.
I stumbled on The Wandering Inn as a Kindle Unlimited book back in July 2020. It was a modest little book of only 1,235 pages, and it was free, and it promised adventure and fantasy, which is my favorite genre. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I hadn’t ever read a web novel, and I had no concept of the length this behemoth would grow into.
I read the first book and then didn’t rush to read the second one, which was slightly bigger at 1,718 pages, but did get around to it in September 2020 and followed it up with the third one that same month. I remember thinking, that was fun, but this series is just too big. I’ll leave it there. I’m sure things will work out for that girl, Erin, but I don’t have to be there for the full ride.
That didn’t last for very long.
Eventually, I couldn’t resist and I went back to the series. At some point, my reading outpaced the Kindle releases, and I switched to the web novel. I was well and truly hooked, and I started downloading the content and putting it into a more readable format, just for my comfort.
I read the entire series alone up through volume 7, then again, then I talked my mom and cousin into reading it with me and read it again. Then I saw someone on Facebook say that it wasn’t possible to read the entire thing in just a few months. That was in January. I finished through volume 9, for the third time, in May.
Here’s the thing, the Wandering Inn is huge – 14.6 million words huge – sure, but it’s also brilliant, accessible, hilarious, horrifying, boring, heart-breaking, and grand while never losing sight of the individual. It’s one of the most incredible achievements I’ve ever seen in fiction, and it’s largely unknown.
I know you are thinking, Becky, it’s too big. I can’t read that much! You can, and you should. Don’t read the whole thing.
Do, what I did, read the first book. Then see if you want to walk away. If you do, no shame. This is a cliff dive, not a paddle in the kiddy pool. Forget the English Channel, you’re tackling the Pacific Ocean with nothing but a raft.
But it’s a ride you’ll never forget.
And, if you do, you can always read it again. I did.
6 awed-and-exhausted stars
