A review by redvelveting
Critical Role: The Mighty Nein — The Nine Eyes of Lucien by Madeleine Roux

adventurous dark slow-paced

2.75

I imagine I would’ve enjoyed this more had I been more familiar with the original campaign and material, but I suppose that’s the risk of IP writing.

For me, this book started off very slow. There were definitely intriguing points, but for the most part, the first half wasn’t much of a page turner. Things started to pick up in the second half, but by then I wasn’t too invested in the story. 

Additionally, Roux’s prose is artistic but I found it made it harder to follow the story (combined with or perhaps contributing to my stunted interest).

I liked the use of fonts and different sizes to represent different voices and conversations

, but the actual wording itself I found to be too long-winded. I think it would’ve been a lot more enjoyable for me had I listened to the story its in original form as a campaign or even if I had listened to the audio book—I could imagine that her writing style would be lovely to listen to

(especially because the narrator is Robbie Daymond)

. 

All in all, while I found certain plot points interesting and can appreciate the writing style, I definitely can’t say I enjoyed it as much as a real Critical Role fan or anyone else familiar with the IP would’ve.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Abandonment

Minor: Alcohol