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A review by ianacook
Critical Role: The Mighty Nein — The Nine Eyes of Lucien by Madeleine Roux
3.0
The performances of the audiobook, naturally, were great.
It's always going to be a really hard line to walk with a project like this. Don't dwell too much on the things covered in the original campaign so you don't bore those readers who have already experienced that, but include enough details so the story makes sense to those who haven't, all while establishing emotional investment in something with an ending that, to many readers, is already known and predetermined.
It doesn't do a *terrible* job at all that, but this book definitely doesn't hit that line correctly. It started off fine (though a bit rushed) in the parts that come before Molly. But then it glossed over so many details during the final act especially that it felt like the cliff notes version. And while concisely trying to fit itself into the original's details, it felt like it lost any expression of Lucien's relatability or emotional connection. I kept forgetting why he was doing any of what he was doing, other than just that he was obsessed, and by the end I really didn't care.
TL;DR: it's fine enough if you've already experienced all of Campaign 2, but I'm not sure it would make any sense at all for someone not already immersed in CR.
It's always going to be a really hard line to walk with a project like this. Don't dwell too much on the things covered in the original campaign so you don't bore those readers who have already experienced that, but include enough details so the story makes sense to those who haven't, all while establishing emotional investment in something with an ending that, to many readers, is already known and predetermined.
It doesn't do a *terrible* job at all that, but this book definitely doesn't hit that line correctly. It started off fine (though a bit rushed) in the parts that come before Molly. But then it glossed over so many details during the final act especially that it felt like the cliff notes version. And while concisely trying to fit itself into the original's details, it felt like it lost any expression of Lucien's relatability or emotional connection. I kept forgetting why he was doing any of what he was doing, other than just that he was obsessed, and by the end I really didn't care.
TL;DR: it's fine enough if you've already experienced all of Campaign 2, but I'm not sure it would make any sense at all for someone not already immersed in CR.