A review by bluejayreads
Noble Roots by Drew Hayes

5.0

I don’t know how many books are left in this series, but it feels like the series is moving into the endgame. Kalzidar has been an enemy since book two, pretty much, but he’s finally taken his position as the main antagonist and BBEG. “Monster of the week”-style plots have overall been replaced with D&D style main plot with sidequests to get things required for the main plot. And overall, the tension is ramping up, and it just feels like everything is going to come to a head soon. 

Also, this book is really long and has a lot going on. So this review is probably going to get pretty long and cover a lot of random aspects. 

This is, weirdly, a book with more emphasis on parents. In the meta storyline, Russell’s mom gets involved in the mystery of Broken Bridge publishing and even gets a bit of an arc. I have a feeling she’ll be coming back in the future, too. And with our favorite cast of NPCs, the parents left behind in Maplebark are no longer just distant figures causing guilt. Eric and Gabrielle get to confront some stuff! 

This is also the first time I noticed symbolism in this series. A big theme here is growth, and there’s a lot of tree and plant symbolism. The NPCs get to see how much they’ve grown since book one, both compared to others who are not as far along their journeys and compared to their memories of their past selves. Having some parents around to see their growth through the eyes of someone who wasn’t along for the journey just emphasized it. Even in the meta storyline, there’s a bit where Russell and Sherry’s mom notices them growing up and maturing. And there’s so much symbolism of plants, trees, and plant monsters mixed into the fantasy elements of the story. 

Speaking of elements of the story, there are so many. I feel like I’ve been handed a whole box full of puzzle pieces, but I don’t know where any of them fit yet. There’s the PCs of the people in the meta storyline, who have barely interacted with our NPC protagonists but get enough page time that I know they have to factor in somewhere. There’s Russell’s mom, a new element as of this book but who seems to be more connected to everything than anyone suspects. There’s the whole question of how exactly the meta storyline is going to tie into everything. There’s the mystery of Broken Bridge Publishing and the girl with the colorful hair who definitely knows more than she’s saying. There’s Eric’s parentage, another surprise element introduced in this book. There’s Timiscore’s paladin powers. And of course, there’s the Bridge itself, which has taken a back seat over the past two books but I’m pretty sure is the lynchpin driving all of this somehow. I have no clue how it’s going to fit together but I can’t wait to find out. 

I say this every review, but I still adore the NPCs. They’re all growing so much, improving as adventurers, and finding their place in the adventuring life. This series even does a remarkable job balancing the sheer number of characters going on. Noble Roots is more of an Eric and Gabrielle book, but not by much. (I also want to say how much I appreciate that Eric and Gabrielle’s friendship has never once tipped over into romance and they’re explicitly not interested in each other that way. They’re the obvious romantic pairing, but it’s just not happening and it’s refreshing.) I also love how the whole story feels like it definitely could be a D&D adventure, but it also goes off the rails and becomes more. It pretty accurately captures the feeling that this is just a D&D adventure with self-aware NPCs. 

I have no clue when the next book in the series comes out. Considering this one just came out earlier this year, I’m guessing it won’t be soon. But I’m very much looking forward to it. It feels like the climax is approaching and I’m excited to find out how all of these pieces and storylines come together. But also I love this idea, I love the world, and I truly adore the NPC characters. Whenever book six does come out, I’m ready. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings