A review by brnineworms
The Adventure Zone: The Eleventh Hour by Griffin McElroy, Clint McElroy, Carey Pietsch

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

4.0

So... I don’t listen to The Adventure Zone any more. I don’t hate it, I don’t think it’s awful, I just lost interest and moved on to other podcasts. I bring this up because my no-longer-a-fan status is relevant to my experience reading this book.

I remember The Eleventh Hour being my favourite Balance arc. I loved Roswell, I was thrilled to learn more about the PCs’ backstories, and the imagery of the purple worms cutting through the red-orange clay stuck with me. I also appreciated the arc being more focused on puzzles and problem-solving rather than combat, with the time limit imposing a sense of urgency. It’s a good arc, is what I’m saying.

That said, there are aspects of The Adventure Zone that I’ve come to dislike. I noted in my review of the Petals to the Metal graphic novel that there’s a tone issue, with goofy jokes and sombre moments coming up against each other and clashing. I think the problem runs deeper than punchlines/gut punches not landing, however. The way these contrasting moods are all tangled up makes it difficult for the listener or reader to know what to care about. One death will be mocked, while another will be mourned. One act of violence will be treated as harmless fun, while another is meant to be brutal. In the end you just have to turn your brain off and wait to be told how to react. Which I don’t like. But... it grew on me.

The Adventure Zone: The Eleventh Hour is mindless fun. A backhanded compliment, maybe, but it’s a compliment nonetheless. If you’re able to not think too hard about what’s going on and just let the scenes play out in front of you, you’ll have a good time.

It’s quite Taako-heavy, but I’m not complaining – I like Taako. Magnus and Merle have their moments. Roswell is indeed there!

The artwork is good. Some sequences are a little hard to follow and there are an absurd amount of sound effects, but the character designs and their expressions are solid. And I really like the way Taako’s hair looks in this one.

So yeah, it’s pretty decent! Heart-worming, even.

CONTENT WARNINGS: fire, death