u/LuciferNaamah

We get arcs that drag on for years with no payoff: Rags returning to the inn, Ryoka coming back, gods supposedly being defeated, and the Titan speaking to Erin. Huge reveals are teased and then abandoned. The Blighted King’s lies go nowhere. The Mother of Graves is built up endlessly and never acts. The Reinharts are framed as a major threat and then collapse into irrelevance. The Antinium numbers are revealed, and nothing changes.

The Goblin King turns out to be just an angry man, so what was the point of the keys? The “new lands” are apparently for the Gnolls, except every random faction gets involved anyway. Characters go through supposedly life-changing events only to be reset by the next chapter. The inn becomes a world-famous landmark, and then everyone conveniently forgets it exists. Erin is broadcast across the world, yet somehow nobody recognises her.

Erin saves her friend, and the world sides with the attacker. Roshal assaults the Five Families, and they still come out looking justified. Erin gains the Pavilion of Secrets and learns the Bloodfeast Raiders are still alive, yet does nothing with either revelation. She even has leverage over the Blighted Kingdom’s mage and still never acts on it.

The story constantly builds massive stakes, then refuses to follow through on them.

Let’s be honest, something has shifted in Pirateaba’s writing, and not in a good way.

Early on (roughly the first 5–6 volumes), the story felt like it had a clear direction. The arcs were tighter, the character focus made sense, and there was real momentum. Now it feels like that coherence has been lost.

Instead, we’re getting sprawling detours into side characters and plotlines that, frankly, a lot of readers aren’t invested in. The Palace of Fates arc was especially disappointing, and now in the new lands, we’re again following characters that don’t feel central to the story people originally got hooked on.

I know Pirateaba has compared Erin’s journey to Rand’s in The Wheel of Time, but that comparison doesn’t really land for me. Rand’s arc worked because the surrounding cast still felt meaningful and connected to the core narrative. Here, it often feels like the story is drifting rather than building.

Volume 10 in particular has been a letdown compared to what came before. We’ve waited years for certain arcs to progress, and instead, the pacing feels slower than ever, with key storylines barely moving.

I’m not saying the series is beyond saving, but right now it feels like it’s lost focus and urgency. Curious if others feel the same, or if I’m missing something.