I’m back with a short review to tell you to buy Gwelf: Into the Hinterlands! If you remember, I really adored the original Gwelf: The Survival Guide for its detailed worldbuilding that made the pictures come to life.
The only downside of the original book was that it was all world-building and no story. But well, the follow up book, Gwelf: Into the Hinterlands, has now remedied the situation. Now that we are familiar with the world of Gwelf, we’ll follow our chronicler and he attempts to visit the most dangerous parts of the world – for research, of course.
Like the original, Into the Hinterlands is a beautiful book. The images are slightly darker this time, as we travel to the territory of the dangerous Ravens, but I was captivated by the travel narrative. It was quite interesting to follow a group of Gwelf citizens around and get to know them on a deeper level.
But while there was a journey, I have to caution you that there isn’t that much conflict within the group. They are a largely harmonious bunch and the focus of the story is really on the travelling. I wouldn’t read this expecting intrigue or betrayal, it really is just a more in-depth and narrative-driven guide to this beautiful world. In a way, the story isn’t that deep – it’s just here to showcase the world even more
That said, I absolutely adored this book. It builds well on what the first book has done and I’ve no doubt that if a third book is ever written, I’ll buy it immediately so that I can see how much more depth Larry MacDougall has added to this enchanting world.
P.s. I would 100% categorise this as cosy fantasy!
This looks like something my oldest daughter (19-year-old aspiring author) would adore. Does it happen to have any foxes in it? I didn’t see any in the pictures, but that would be the icing on the cake for her if there were.
The “author” of the tale is a fox, if I’m not wrong! I remember drawings of foxes as well, though I don’t think they were the main species. I think she’s really like this book!
This is so damn cute and I need it!!!
It is SO CUTE, no regrets paying for shipping haha
I haven’t come across this before. Looks like world is really good, too bad this doesn’t have a plot or something to keep readers engaged.
It’s still very good! I think if you’re looking to explore a cosy world with some danger, the books fit perfectly
I absolutely love the look of this book- I didn’t realise how much I needed this book in my life- thank you so much for bringing this to my attention!!
I think you should get both books! You’ll probably love them both!
The artwork is beautiful! And it sounds like such an interesting story. Thank you for sharing this one with us!
It’s great! I loved the artwork from the first book so it’s nice to see more of a story happening too!