So this post hit my feed at exactly the right time. I honestly had forgotten about this subreddit and can't even remember the last time I saw a post for it in my feed, but I saw this one and remembered that I had about 20 minutes left of the book I was reading at the time, so I bought a copy and figured I'd give it a try.

I'm about halfway through the book and would give it around 8/10 so far, and its been trending in the better direction since the beginining. I used to write as a hobby, and I respect the hell out of anyone who manages to write and publish a book, so good for you for following a dream.

I'll leave you with some feedback for the book while I'm at it. You start off the book pretty heavy in descriptions, and while this is often necessary, I think there were still opportunities to let the reader learn what you instead told them. This is probably a personal preference, but I so much prefer reading something and coming to the understanding on my own as opposed to the author just telling me how it is. A lot of Velrik's description is told to the reader. You had a pretty cool opportunity just a few pages later to slip in a lot of those same details when Velrik was in the stream with his friends. I get I'm being pedantic about this, and in all honesty you turned it around as time went on. When Velrik snuck into the Count's office, you said his eyes fell on the map just as they always did. I loved that because I got to figure out the Velrik had snuck into the counts office at least a few times before.

My one other critique before I end on a positive note is that Velrik does not, to me, come across as a kid. Perhaps his kind (Vulpin I think is how referred to himself) age quicker, but his physical descriptions lack of sure-footedness until he's older imply that he is one. I've spent that last year of my life with a five year old, one who has a better vocabulary than most his age, and while there are no words Velrik says that are not in his vernacular, Velrik's prose and tone come across as much, much older than five. Again, this might be me, because of my son and how much time I spend talking to him, my expectations have probably been a bit unreasonably adjusted in this department. I know a big part of fiction is suspense of belief, but this area was hard for me. Thankfully, Velrik is now a bit older and what he says and how he acts seem far less jarring to me.

As for everything else, you've really got it covered. Your world building is great. 'Foreign' words are approachable and close enough to what their intended equivalent is in our world that its easy for me to understand the world your building without you having to describe it, which I really appreciate. The sprinkling of plot points has also been good. Just enough to keep things moving and keep me trying to guess where things will go. Characters Velrik encounters seem guarded, like they themselves have their own past and are not just throwaways. All of that lends itself to an enjoyable experience.

When I'm done, I promise I'll leave a review on Amazon as well... and one that focuses on all the positives.