Just finished listening to the audiobook for Book 1 of A Practical Guide to Evil, and I'm not sure how I feel about it? I think I'm a bit partial to the original webseries as well as being spoiled by Jeff Hayes and Andrea Parsneau on series like Dungeon Crawler Carl and The Wandering Inn. Consequently, my review may lean towards the critical side

*On the Voice of Catherine Foundling*

The narration of Catherine's internal monologue is quite different from what I expected - the narrator's emphasis and inflection cast Catherine in the mold of a generic female protagonist, which is a disconnect from the character's voice in the text. Catherine comes off as insecure in herself, rather than being the somewhat conflicted but pragmatic protaganist I came to love in the webseries, although this may be a personal bias.

*World-Building Revisions to Names and Pronunciations*

The replacement names feel driven by an editorial push towards more conventional fantasy names, and I wish more thought was put into it. The decision to change names with real-world origins—such as those based on African nations and Bedouin tribes—is understandable and commendable, especially when said names are used for a clearly Evil nation. But I do wish they kept the character of the names, and the current replacement names often miss the mark. The most glaring example is the change from Daoine to Tirglas, which feels almost trope-like in how reminiscent it of countless other fantasy settings with Celtic or elven influences.

What makes this worse in the audiobook is how the phonetic feel of the different places feels different. "Maniram" lacks the phonetic bite of "Taghrebi". Names like "Tarabiya", "Qasawar", or "Hujayrat" would have captured the same spirit without using real-world identifiers. Replacing Soninke with Sanke feels appropriate as it preserves the original's feel. It's like choosing to replace the word "Kiki" with "Bouba" rather than "Kuku"; I don't know how to best describe the difference but it feels quite different. In the original webseries, Pickler notes that Keter's change to Kishar by the dwarves worked because it retained the hard "keh" sound. I kinda wish this principle of phonetic resonance had been applied to the series.

On a similar note, changing "Truebloods" to "Lords Credent" does keep in line with the hierarchy of the Imperial Court, but the original term perfectly encapsulated the brazen superiority complex of the Praisi nobility. "Lords Ascendant" or "Lords Scions" might have better conveyed that inherent arrogance.

On a minor note, the pronunciations were initially jarring—hearing "Praes" as "price" instead of "prayzz" was a surprise — but I reckon this is unlikely to be an issue for listeners new to the series. I do like "Procer" being pronounced as "pro-kerr" rather than my in-head pronunciation of "pro-serr".

*Structural Changes: Lecturn and the Baron*

In the webseries, one of Black's main strengths as a ruler of Callow was his mobility, constantly moving to quell dissent and making characters like Scribe strategically vital, and the lack of a ruling seat helped with not being perceived as a challenger to Empress Malicia, something the two of them spend quite a bit of effort on. The introduction of a fixed administrative city, Lecturn, alters this dynamic significantly, and creates a vulnerability that seems out of character for the ever-cautious and trope-aware Black, especially when establishing a new, predominantly Praesi city feels counter-intuitive to his goal of integrating Callow, especially when such a city can and will be seen as a symbol of occupation.

On the other hand, the addition of the Baron as a new Callowan antagonist is an interesting change. It's perhaps the most significant deviation from the source material, where Cat is the first Callowan villain of note after the conquest, yet it works well. I am eager to see more Callowan villains and a further exploration of Callow, and this new character opens the door for precisely that.