The Torch that Ignites the Stars

Definitely a middle book.

Executive Summary: A bit of a slow start and some VERY clunky prose, But overall another fun entry in the series. 3.5 stars, rounded up.Audiobook: I really like Nick Podehl and he once again does a great job here. He uses a variety of voices that makes each character distinct. There are parts of this book through no fault of his own that are a bit painful to listen to as “unabridged” audio, but not too many. Overall I really enjoy audio and will continue to do this series that way.Full ReviewI struggled with the start of this book to get back into things. It didn't help that it felt like the author was frequently advertising his other related books. The characters are often telling other characters stories or commenting how a character might tell them a story later.All that was missing was the author's footnote saying “available now where all books are sold”. I tried [b:Six Sacred Swords 43902687 Six Sacred Swords (Weapons and Wielders, #1) Andrew Rowe https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1551600782l/43902687.SY75.jpg 67973755] which is one of those series and generally struggled with it.I enjoy this series and its characters, so now I feel like I'm missing out on important backstory by not reading the other series. Especially when the author continued to bring it up as part of this story. All this is to say that it really put me off on the wrong foot with this book from the beginning.However as things went along, I remember why I enjoy this series so much. The prose has not always been the best, but the world building and the towers are just a lot of fun.I just generally enjoy the characters as well. I also particularly like the main character. That can help when the dialogue is clunky too.Overall, I found this a fun read, but it still suffers from polish issues. I'm looking forward to the next book, but I hope there is less talk about how events will be taking place in one of other connected series.