Chapel Orahamm

Howl’s Moving Castle meets Legends & Lattes in this cozy fantasy set on a magical inn in the sky.

At a cozy inn among the clouds, love finally drifts close for a lonely innkeeper, but danger drifts closer.

In all of Itharos no inn is more enchanting—or peculiar—than The Driftcap Inn, a cozy haven in the sky carved from a giant floating mushroom. Its owner, Eino the Wanderer, enjoys a life of breathtaking views and freedom from the petty wars and political intrigue of the kingdoms below. But a home set adrift in the vast, empty skies can also be unbearably lonely.

When a handsome and enigmatic apothecary named Joren comes aboard, an unexpected companionship blossoms between the two men, stirring the possibility of something deeper. But their peaceful journey through the clouds is shattered when a string of unsettling events threatens to send Eino’s home plummeting to the ground.

Something wicked is spreading its roots across The Driftcap Inn, and Eino suspects there’s much more to it than just bad luck. With dark secrets surrounding every guest and danger creeping ever closer, Eino must decide who he can trust with his life — and with his heart.

Alright, it advertises itself as a cross between Howl’s Moving Castle and Legends and Lattes. I’ve read both of those. And I’m not entirely sure that I would agree. It was whimsical, and fantasy ladden without becoming an epic fantasy – so it won’t take you the next three years to finish. I can’t exactly put my finger on why The Driftcap Inn didn’t resonate with me, but let’s see if I can work that out here.

The world build was comprehensive with mild political intrigue, an amassment of unique characters, distinctive plant and animal life. The main character had a playboy fair with the lying personality that was cartoonised in a manner that kept the story bright. The love interest however was not well developed. He was a fixation, and a couple instances of talking were not much to create depth. There was some indication of character growth, but by the time it hit, the pacing in the story couldn’t accommodate it better. There was more fantasy than romance, with romance being the minor subplot and the overwhelming amount of drawn out action sequences leaving very little breathing room for it to become more.

It is a fade to black story where nothing more than finger touching and a couple of rather chaste kisses take place on page. I can’t complain about that. Enough authors do that, and not everything has to be spicy. I just couldn’t quite find the romance to actually move the characters into those instances. I will admit though that it most likely has much to do with my annoyance with the main character’s penchant for tall tales, which I don’t find attractive in people and so couldn’t connect. There are going to be plenty of people who enjoy these types of grey characters that mean absolutely no harm to people.

I can honestly see this as being a rather popular read for a much larger audience. The editing was decent. The action pacing with descriptors could have seriously been cultivated down a bit more and breathing room inserted for character development IF the goal had been character development rather than an adventure. I have mixed feelings, but I would suggest it. And that at the end of my reading sessions usually tells me it was a good enough book to enjoy, and indicates to me that others more in the massmarket would probably find it good.

The author’s style and capacity to keep up with the world build was pleasant. If other stories by her are like this in that manner, then they probably would also make for good reads. It won’t make you blush or flushed with excitement, so probably a perfectly respectable book to sit at a cafe and enjoy a mocha in mid-spring when flowers drip from every surface and corner.

Ah.

That’s what it felt like. The green of daffodil shoots before they bloom.

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