Released February 16, 2022
If you have not read Lord January yet, which is the first book in the Year of the Sword series, I suggest that you do that before reading this as there may be spoilers. You have been warned.
Lady February, as stated above, is the second book in the Year of the Sword series by Dakota Krout. Following Grant Monday into the district of February, you quickly find that February is as different from January as it can get. In January, individuals were grievously overweight, and in February industry outside of fitness has halted altogether, which causes its own set of issues for the citizens of February. This book is just as funny as Dakota Krout’s other work and has the added benefit of continuing Grant’s progression as a character. Krout is wonderful at letting the audience experience Grant’s progression through the views of people he meets, as well as, through his own internalization. Not only do we get growth for Grant but we are starting to see Sarge (Grant’s sword’s personality) become more integral and multi-faceted through Grant’s leveling up and Sarge’s tutelage style choices.
While the characters are very well defined, I wish more time was afforded to exploring February as a district. This is done in small ways, usually Grant blundering through and making a fool of himself. An example of the “small ways” is the first town Grant comes across is his introduction to February’s fanatical approach to exercise. However, while January was explored with depth and the problems of the district being at the forefront of the story, February gets a kind of hand wave to show that there are problems, but the lack of time spent on them makes them seem like non-issues. Now, don’t get me wrong, I understand why Krout made this decision (or at least I can surmise why). For one thing, Krout is releasing the books one a month for all of 2022. That is a rough timeline. For another thing, the story isn’t really meant to explore all the facets of culture that Grant comes across, the fact that he even notices that there is a problem at all is part of his characterization and growth. I, personally, just would have liked to see some of the impacts of having no farmers, or people who are willing to deliver goods as a job and not part of their physical cultivation (or exercise). The world-building for the type of story it is is well done.
That all said, don’t think I didn’t like this book. It was fun! Sometimes, I just want a book that is going to make me laugh and be silly for the sake of silliness. I would recommend this book if you like any of Dakota Krout’s other work, are new to LitRPG as a genre (primarily because it has so few LitRPG elements), or just enjoy YA adventure stories (Grant is technically late-teens in the book, but due to his background he starts off seemingly as a younger character).
**Travis Baldree does the narration for the audiobooks! Get them. Bladree is hilarious and a perfect choice for this type of story.**
Where to buy:
And where to buy Lord January:
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