Old Wicked

I went into *Old Wicked* expecting the satisfying crunch of a dragon apocalypse, and La Ronn delivered exactly that—but not without a few surprises. Miles Meili’s narration is the star here, especially in the book’s climactic battle scenes, where his voice physically vibrates with Old Dark’s rage. The production team deserves credit too; the soundscapes actually made me pause playback just to listen to the way fire and magic clash in the background. That said, the prose occasionally stumbles into *Game of Thrones*-style melodrama, particularly in how it lingers on characters’ emotional turmoil when the dragon is literally reducing buildings to ash. It’s a tonal whiplash that’s hard to ignore when the world is literally on fire. Where the book excels is in its sheer *scale*—Old Dark isn’t just a villain; he’s an inevitability, and the story treats him as such. The city’s collapse feels earned, not rushed, and the way La Ronn ties together the series’ threads without sacrificing momentum is impressive. My only real critique? The final act’s resolution wraps up a few threads a little too neatly, as if the dragon’s apocalypse was just a plot device instead of the cataclysm it was built to be. Still, this is a roaring, unforgiving finale that leaves little room for subtlety—and that’s exactly what makes it work.