[Traveling] Merchant Crab

Read Time: 2 Minutes

Did you ever wish for a recap when picking up the next book in a series? Well, book two of Merchant Crab gives us an epic 47-minute recap of the first book.

I was in two minds about it at first, wanting to get on with it but also digging it a little. It did a great job of distilling the main plot points of the first book into the important notes.

Once that massively long prologue was out of the way, we rejoined Balthazar, our favourite crabby crustacean as he set out on a quest to rescue his favourite baker.

After making fun of adventurers for so long, he finally joins there ranks as a travelling merchant crab, wandering the countryside looking for clues that might lead him to his destination.

It quickly becomes just how little Balthazar knows of the world beyond his little pond and bazaar. From buildings and crowds to currency and countries, there’s so much he doesn’t know.

Like any good adventurer, Balthazar gets pulled into side-quest after side-quest, such is the life of an adventurer on the road. That’s really what most of this book is, just a series of side-quests, some quick but others carrying on for quite a while.

Most of them all tie back into the plot somehow, getting the crab something he needs later on, even it if looks useless, or making a new friend.

Balthazar also gets to make new friends along the way, gains valuable skills, makes countless (and fairly lopsided) trade deals, and survives mostly on luck.

His shell is some fairly sturdy plot armour, but really, I don’t mind too much. It’s just a fun tale about a giant crab who gained system access when he wasn’t supposed to. The odd extra piece of plot armour or deus ex machina really doesn’t hurt.

McClain, of course, does another excellent job narrating the adventure. Over the top and enthusiastic as always, but polished and fun to listen to. He really leans into Balthazar’s grumpy personality and constant irritation with the world around him.

Overall, another fun instalment in the series. Balthazar is quite inept as an adventure (somehow frequently forgetting he’s a crab), with no real care to remember much about the people he meets beyond what they might trade with him or how to get gold from them. Fortunately for him he’s usually surrounded by those more competent.

I do wish that merchant crab would visit again soon. I want to hear the next one!

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