The author writes at the beginning of this book that you may not want to pick it up if you haven’t read his other works set in the same world, namely The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man’s Fear. Having read the two with varying successes (loved the first, hated the second) I feel like, for a reader like me, that’s not entirely true. Sure, there are background characters I can’t exactly place, but they are mostly that - background characters. And knowing a whole lot about the innkeeper isn’t a prerequisite when reading about Bast, his mysterious coworker.

This charming novella follows a day in the life of Bast, and the various bargains he strikes with, again, varying successes. Bast, being fae, knows the value of a bargain. He knows how to twist the truth so that it’s not entirely a lie, but it’s not entirely true either. And this comes in very handy when he faces some of the village children who are smarter than what is good for them.

This novella was fun and I appreciated the many illustrations, but it did not entirely work for me. I think The Slow Regard of Silent Things set the bar way too high and I didn’t find the simple complexity that had made that book one of my all-time favourites. The Narrow Road is still a lovely book, toeing the line between the said and unsaid, and playing with folklore surrounding the fae. It’s one I’ll probably re-read and pick up different hints every time, which is a kind of book I tend to enjoy very much.

Rep: bi character.