6️⃣🔼 = PASSABLE!

Thworping through time and space, one adventure at a time!

“RAIDERS OF THE LOST HANDBAG!”

This fourth part of the Excelis trilogy brings time-travelling archaeologist Bernice Summerfield to Artaris—now a barren, post-apocalyptic world ravaged by wars and plague—and she quickly bumps into Iris Wildthyme. There’s great tension between the two characters from the start, helped by Bowerman’s no-nonsense attitude and Manning’s delightfully energetic Iris (which, I have to admit, is much easier to listen to here than in Excelis Dawns but can still be a bit annoying).

Iris is here to steal the famed relic of Excelis and allies herself with Bennie to do so. Bennie's arrival causes panic among the population because of a prophecy foretelling Excelis's fall. We also follow the local politics, with Excelis led by a determined Empress.

The story is simple and not very exciting. It turns into a small archaeological expedition toward the end, and Bennie and Iris inject energy into it, but it’s hardly anything memorable.

The atmosphere, music, and performances align with the previous Excelis stories. There’s a slightly mysterious and uneasy atmosphere to this, but I’m not entirely convinced there are new things to explore about Excelis.

RANDOM OBSERVATIONS:

It’s distracting to hear the characters talk about Aragon, who I constantly hear as Aragorn from The Lord of the Rings.