The Wa We Were

Stephanie’s World in Draft collection opens with a wonderfully audacious premise and sustains it with buoyant style, inventive worldbuilding, and a keen sense of comic momentum. From the first chapter’s cosmic breach in the Great Ledger to Tatiana’s escape from Formariel, the book treats doors as more than portals: they become symbols of choice, identity, inheritance, and the dangerous elegance of transition. That idea gives the novel its distinctive spark, and the author keeps finding fresh ways to illuminate it.

One of the book’s great strengths is its voice. The narration is witty without ever feeling brittle, and the prose is packed with memorable turns of phrase—whether describing the God of Doors misjudging “the edge of when,” Quoth the raven filing grievances in the Bureaucratic Deadlands, or the deliciously absurd hospitality of “polite cannibals.” The humor lands because it is anchored in real stakes: Tatiana’s search for her father, Dr. Wa’s controlled necromantic professionalism, and Dorrin’s uneasy, moving role as a being who is both charming companion and structural instability. These characters are not just amusing; they are emotionally legible, and their evolving relationships give the story warmth.

The structure also deserves praise. Each chapter advances both the plot and the conceptual architecture of the book, moving from enchanted rebellion to bureaucratic nightmare to reunion and release. The repeated return of the Ledger, thresholds, and “borrowed” identities creates cohesion across the book’s larger, delightfully unruly terrain. Even the title The Aftertaste of Etiquette feels earned: this is a story interested in the cost of politeness, the pressure of rules, and what happens when people choose honesty over tidy appearances.

If there is a small caveat, it is that readers who prefer strict minimalism may find the layered asides and whimsical density occasionally expansive rather than brisk. But that richness is also part of the book’s charm.

Highly recommended for readers who love fantasy with intelligence, humor, heart, and a truly original imagination.