Journey to Ataraxia, by Djouner

Journey to Ataraxia is a serial story featuring a “manned” wolf named Vernon and a dragon prince named Azreth who encounter one another in the most dire of circumstances, overcome their immediate differences, and work together to get themselves out of their predicament. I was given episodes 1-5 for this review, so my comments only refer to those installments.

The characters are where the story really shines. I found both Vernon and Azreth to be sympathetic and interesting, and it was easy to get invested in their story. They are very different, with distinct personalities and complex enough to feel real on the page.

The story itself is action-packed, deeply considered, and intriguing for the reader, though at times the characters felt a little too lucky or all-powerful and some of the events were simplistic or told too quickly for the reader to deeply embed. However, it definitely still has the makings of a fine, epic adventure tale.

Unfortunately, Journey to Ataraxia is in real need of some editing. As a serial posted on a steady schedule, this is often the case and excusable to an extent; however, the spelling, punctuation, and grammar issues do detract and distract from the reading. In places words are used in ways that don’t quite align with their meaning. And the main character is described consistently as a “manned wolf.” I can’t tell if they meant him to be a maned wolf or if a “manned” wolf is something they’ve invented for this story world.

The extreme overuse of ellipses was also distracting, and one sentence was just left unfinished with words and punctuation missing. All these errors lessened the reading experience, though the bones of the story were definitely solid enough to warrant some time with a good editor.

Overall, Journey to Ataraxia is a good, wholesome story with excellent characters and a sweet message about redemption and kindness. If you’re a reader who is comfortable with online formats and not bothered by errors in the text, I guarantee you will enjoy giving it a try.