The Completionist Chronicles is a series entirely constructed of trash aspects and I can’t stop reading it. Nothing in this system is serious, everything is silly and pun-filled. The logical leaps in progression range from scientific to completely absurd and reality breaking, and often combines the two.

I open Inflame up and know I’m not getting poignant character moments or gripping plot. I know I’m getting coffee elementals, out-of-place references, jokes about the nature of cats or how ugly the protagonist is, and heaps more of the landfill of puns and game logic that tie this farce together.

And I am here for it.

I devoured this stupid book and intend to read the next one. The magic system’s logic is just sound enough to make everything feel… not earned, but satisfying. The characters are just human enough for me to laugh at their misfortunes. And Krout somehow manages an arsenal of Chekov’s Guns larger than any military arsenal.

If you made it to book five, you’re already in it, Broski. It’s not gonna get more sane from here. This is barely a story, few of these magical powerhouses are more character than container for absurdity, but I think I prefer it that way. Another series would be too afraid to include Spongebob references while celebrating war crimes. Another series might flinch away from improbable heat-concentrated lasers creating vacuum cannons to escape magma chambers.

I can only recommend this series to a certain type of person, but it is exactly what it tries to be, and deserves five stars for that.