Unfortunately, Max Brooks’ latest foray into the world of Minecraft, The Village, is his least successful so far. While the first book, The Island, offered a delightful, inventive take on the Minecraft mythology, the subsequent two books – The Mountain and The Village – are perfect examples of diminishing returns. The Village, in particular, just feels like it’s treading water. All of the novelty of that original premise has long since worn off, and Brooks keeps dragging his feet when it comes to providing any answers to the series’ ongoing questions. 

Instead, Guy and Summer spend a few months around a Minecraft village, living off the land and finding various ways to trade with the villagers. For hardcore Minecraft fans, there are certainly a lot of delightful easter eggs to find here. And it’s worth pointing out that Brooks continues to breathe a lot of life into the Minecraft world, really luxuriating in some of the game’s more absurd elements. 

But for the more casual reader, The Village reads a bit like a never-ending montage. Things do eventually pick up towards the final third of the book, but by that point, it’s too little too late. And the book ends with yet more setup for a future installment. It’s hard to see how much longer Brooks could drag this story out, especially as it’s already gone on a bit too long so far. But it does feel like we might finally be nearing the endgame. 

All of that being said, The Village is still an enjoyable enough read. It offers a welcome return to the world of Minecraft, and Guy still makes for a delightful narrator. There are plenty of worthwhile messages to mine here, too. It’s just a shame the book takes so long to properly go anywhere. In a way, that’s kind of like how playing Minecraft feels. But when the first book in this series was so good, and the second one still showed a lot of promise, it’s disappointing to see this third entry really drop the ball so hard. If you’re a hardcore Minecraft fan, The Village is probably still worth a read. But if you’re only casually into it, you can probably give this one a pass.

3 out of 5 wands.

Disclaimer: a review copy was provided by the publisher and Edelweiss. All thoughts are my own.