Kirins was a fun book. Interesting premise which reached out to the child in me; who doesn't want little invisible friends? Well done!

The book creates the very real world of the Kirins, a race of foot high magical creatures (think gnomes, leprechauns, etc) who live and thrive in the forests. Two of these beings, Talli and Gilin, are unexpectedly thrust into danger, when they are tasked with finding the answer to why Kirin magic is dwindling. They, and several of their friends, embark on a quest, pursued doggedly by strange beings, finding strange perils and discoveries in their journey.

The book does an exceptional job of creating a believable world for the Kirins, and having them interact with our reality. The characters are charming and engaging and I had no problem caring about their fate as they confront obstacles. They are familiar enough to relate too, with just enough mysterious essence to hold your curiosity. The fantasy world is well crafted; it is not confusing, nor is it boring.

The plot is solid and carries the reader along, although it does meander a bit, which hurts the sense of urgency of the quest. Some of the waywardness is reasonable given the fact the characters are portrayed as somewhat bewildered and out of their depth, but I would have liked a touch more tension. Still, I cannot say it detracted overly from my reading enjoyment.

I do recommend the book for fantasy lovers of all ages; it is a skilful work of fantasy fiction. Just keep in mind it is the first book in the trilogy; the Kirin quest continues in the second and third book.

This is a very detailed and well imagined world. Unfortunately, I found the story to be extremely tedious. By way of explanation,I listened to the free podcast of this from podiobooks, and I find audiobooks have a tendency to be a bit frustratingly slow for me anyway, because it takes so much longer to listen to them than it would if I read the book. But beyond that, this would benefit from a vigorous reduction in words. There is one place where the same 5 minute event is described from 3 different viewpoints. The characters tend to experience an event then mull it over again in their minds. A lot of unnecessary information is given, for instance, a side character, an old man, is teaching his grandson gun safety and shooting technique, so we get a lengthy and entirely unnecessary lesson on gun safety and shooting technique. There were also a few minor irritations in the writing, such as certain much-too-convenient pieces of knowledge, skills etc. that are revealed at the time needed instead of being given at an earlier time when they would have made more sense and been more believable. The effect of which is to make it feel like that skill or information was made up on the spot because it was needed for the story and was not really a part of the characters world or thinking till then.