Callie's Heroes – R.A. Hayden

Delightful

Callie Archer is a nothing-special twenty-something who is Shanghaied to another world - where she wakes as a gnome. Gnomes are three-foot humanoids with a talent for tinkering and a racial propensity to go “I wonder what would happen if I press this red button”. Gnomes are often artisans; they are never Rangers. (Rangers have skills that revolve around the use of a six-foot longbow. As you may imagine, three-foot Gnomes and six-foot longbows are not a good fit.) So Callie finds herself drafted as a Gnome Ranger and committed to advanced training.

As training progresses, Callie shines. She thinks so far outside the box that she isn’t in the same county as the box. The officers and trainers expect great things of her. They are also developing a flinch reflex where she is concerned. (Oh look, a mushroom-shaped cloud! What did Callie do now?)

This book has been delightful. The author is taking his time and developing a world and a cast of characters. The mix of character interaction and action - with a small-but-helpful dash of LitRPG is balanced. (The story occasionally loses focus and starts sprawling, before it is reined back in.) At three-hundred-odd chapters (technically sixty-odd chapters in three-hundred-odd installments), Callie is halfway through training camp.