Mostly, I liked the owls.
Was the rolling "r" of Horrrrrrrrrrrrribly written into the manuscript or was that Wilson's embellishment? (Either way, I liked it). Almost every one of the owl's descriptions and lines were funny. My particular favorite was the owl who "specializes in everything". That's awesome! It reminds me that at work it seems like a constant battle to get our customers to prioritize their demands, because their tendency is to class EVERYTHING as the highest priority. I wonder if we could hire that owl? It seems like someone who specializes in everything would be particularly suiting to working in a system where everything is the highest priority.
Anyway, I still like the first Squonk best because then the concept was novel. The 2nd one was okay. I'm very picky about sequels (which is probably why I've never yet written one). If it doesn't add something significant to the universe, I tend to wish I could've just had a new story in a new world instead. The 2nd one fell into that category, but the owls totally made it for me on this one. I understand what Ocicat says about "Wendel went from reluctantly teaching animals wizardry to actually wanting to - the end." And I don't disagree, but the owls were so funny I didn't really mind.
I really enjoyed Wilson's reading, excellent overall, and I'd love to hear more from him. But the Mrs. Tweedlechirp voice was physically painful coming out of my earbuds. I'm not sure I can entirely blame Wilson for that one, because Anna's voicing of Mrs. Tweedlechirp was also physically painful. I know she's a bird, but when the speaker is planted so close to my eardrum those shrill voices are very unpleasant.