I will read the last book of the trilogy so I liked the novel and the series still, but in many ways, this had some of the common issues of a middle novel. After the ending of the previous book, our three human protagonists are separated- Kissen by circumstance, but Elo leaves Inara with Kissen’s friends for her protection while he tries to raise an army and start a revolution.
Skedi and Inara are still together but still have emotional distance to resolve after Skedi used his powers against Inara. It’s likely unfair towards Inara to want her to forgive Skedi so quickly but she was acting quite a bit like a petulant child for much of this novel, getting wrapped up in her emotions and abandonment issues when the characters like Elo truly were trying to protect. Just wish there had been more balance in her perspective rather than viewing everything as a personal slight rather than understanding their motivations but still disliking them.
With all the characters separated, much of the first half is setting up for later. Kissen, having survived the events of the last novel, is back in her homeland and witnesses first hand that her sacrifice wasn’t enough to stop Hseth. She may have killed the god but the god was at the height of her power with obsessively devout priests and followers and their faith will resurrect her sooner than later.
Elo is still spinning from betrayal, and faced with a former friend who is now a king that would become a god, while Inara continues to want answers.
I enjoyed some of the new gods we met and have enjoyed how the author has tried to take a more balanced and nuance approach while the world her characters inhabit has swung to one side or the other. I feel like lately, so often when I like a series or book, I quickly end up wanting to read the next in the series and more or less end up binging them. This is the rare series where I both want to continue but also am totally fine waiting a few weeks etc between reads. It’s kind of nice to let something drag out and feel like even though the story has more to do, the novel itself was a complete enough story and didn’t end on a cliffhanger.
