I think this is actually a pretty ambitious debut. I appreciate the attention to the worldbuilding with the history of the land and the gods, and even though the character relationships feel a bit shallow right now, there is room to grow. My biggest quibble is that there seems to be several elements borrowed from other fantasy stories and this often feels very much like an A Song of Ice and Fire wannabe. And Inara/Skedi feels a bit toooo Lyra/Pantalaimon to me. The early dialogue had some cringe moments, but it got better as the book progressed, or maybe I just got used to it.
I wanted it to explore more about the relationships of humans, gods, religion and specifically the impact of religious suppression and denial on societies. It seems trivial to make it all about gods warring with each other, though I suppose that is just an actual manifestation of religious conflict irl.
The character arc for Elo is probably the most interesting as he needs to choose his loyalties, and the mystery of Inara is the most intriguing with who and actually what she might be. Kissen was a very stereotypical badass warrior woman, and I actually did NOT like the romance bit with Elo, tho I can appreciate that everyone loves their sexytimes, no matter how and when they can get them. The mystery around Skedi’s past and how he became connected to Inara is also of interest to me. (I think I might be talking myself into reading Book 2, which I wasn’t sure I was going to do!) I didn’t love it but I didn’t hate it either.
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