I had to read the Wikipedia synopsis of the plot to remember what the hell had happened in the first two books because it’s A LOT.

I think I like these stories, they are compelling in a way that feels slightly undeserved for how incomplete the explanations are for mostly everything that happens. In this novel we get a bit closer to how all the necromancers began but it leaves us in a position just as confused as the first book. And now of course we have to await the fourth to understand a bit more.

Basically I don’t know if it’s clever or just disorganised.

I will tell you what I think the plot was. Basically some of the previous characters from the other books are looking after Nona. Who they think is Harrow. She doesn’t remember anything about herself. There’s a bunch of stuff happening on the planet they are, but what? Who the hell knows. The resurrection beast (what the hell is that), the blue light (is that related to the resurrection beast?), lots of factions who fight each other and don’t like the necromancers. Like it’s a lot of noise that is mostly confusing. What secret did Nona tell Hot Sauce?

The thing that compelled me to read all of them so far are the characters. The central characters of all three books are so interesting, that you read on. I loved Nona, she was delightful in her ignorance of what she was and who she was. She loved so big and fierce. I loved the strange relationship of Camilla and Palemedes. I liked reading about Nona’s gang a and what they got up to. Was any of it really relevant to the ending? Only in very small ways.

I also wish I remembered more about all the other characters from previous books who I vaguely remembered but really didn’t.

I wasn’t so much interested in the environment this time. It was just a planet, less of the absolute weird necromancer stuff from the previous books. It’s there a bit but to much less of a degree, which makes it all a bit boring in that regard. also incomprehensible as it was all these factions fighting over what, I have no idea.

So yeah. I’m not sure how much more I have in me. How much more nonsense can be spun with so little understanding of what is going on. I would like some closure or some greater insight into why everything is happening. Maybe it is in the previous books but they are likewise confusing as shit and you never know what is superfluous noise or important.

Anyway, it’s weird. I want to know the end of it all but if it’s more than one more book I might just read the Wikipedia notes.