I am slowly reading through all my to-read shelf. I think I am down to about 5 non-fiction and 3 non-fiction, so even though I have bought these books, there is something about them that has made me hesitate picking them up. I think maybe there’s something in that.

This book was fine, but I know it didn’t really strike a chord as I was completely dispassionate for the ending. I’m not sure what it was, I liked the characters well enough, but maybe it was just that the story itself was kind of even-tempo most of the way through. Even when there were some battles or bigger fights, they never really made an impact on me in anyway.

The main plot revolves around Hessa, a disgraced warrior-priestess of the goddess Eang. But the larger struggle is between the old gods and new gods, which Hessa get’s all tied up in. But it’s a bit of a slog from the get go, as it front loads a lot of the misery that propels Hessa into action. However, every time there is a bit of a slow bit, it’s just Hessa remembering how sad she is, or how forsaken she is, or something like that. She was basically action or misery, which is a bit tiring.

I think my other problem with the book is that it just dragged a bit. It didn’t commit the cardinal sin of not having Hessa not sleep for ages or have to do super human feats of endurance (even though she can, as she can draw upon Eang’s power of weird fire / super human strength). It’s just a long journey, that isn’t particularly interesting, though at least everyone she learns more about what the hell is going on around her. I dunno. There was good world building but it was fundamentally just a bit boring to me. Maybe everything just unfurls a little too slowly, drip feeding Hessa some knowledge, even though we (as readers) kind of understood the bigger picture. So it’s a little tiring for Hessa to make connections when we had already done so 100 pages ago.

Anyway, it’s fine. Perhaps I just didn’t connect with the characters and you will. Certainly an easy read and some interesting ideas.