Remember the fantasy books you read in the eighties and nineties? Raymond E Feist, David Drake, maybe even David Eddings? That Baen Books fantasy feeling, basically.

Anyway, I feel like Bennet loved those growing up, but was like, "Man, those were kinda weird about women. And weirdly essentializing about race. I bet I could do better."

And he does! I'm not saying it's perfect, but it's definitely better.

I am getting around to writing this a month after reading it and returning it to the library, and I've already forgotten the names of the cities and civilizations, so skip if that's annoying to you.

The setup is, the nation of ... EasternEuropea used to dominate the globe, because the gods were literally on their side. Their gods lead them into war and granted them miraculous relics which bent reality. EasternEuropa colonized FakeIndiaStan and ruled its people with fear and violence. Then, about a hundred years ago, a leader rose in FakeIndiaStan, and developed a god-killing weapon. As the gods were killed, one by one, their relics and miracles lost their power, and the gods' followers were left stranded in a civilization that rested on a power that no longer worked. FakeIndiaStan turned around and colonized EasternEuropa, because at that this point, why not?

(Now, this is actually one of my major peeves with the book. I think this omits the real structural and generational trauma done by colonialism and subjugation. I don't think colonialism is really a force where you can just reverse polarity and keep going. But okay.)

So, this book starts when Shara, an official of FakeIndiaStan, is sent to Bulikov to figure out why the now godless city has murdered a quiet scholar sent to study the expired religion of the once ascendant continent. Shara is a pretty compelling character, and she comes with her own Viking murder-butler. The mystery is dumb because rugs don't work that way, but the parts of the world Bennet wants to explore are interesting, and the compelling part of the mystery, what happened to the gods? who were they, and why did they have an exclusive relationship with the people of EastEuropa? are explored, but not answered.

If you have fond memories of the authors mentioned at the beginning, give it a whirl. If you don't... i mean, no loss.