As a follow to the wonderful "The Hundred Thousand Kindgdoms," this was a book that was, perhaps, necessary. It gave a good glimpse at the repercussions of the climax of the previous book and examined even more deeply the effects of the particular cosmology of The Inheritance Trilogy's world. So there is some satisfaction in seeing more of the interesting mythology that Ms. Jemisin began in her last novel.

However, however...the book itself is fairly lackluster. The main character, Oree, is (much like Yeine from THTK) a complex, real and likable character. But the MacGuffin here, the murder of Godlings and the reason behind them is particularly unengaging. Characters are killed that we barely know, that we do not care for, and the real resolution seems to happen as an afterthought. It feels as if the book began as an escape adventure and became a Bidungsroman at the end.

The emotional life of Gods and mortals presented here is not uninteresting, but the events that lead us into the story (The murder of godlings, the consiparacy to murder a God) are given short shrift and their conflict is indeed resolved basically off screen. So...why have them? Why not just make a romance novel about a woman and her immortal lovers?

In the end, I like Ms. Jemisin's wordcraft and her mythology. Her characters are human, living, and believable. But the plotting and pacing of this one seem off kilter to me, and I was ultimately unsatisfied. That being said, I will be finishing up the trilogy and I do look forward to starting the third book shortly.