Synopsis
When the saints call, the sinners answer.
Chaos stalks the steam-powered city of Chime and threatens the existence of the gods and their domains. Kayl swore to protect Chime’s mortals from their gods’ cruel whims, but when she agrees to represent the mortals of a god long thought dead, Kayl is thrust into a political role that goes against everything she’s ever stood for.
As the newly appointed ambassador to the god of time, Quen’s goal is clear – protect Chime and the domains by any means necessary. But as the gods make their demands, Quen is caught between his loyalties and his conscience.
To ensure a future for all mortals, Kayl and Quen must unite the gods against the threat of chaos and decide what they’re willing to sacrifice for Chime – before the gods choose for them.
For the gods are capricious and have their own divine plans.
Review
I was incredibly eager to get into this book after the nail-biter of a final section of The Thirteenth Hour, and I was delighted that this sequel built on everything I Ioved about the first book and more.Both protagonists are in very different positions after the shocking events at the end of the first book. It’s REALLY hard to talk about this without invoking spoilers because those climactic events completely turn our understanding of the world and the characters on its head in the best way possible.
(Seriously, go read the first book if you haven’t already)
I’ll try my best to be light on spoilers here regardless. So, Quen is in a new position of responsibility to his god and trying to balance that with his feelings for Kayl. Kayl is also in a new role, one that also puts her in a precarious position, and both are at the mercy of gods that want to manipulate them and yet they retain their own agency as they try to get around those elements. We also have a third POV character who… I won’t spoil where she came from, Jinx is pure chaos in a very literal sense. She’s completely unhinged. Not everyone will like her and she’s written in that way on purpose. She’s an antagonist, no doubt, but given her situation, it’s hard not to have some level of understanding about how she turned out the way she did. Honestly, the character work is top notch. The characters are literally created by their gods and have to choose either to serve them or push back as the godless do – which is at huge risk to themselves.
The world is as immersive as ever as we get to explore more of the different realms outside of Chime. I particularly enjoyed the world of the Amnae, who can manipulate memories and who live underwater – we’ve already seen the consequences of this in the first book with characters’ minds – and the airborne Zephyr whose realm is comprised of air and everything floating within, with no solid ground. Each world is ruled by its god and they’re very much present in the characters’ lives, establishing immediate stakes. The central city of Chime is still at the heart of the story but the characters’ new roles send them out into the other realms to stop an apocalyptic threat on an existential level.
The stakes are sky-high, and yet we never lose touch with the characters’ personal relationships and journeys and there are some new faces as well as familiar ones here. I can’t say enough good things about this series, and the author expands the scope of the world(s) while deepening characters and adding new elements. Like a good sequel, it expands the world yet doesn’t feel like a stepping stone on the way to the finale.
Speaking of which… I’m ready to dive into the third book now.
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