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Book #1 - High-stakes book about Sieh, Shahar, and Dekarta dealing with huge problems that are largely Sieh's fault.
Book #2 - Lower-stakes book about Ahad and Glee dealing with more mundane problems (but only slightly more mundane since they still involve gods) with a variety of causes, only some of which are Sieh.
These storylines do not mesh well as presented. I would've liked either on its own, but shoved together like this, the book one narrative diminishes the book two one in a way that comes off as unfair. And I think it's unfair not just to that storyline, but to the series as a whole.
The thing is that the problems presented in the Ahad-and-Glee-intensive sections are, world-impact-wise, relatively minor compared to the ones Sieh brings with him into them. Given that the problems Sieh brings in include "the end of the all existence." This makes book 2 feel slight. Yet from the series-overall perspective, what's going on with them - Itempas's redemption, Oree and Naha/Hado's fates, and the changing relationship between the gods and humans - should really be treated as more important than is Sieh's archnemesis we'd never heard of before. In my ideal version of this series, I think Ahad and Glee would get their own book before Sieh got his.
Also, Jemisin's homicidal deities are more likable when observed by smitten mortals then when they speak for themselves; I assume that's deliberate. You want to whack Sieh a lot in this book.
Book #2 - Lower-stakes book about Ahad and Glee dealing with more mundane problems (but only slightly more mundane since they still involve gods) with a variety of causes, only some of which are Sieh.
These storylines do not mesh well as presented. I would've liked either on its own, but shoved together like this, the book one narrative diminishes the book two one in a way that comes off as unfair. And I think it's unfair not just to that storyline, but to the series as a whole.
The thing is that the problems presented in the Ahad-and-Glee-intensive sections are, world-impact-wise, relatively minor compared to the ones Sieh brings with him into them. Given that the problems Sieh brings in include "the end of the all existence." This makes book 2 feel slight. Yet from the series-overall perspective, what's going on with them - Itempas's redemption, Oree and Naha/Hado's fates, and the changing relationship between the gods and humans - should really be treated as more important than is Sieh's archnemesis we'd never heard of before. In my ideal version of this series, I think Ahad and Glee would get their own book before Sieh got his.
Also, Jemisin's homicidal deities are more likable when observed by smitten mortals then when they speak for themselves; I assume that's deliberate. You want to whack Sieh a lot in this book.
