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This sequel didn't need to happen. The flowery descriptions do not make up for the cringe love triangle, flat characters, and repeated villainous monologues. The new threat served no purpose. This sequel's purpose seems to have been to give the heroine a final love interest.
Liwei and Wenzhi have been reduced to feuding man children existing only for Xingyin. The moon goddess herself is still a shallow character despite her having more presence here. The main baddie will not shut up in the middle of battles with his incessant backstory monologues. And the entire plot depends on a single item to save the day.
I loved the first installment, but it should have been a standalone.
I have loved each installment of this series so far. The religious themes were always apparent, but in an open and vague sort of way that didn't isolate a non-Christian reader. I also very much enjoy angel versus demons themes pulled from Christian mythology. The author being Catholic is very apparent, and that was also perfectly okay by me. Of course he's going to explore his existential musings in his books with that religious lens. I quite enjoy that as long as I'm not being preached at.
But then, boom! Egg Jesus. The Quiet being a monotheistic entity was always known, but vague and nuanced. Now, there's no wiggle room. This is the Christian god. Our “good” angel explains this by describing that, actually, Hadrian isn't saving the existence of this god. Silly Hadrian, god wants to save you! The egg is just an incarnation of himself that will still inevitably come, and that their Oracle incarnation has been killed once before (Jesus). You can't stop egg Jesus, Hadrian. Judgement Day is coming no matter what you do.
We the readers get to experience a whole sermon directed at egg Jesus's wayward sheep (Hadrian). In a church, no less. By an angel. And don't forget God is like, so sad by human suffering. He'd really like to save you from this galactic genocide with scary predator aliens but that would make him a tyrant to interfere. Don't worry, he totally loves you. Now follow His plan already!
If this was clearly labeled as Christian Fic, I would have been able to make an informed choice. Christian Sci-Fi as a genre should absolutely exist. But I shouldn't have had to experience a bait and switch 6 books in for that sub-genre to make itself clear.
An incredible amount of world building with a significant cast of characters. The first half was unfortunately a chore to read. There's a lot of people and cultural nuances to navigate initially. Once I got to the halfway mark, it really took off. I was hooked. If the first half was presented in an easier fashion I'd have given this another star. Still worth the read if you're a veteran of fantasy slogs and can weather the journey.
