East of West Volume 2: We Are All One

I'll keep reading, because I'm still curious. There is quite a bit of psuedo-religion, which I often find fun. The world is crazy and interesting. The plot could be interesting. But I feel like everything is sacrificed at the alter of Strange, so this series isn't as compelling as it could or should be. The characters are lacking, so it's difficult to care about any of them, except Old Guy with Stogie, because he's devious and amusing. But everything else is just trying so hard to be weird. The writer is trying so hard to make his world gritty and dark and sinister and strange, he forgets to advance plot or character very far. Which is a pity, because it has loads of potential. And I LIKE the weird, but I want to actually care about characters inhabiting it.