“Do you have to do that to people to live?”
“No,” Kai told her. “I did it because I wanted to. And bad people taste better than good ones.”[loc. 199]
I think this might have been a case of 'right book, wrong time': I loved the preview but just didn't connect with the full novel. Kai, the eponymous protagonist, has been dead, but now someone is sniffing around his tomb -- an elaborate construction designed to prevent him from resurrecting -- in the hope of harnessing Kai's power for himself. Kai and his dear friend Ziede deal with the incursion, re-enter the world, and try to work out just who was responsible for Kai's death, and what can be done about the depradations of the Hierarchs.
I liked the characters and the worldbuilding; was constantly tantalised by the chapters focussed on Kai's past (he's a demon, an immortal chthonic serpentine being from the underearth, who's inhabited -- by invitation -- a number of mortal bodies); found myself losing track of who was who and why Kai or Ziede cared about them... The problem, I suspect, was my inability to concentrate rather than the book itself. I'll certainly give it another try at some point.
I note that the long list of dramatis personae appears at the front of the novel, which must be super-vexing for audiobook listeners: I'm not sure that it adds much value, since I didn't find myself referring to it very often. The important relationships were clear in the text, and the plethora of minor characters and allegiances had little relevance for much of the story.
Fulfils the ‘Chapters have cliffhangers’ rubric of the 52 books in 2023 challenge.
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