Sunbringer (Fallen Gods, 2); Hannah Kaner

I still love this series even if I didn’t fall head over heels for the second book in the Fallen Gods Trilogy as much as the first. In “Sunbringer” we see just how quickly Elo and Inara crumble without Kissen there to be their guiding backbone, and we see Skedi learn to resist the irresistible: offerings made to the gods. Each character battles more with their own betrayal and grief (except Kissen, who actually just battles fanatics most of the time) and just how destructive blind rage can be even with good intentions. We also get the added POV of Arren, which didn’t always feel that necessary to me, to show that while, yes some gods are actually good, there was still a good reason why the humans went to war with them to begin with. Namely, a lot of the remaining gods continue to manipulate and destroy those that follow them. It truly does show, mainly through the gods as the perfect embodiment, of how absolute power always corrupts absolutely. And while I genuinely loved that, I still didn’t love this as much as “Godkiller”.

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The thing it comes down to was there just wasn’t enough Kissen in this book. That’s not because of Arren’s POV, either. There’s just a lot more POV chapters for Elo and Inara, and only one of those characters didn’t bother me this time around. This book is packed with people dealing with grief, with trying to organize a rebellion—some who want to do it peacefully, and others who very much don’t—so it made a certain degree of sense to show more of Elo and Inara because they are the characters dealing with those aspects much more directly than Kissen. But Kissen is who had me falling in love with these books to begin with, so her lack of POV chapters was definitely noticeable. I could have forgiven that though, if Inara didn’t bug me so much.

Now, this book is an adult fantasy. The land is brutal (even without much swearing), the topics heavy, and the majority of the characters are adults outside of Inara. This series started as something meant more for mature readers. But Inara IS a child and acts like it a lot with her grief in this book. She lashes out, refuses to listen, and is determined that only she can do anything and she’ll prove it to everyone. Which works for YA, because then the character ends up being right. But in this world? Not so much. So, while Inara did act within character, I didn’t like reading so much about how she wanted to be a YA heroine in, at the very least, a NA world. It just felt a little out of place in this book and I could have done with less of her being frustrating, is what I’m getting at.

The book does end on another cliffhanger so I am, once again, very much looking forward to the next book! The writing is still beautiful, the representation and diversity of characters is immaculate where each one, no matter how minor, feels rich and well crafted. I loved seeing Skedi struggle with wanting to be true to his nature, while also avoiding the allure of dangerous offerings. This book is layered with the messages it tackles and how everything is coming together. But, honestly, Inara and the lack of the found family trope with the characters being separated from each other most of the book, is why this story gets 4 stars instead of the 5 I gave “Godkiller”. So, here’s hoping Inara is less annoying in the next book and we get way more Kissen!