I love and highly recommend these books, however I think this book was my least favorite of them, likely mostly because of mismanaged expectations heading into it. To call these four books a “series” isn’t quite right. The first two, The Black Tides of Heaven and The Red Threads of Fortune, flow beautifully one into the other, and The Descent of Monsters proves to be an unconventional but intriguing follow up. The Ascent to Godhood though diverges from the arcs of its predecessors, and though their characters find brief mention, their stories are not really being continued. I think this book is better treated as a stand alone novella in the same world, as it falls short as a “conclusion.” ⁣
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The novella is a story told by Lady Han, the Protector’s right hand woman turned revolutionary, narrating her rise within and eventual rejection of the Protector’s favor. This book is clever structurally, and I delighted in it sentimentally. The joy of being back in a favorite world is one of those best feelings as a bookworm, and even if it’s not the Tensorate I’m here to read everything JY Yang publishes. I recommend all these books highly, with that whole caveat that I think they should be read in order but not really understood as a series.