2024 reread:
As much as I love the entire series, overall—this does still feel like the weakest instalment. But I think that mostly comes from the last plot beats with the battle especially, feeling very heavy metal and less like the fantasy it purports to be until that point. And it does feel like the last two books would have flowed together better as one, but it also would have been massive then, I suppose.

I’m every other way I think this does meet the expectations of the series, other than the fact that it’s obviously setting up the next few books as well. Thankfully I knew that. And I also looked at the table of contents before starting it the first time, so I wasn’t caught flat footed when the last hundred pages were appendixes and what not. Apparently a lot of people felt robbed, thinking there was much more when pacing their reading. The ending really does fit the series well. That sinking feeling I had from the start is confirmed. Loads of terrible, terrible things happen. So many people die. For me, as I said, it built up to what I suspected. A wild battle, with betrayal, loss of agency of the peoples’ who put their faith in people they shouldn’t have, and characters getting what’s coming, for the most part. After all. It is dark fantasy. And this is far darker than the previous books (which is saying something).

As I see it, the ultimate “evil” that isn’t embodied is misogyny itself, which is a great reveal across the series because it aptly demonstrates how is actually destroys everyone. Men and women both. Despite their being absolute evil, and the gods actively judging people, sending them to hell, basically just reaping souls for ostensible sustenance? (and the implication that paradise isn’t exactly stellar either), a through line in every culture was that belief in something non patriarchal and more sane, could have saved people. From a plan to actually get the host to the battle in a better way, to the systems erected by the people who literally damn their souls, to putting faith into a being who is “correct” because he does only the logical and rational thing, skewed because of his beliefs (and blinded by them)—everyone is screwed forever and ever because they were subjugated from the start by inherently misogynistic systems.

By far the most interesting dark fantasy, and one of the top fantasy reads, for me personally. So many cool takes on fantasy tropes, such as the “elves” long-life, hordes of creatures coming to be, how the magic system works, the judging eye, the dragons. It all feels really unique but accessible. And then it’s all dressed up in fantastic prose work, for the most part. I think this book falls down a little bit on that last part when the battle happens, mostly because of the heavy metal bits. But throughout the series, certainly a high watermark is the prose.

There’s still a lot of questions that are really interesting, so I’m looking forward to more, whenever that might be.

—spoilers from this point on—
For instance, Kellhus, though dead, was unseen by the gods. So I wonder if he’s, you know, dead dead, or what. Was the child invisible the entire series because he was turned into the no god, and time being different for gods, allowed for him to screw up the other gods plans?

While I don’t really like the addition of technology in the setting now, it does open up interesting things that could be explored. Right now I think there’s just too little information for it to really feel “cool” to me, as the rest of the world does.

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It does feel like the third and fourth would have been one book but was juuuuust a bit too long. I think, though, if some portions of the journey of the Ordeal has been abridged, specifically their transformation and back again, it would have been more satisfying as one volume. I am glad that the annoying kid has a larger role in the story as I mostly saw him as an inconvenience until the very end.

It was surprisingly satisfying to have the suspicions I had since the Prince of Nothing trilogy answered, in one form or another. By far this is the most interesting, intellectual, and impactful fantasy series I’ve ever read. I consumed all 7 books like a fever dream and am sure I’ll revisit them again.