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leslie_mg's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
bookish_withsky's review
3.0
Let’s appreciate the brief summery of the first book in the beginning. Not a lot of fantasy books do that, but I think it would be super helpful. Bonus points for that, thoroughly loved it.
The fact that I enjoyed this one makes me realize I should probably go back and reread the first, since I did not give that one a great review. This is was interesting and fairly well written. I did not have a bad time. I think the fact that I am ready/willing to retry the first book because of how well I enjoyed this one speaks volumes.
The fact that I enjoyed this one makes me realize I should probably go back and reread the first, since I did not give that one a great review. This is was interesting and fairly well written. I did not have a bad time. I think the fact that I am ready/willing to retry the first book because of how well I enjoyed this one speaks volumes.
leedolee's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
A fun read! Once again, I thoroughly enjoy the world and lore. The characters, new and old, were a delight to read about! I look forward to the final book in the series to see how this tale concludes!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Classism, Excrement, Panic attacks/disorders, War, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Self harm, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Torture, Xenophobia, Gore, Blood, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gaslighting, Genocide, and Violence
utterlyreading161823's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
nathans_fantasy_reviews's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The tl;dr: I know we all hate being told “It gets better in book 2!”. Well, this is a situation where it ACTUALLY gets better in book 2! The Bladed Faith was a middling, average read for me that was mired by its lengthy training montages, thinly drawn characters, and shallow plot. The Sapphire Altar is anything BUT those things. Dalglish finds the heart of the story and the emotional core of the characters here, imbuing this series with the depth that it has so rightly deserved. Combine that with some badass action sequences involving a bunch of gods, and you’ve got a sequel that is definitely worth your time. Epic fantasy readers should add this to their TBRs ASAP.
My full review:
If there has been a bigger glow up between a first and second book of a series, I don’t know about it.
I was a bit critical in my review of The Bladed Faith, noting that the book was building an interesting (and violent) of gods, heroes, villains, and everything in between. However, I felt that the violence almost felt gratuitous in the way that that David Dalglish was using colonialism as a kind of window dressing to a standard, action-packed epic fantasy rather than truly digging into what colonialism actually is and how it operates. I debated whether I really even wanted to continue the series, but the reveal at the end of The Bladed Faith piqued my interest just enough (and peeled back some layers of depth that the book hadn’t highlighted before) to keep me reading in The Sapphire Altar.
And I am so freaking excited that I did.
The Sapphire Altar belongs in lists of the best epic fantasy of the 2020s, and its only fault is that readers will have to endure The Bladed Faith to get to it. Everything I disliked about the first book – the endless training montages, the abundance of violent scenes that messed up the pace, shallow characters, and a superficial plot – are magically fixed here as Dalglish finds the groove of what this story should be.
There is no middle book syndrome here. The story moves, it develops, and it SOARS.
The Sapphire Altar picks up after just a small time jump, which gives many of the characters time to reflect on the events of The Bladed Faith. This allows for a couple of things that were sorely lacking in that first book. First, it provides space for the characters to contemplate on all of the terrible stuff they have had to go through and do in the name of justice. While Dalglish doesn’t wade into the murky ethical waters in the way other authors writing similar stories do, he starts to show the impact and drag that all of this is having on his characters. This leads into the second major improvement – the character depth. The characters were thinly drawn in the first book, feeling more like pawns that existed only to advance the plot. The action and plot were cool, but I felt no emotional connection to the characters. Here, the characters jump off the page as three-dimensional and well drawn people. I cheered for them, cried for them, and sometimes (depending on the POV) despised them. Dalglish gives each of them unique personalities, needs, wants, and lived-in, embodied existences that were more than just how many redshirts could they tear down. Dalglish finds a true emotional core in this volume, whether it is the love between Stasia and Clarissa, Mari’s battle with her own identity, Arn’s troubled fraternal relationships, or Keles’ troubled relationship with her own faith.
It might be that last one – Keles’ complex personal, political, and religious journey – that was my favorite throughout the book. I could tell in The Bladed Faith that Dalglish wanted to say something about faith, but those themes never seemed to materialize. Exploration of the gods and faith are in full swing here. Remember that opening sequence in The Bladed Faith where the evil empire killed the lion and butterfly gods? There are so many cool sequences with the gods here, and the epic potential of Dalglish’s drawing of the gods is put to full effect (I will say, however, that the godly cliffhanger at the end of book 1 doesn’t really go anywhere, which was just a touch disappointing). There are so many just awesome god vs. god sequences that are awe-inspiring in just how freaking cool they are.
At the same time, Dalglish also doesn’t just use the gods as cool pawns for this action set pieces. The Sapphire Altar also dives into issues of faith. What is faith? At what point can faith be broken? How much can we permit our faith to be tested, and is it faith if it is not tested? Dalglish’s characters are met with a lot of religious and spiritual quandaries in this book as readers are confronted with the differing perspectives and self-interests of characters like Keles, the priest-figure Eshiel, the god-whisperer Mari, and more. This is a book about individual religious faith, but also the larger social functions and implications of faith – what happens when a nation becomes united by a faith? What happens when a culture loses its religious identity? What is the role of faith in both political control and political resistance? Without losing its intense pace or “cool” factor, The Sapphire Altar finds times to explore these issues as the social and political situation of this series becomes ever more complex.
If you were a bigger fan of The Bladed Faith than I was, you also have nothing to worry about. While the action sequences are less numerous here, there is still PLENTY of action to be had. Better yet, they aren’t trapped up in endless training sequences as the characters and the plot are allowed to run at full sprint.
The Sapphire Altar ends with an intriguing cliffhanger involving one of my favorite characters from the book, and I cannot wait to dive into The Slain Divine to see how Dalglish brings this all home. If he can maintain the depth and quality of The Sapphire Altar, it will for sure be a finale for the ages (and imagine if he can raise the stakes again!). If you are the type of person who doesn’t mind making your way through an ok book to get to an amazing one, add this absolutely epic series to your TBR.
My full review:
If there has been a bigger glow up between a first and second book of a series, I don’t know about it.
I was a bit critical in my review of The Bladed Faith, noting that the book was building an interesting (and violent) of gods, heroes, villains, and everything in between. However, I felt that the violence almost felt gratuitous in the way that that David Dalglish was using colonialism as a kind of window dressing to a standard, action-packed epic fantasy rather than truly digging into what colonialism actually is and how it operates. I debated whether I really even wanted to continue the series, but the reveal at the end of The Bladed Faith piqued my interest just enough (and peeled back some layers of depth that the book hadn’t highlighted before) to keep me reading in The Sapphire Altar.
And I am so freaking excited that I did.
The Sapphire Altar belongs in lists of the best epic fantasy of the 2020s, and its only fault is that readers will have to endure The Bladed Faith to get to it. Everything I disliked about the first book – the endless training montages, the abundance of violent scenes that messed up the pace, shallow characters, and a superficial plot – are magically fixed here as Dalglish finds the groove of what this story should be.
There is no middle book syndrome here. The story moves, it develops, and it SOARS.
The Sapphire Altar picks up after just a small time jump, which gives many of the characters time to reflect on the events of The Bladed Faith. This allows for a couple of things that were sorely lacking in that first book. First, it provides space for the characters to contemplate on all of the terrible stuff they have had to go through and do in the name of justice. While Dalglish doesn’t wade into the murky ethical waters in the way other authors writing similar stories do, he starts to show the impact and drag that all of this is having on his characters. This leads into the second major improvement – the character depth. The characters were thinly drawn in the first book, feeling more like pawns that existed only to advance the plot. The action and plot were cool, but I felt no emotional connection to the characters. Here, the characters jump off the page as three-dimensional and well drawn people. I cheered for them, cried for them, and sometimes (depending on the POV) despised them. Dalglish gives each of them unique personalities, needs, wants, and lived-in, embodied existences that were more than just how many redshirts could they tear down. Dalglish finds a true emotional core in this volume, whether it is the love between Stasia and Clarissa, Mari’s battle with her own identity, Arn’s troubled fraternal relationships, or Keles’ troubled relationship with her own faith.
It might be that last one – Keles’ complex personal, political, and religious journey – that was my favorite throughout the book. I could tell in The Bladed Faith that Dalglish wanted to say something about faith, but those themes never seemed to materialize. Exploration of the gods and faith are in full swing here. Remember that opening sequence in The Bladed Faith where the evil empire killed the lion and butterfly gods? There are so many cool sequences with the gods here, and the epic potential of Dalglish’s drawing of the gods is put to full effect (I will say, however, that the godly cliffhanger at the end of book 1 doesn’t really go anywhere, which was just a touch disappointing). There are so many just awesome god vs. god sequences that are awe-inspiring in just how freaking cool they are.
At the same time, Dalglish also doesn’t just use the gods as cool pawns for this action set pieces. The Sapphire Altar also dives into issues of faith. What is faith? At what point can faith be broken? How much can we permit our faith to be tested, and is it faith if it is not tested? Dalglish’s characters are met with a lot of religious and spiritual quandaries in this book as readers are confronted with the differing perspectives and self-interests of characters like Keles, the priest-figure Eshiel, the god-whisperer Mari, and more. This is a book about individual religious faith, but also the larger social functions and implications of faith – what happens when a nation becomes united by a faith? What happens when a culture loses its religious identity? What is the role of faith in both political control and political resistance? Without losing its intense pace or “cool” factor, The Sapphire Altar finds times to explore these issues as the social and political situation of this series becomes ever more complex.
If you were a bigger fan of The Bladed Faith than I was, you also have nothing to worry about. While the action sequences are less numerous here, there is still PLENTY of action to be had. Better yet, they aren’t trapped up in endless training sequences as the characters and the plot are allowed to run at full sprint.
The Sapphire Altar ends with an intriguing cliffhanger involving one of my favorite characters from the book, and I cannot wait to dive into The Slain Divine to see how Dalglish brings this all home. If he can maintain the depth and quality of The Sapphire Altar, it will for sure be a finale for the ages (and imagine if he can raise the stakes again!). If you are the type of person who doesn’t mind making your way through an ok book to get to an amazing one, add this absolutely epic series to your TBR.
hawkeyegonzalez's review
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The Vagrant Gods series continues with this second installment, and it is equally as good as the first but still not without its flaws.
This book picks up where the first left off, with Cyrus striking out on his own after leaving the group. This part is great, and it's exciting to see where the story goes from here. Unfortunately, the middle loses a bit of direction and feels disjointed. We spend a little too much time in areas that don't serve the plot very much. However, that changes towards the end, and the story and action kick into high gear.
All of the characters from the previous book are back, as is their POV chapters. Cyrus is still the central focus, but I still prefer following some of the side characters, particularly Keles and Arn. Both have their own crisis of faith, and it's great to see how they both play out. The big addition this time is the new final boss, the Heir-Incarnate Galvanis, and he is even more terrifying than Magus was in the first book. He truly feels like an unstoppable force for the protagonists to try and overcome.
Of course, the highlight of the book is the action. This is only the second series I've read from Dalglish, but he excels at writing action scenes, particularly one-on-one. It's a testament to his skill that I'm never quite sure who is going to win each fight, and it's not always who I think it is. I also appreciate that characters here will actually retreat when facing an overwhelming opponent instead of keep on fighting because "good will prevail". It gives the storytelling a greater sense of realism and unpredictability.
This is shaping up to be a very good series. If it can stick the landing, then I just might have to read more of Dalglish's bibliography.
This book picks up where the first left off, with Cyrus striking out on his own after leaving the group. This part is great, and it's exciting to see where the story goes from here. Unfortunately, the middle loses a bit of direction and feels disjointed. We spend a little too much time in areas that don't serve the plot very much. However, that changes towards the end, and the story and action kick into high gear.
All of the characters from the previous book are back, as is their POV chapters. Cyrus is still the central focus, but I still prefer following some of the side characters, particularly Keles and Arn. Both have their own crisis of faith, and it's great to see how they both play out. The big addition this time is the new final boss, the Heir-Incarnate Galvanis, and he is even more terrifying than Magus was in the first book. He truly feels like an unstoppable force for the protagonists to try and overcome.
Of course, the highlight of the book is the action. This is only the second series I've read from Dalglish, but he excels at writing action scenes, particularly one-on-one. It's a testament to his skill that I'm never quite sure who is going to win each fight, and it's not always who I think it is. I also appreciate that characters here will actually retreat when facing an overwhelming opponent instead of keep on fighting because "good will prevail". It gives the storytelling a greater sense of realism and unpredictability.
This is shaping up to be a very good series. If it can stick the landing, then I just might have to read more of Dalglish's bibliography.
bog_walker's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
milili's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
lezreadalot's review against another edition
3.0
“There will be a time for beauty,” Eshiel whispered in the ensuing silence. “There will be a time for remembrance and love. But it is not now.”
3.5 stars. I was honestly a little worried about this one, because it definitely did not have as strong of a plot progression as the first book had. There were several moments where I really questioned the characters' motivations, and I felt like the author had not done enough work to convince me that the characters would act in ways that they were acting. So much of this I was sceptical about, and I still am, even though things ultimately worked out in a way that I'm very interested in and that I can accept. This still remains such a fascinating world, with such a fascinating story, and I continue to love the portrayal of the gods, the things that this has to say about worship and devotion and loyalty, and all of the journeys that different characters are undergoing. We got a couple new characters, and a new POV that I absolutely adored. Eshiel is exactly the kind of devoted character that I want to follow in a narrative like this. So all of that was great. I just had a lot of quibbles about a lot of the events in the middle of the book.
A lot of my thoughts are spoilery so, I'll keep them separate.
Spoiler
My first big quibble was when it came to the reborn Lycaena, and how Cyrus and Rayan reacted to it. I understand them being horrified and appalled. I can get that. I even understand (up to a point) them wanting to immediately kill her, even though Keles is right there and she staunchly believes that this Lycaena is the real thing. Cyrus was never a very devout worshipper of Lycaena, so the stakes for him aren't as high, and Rayan IS extremely devout, and he cannot countenance a perversion of his goddess. So again, I understand the motivation for both of them.But the fact that they teamed up with Galvanis, the Heir-Incarnate to kill Lycaena made absolutely noooooo sense to me. This is the person who is subjugating your country and who is responsible for so much death and who will doubtless be responsible for so much more. It would have made a lot more sense for them to team up with Lycaena to try to fight Galvanis. And even though I, as the reader, with the perspective of everything that comes after, know that that probably wouldn't have worked, it still seems a lot more probable than Cyrus and Rayan, again actually agreeing to work with the architect of so much of their trouble, the person that their rebellion is actively trying to fight against. It truly made no sense to me. Would they really trust him over this reborn Lycaena? Especially for Cyrus, who is kind of a hypocrite. I mean, he is also a god who was created out of blood and sacrifice, and he goes around murdering almost every single day. It was just really hard for me to swallow that he would hate this changed Lycaena so much that he would work with Galvanis to kill her. A goddess of his own country. I really hated that, and I cannot blame Keles for despising them a little for it. Once again, now that I have finished the book, I see how it all works out, but it still isn't clicking for me how that is a decision that they would have actually made.
And on the other hand, Keles. I completely understand her feeling betrayed by Cyrus and Rayan's actions. I have so much sympathy for her as a character, because her faith is just being tested left and right, and when she tries to grasp at it, it keeps being pulled away. For her to see Lycaena murdered in front of her a second time was probably so traumatising. But then, the fact that she agrees to go along with Sinshei and her plans? What??? No matter how angry Keles was at Cyrus and Rayan, I could not understand that. Maybe if the book had given it some time, stretched it out over a period of a few months, and showed us how Sinshei was really breaking Keles's spirit further and further, I may be would have bought it more easily. But for Keles to just go along with her immediately when, crucially, Sinshei is the one who murdered Lycaena in the first place? And Keles was there to witness it? It may no sense! None at all!
I get what the author was going for. I really think I do. Keles is broken, and her faith has been damaged so much, especially by what she's seen and has been forced to do over these past couple of years. I get it. But no way do you convince me that she just goes along with this plan so easily. I know that she was at first kidnapped by Soma, and that she had no choice in listening to what Sinshei told her, but I really don't think we were given enough insight, or enough meat on the bone, to really buy that Keles would sell herself over to the Empire so easily.
I won't lie, I'm fascinated by what a friendship or relationship between Keles and Sinshei would look like, especially given all the complications between them and the reasons that they have to hate each other. Sinshei seemed a little enamoured by Keles, and I was so into that. I'm a lil gremlin lesbian and I love me a fucky dynamic between women. But still! Sinshei is the one who murdered Keles's goddess! We could see that she didn't trust Sinshei, but the fact that she even went along with her plans, however numbly, it was still too much for me to swallow. I was very glad and relieved when it turned out that she was not the one who had betrayed the plans to the Empire and let all those people die, but still.
These are all things that have been resolved and we have sort of been given reasons for the way things played out the way they did, but it bugged me so much while I was listening, and I couldn't not talk about it. I really think that things should have either been written differently, or we should have been given more reasoning or more impetus behind the decisions that these characters made. I don't want this to be a black-and-white story, so I'm glad that it isn't, and that we continue to get POVs from characters in the Empire. But having Cyrus and Keles put their trust in characters from the Empire, however briefly... it was so hard for me to swallow. I also hope that we're not going to go into a narrative that says something like "All countries are just as bad as the Empire!" That would not be compelling to me.
Otherwise, this was a pretty good instalment. Like I said, I love the different arcs that all of the characters are going on. It seems like the story is setting up for Stasia to take her father's place as god of the forge, and I would love the heck out of that. Arn is growing on me more and more as a character, especially after he showed that vulnerability. I love the imagery of the fox goddess, and I hope we see some more of her. Mara as well. I loved the decision that she made with Rihim, and I'm wondering if she will get the chance to inhabit even more gods. I very much doubt all of Sinshei's plotting will come to anything, but I love an ambitious woman, and I loved seeing her scurry about. That backstory about the mother really got to me. The final plot twist with Soma was really, really good, and has me pretty excited for the conclusion of the story.
I will say, there were several things about the writing that I just didn't love? I felt like a got a little overwrought and dramatic in a way I didn't notice in the first book. A lot of the writing was good, but a lot of it also read like Standard High Fantasy Fare. Wasn't all that bad though!
Listened to the audiobook as read by Devante Johnson and Imani Parks, and it was pretty good. I think I've gotten used to their voices and the way they narrate, so I didn't have as much trouble as I did with the first book. Or maybe they've improved a little. This is such an interesting series, with lots of action and good lore, and I can't wait for the conclusion. There's so much to cover in one book; hopefully it'll be a good one!
Content warnings: