Wow! This book is a fantastic sequel to the Raybearer, which I also loved. I was a bit skeptical when I realized that the big showdown only happened in the last ~50 pages because it felt like not enough time, but it was. No big rush, no cut corners. At the end of book one, Tarisai was recognized as raybearer and empress. She made a deal with the abiku (kinda the demons of the underworld) that she has to anoint all 12 rulers of the different kingdoms and then go to the underworld as the final redemptor, to save all future redemptor children from being sacrificed. And that is, what she does. Working as an empress, trying to anoint the kings, and changing the world to be better for everyone. And all the time, she slowly turns mad, because the abiku use the souls of the previously sacrificed redemptor children (ojiji) to not only protect her against assassins but also to isolate her and guilt her. Me, as a German, who has pretty much no contact with African culture and who just started to read diversely, I admit, that I frequently had problems with names and remembering, what or who they referred to since they were very unfamiliar to me. I probably should have made a list of people, places, spirits, and events, so that I could properly identify them throughout the story.

This book features a very interesting story with lovable characters set in a really fascinating world. Sadly, I found the storytelling itself lacking. Conflicts arose and were solved only a few pages later. Infodumping was a real pain. I felt for most of the book the protagonist had no agency and was simply a spectator and narrator. There were some really powerful moments and chapters were I thought we're finally in the groove, but in the end the narration was messy and subtracted a lot from my enjoyment. So much potential there, it could have been amazing.