THE MERCILESS ONES

In this follow-up to The Gilded Ones (2021), a 17-year-old young woman must defeat divine beings to save the lives of her bloodsisters.

This second entry in a West African–inspired fantasy series continues the journey of Deka, who is now known as the Nuru, or the only divine, full-blooded daughter of the mother goddesses she awakened six months earlier. Now these goddesses, the Gilded Ones, rest and gain strength from the devotion and worship of those who believe in them. Meanwhile, Deka travels with alaki and deathshrieks to fight the jatu, male worshippers and warrior descendants of the god Oyomo. Gifted with the ability to control those with divine blood, Deka is rattled when a rescue mission turns into a trap and she is unable to use her powers to subdue the jatu as she usually can. Eventually she is led down a path that makes her question everything she knows about the goddesses—including how and why she even came into being. In this outing, Otera is just as beguiling a setting as before, and it’s easy to dive deep in the richly developed characters and culture Forna has created. The book moves quickly, with surprising plot twists that showcase the complex and exciting structuring of the story. However, a couple of passages—one where a character’s trans identity is revealed by the protagonist, who has the ability to view the essence of all beings (“I saw you. All of you,”), and another where a trans woman is described as being “much stronger than the usual human woman”—feel at odds with the book’s message of gender inclusivity.

A well-developed and fast-paced sequel.