Years after the upheavals in Bulikov, General Turyin Mulaghesh has left service behind, seeking a quiet end to her career. That peace is broken when she is sent to Voortyashtan, once the heart of a god's dominion over war and death. Officially there for administrative duties, she is drawn into a dangerous search sparked by a troubling discovery. Among ruins still marked by violence, she must confront both the city's grim heritage and her own past on the battlefield.
Voortyashtan lies shattered, its former glory reduced to rubble after the fall of its god. Into this scarred place comes Turyin Mulaghesh, pulled from retirement under the guise of routine work. Beneath the city's ruin, something stirs that should have remained lost. As Mulaghesh moves through streets haunted by old loyalties and bitter memories, she is forced to face the remnants of a past she thought she had left behind, while an unseen force works to awaken a threat that could shake the world anew.
Plot
General Turyin Mulaghesh lives in quiet retreat, removed from past service. Her body carries reminders of war, including the loss of a hand. Her peace ends when Shara Komayd asks her to travel to Voortyashtan. A Saypuri agent has gone missing, and answers are needed.
Voortyashtan was once shaped by Voortya, a god honored through violence, that time is gone. The city is fractured, and temples have fallen. Customs are scattered. Saypur now oversees rebuilding, especially the harbor. The goal is to restart trade this effort meets resistance, locals push back. Disputes over land and heritage grow. A strange metal found during dredging causes concern. Some believe it may still carry traces of divine power.
Mulaghesh returns to duty with hesitation. She feels worn and unsure. Her time in the city brings her face-to-face with reminders of past campaigns. She meets General Biswal, who stirs memories of harsh battles. Engineer Signe Harkvaldsson works to rebuild the port. Doctor Rada studies local customs while carrying grief. Each person reflects a different part of the city's present.
Mulaghesh begins to see visions tied to Voortyashtan's divine past. Her search leads through ruins and unrest. The metal dredged from the harbor may hold more than physical value. Some groups want to use it, even if it means repeating old patterns of violence.
Her own history weighs heavily. She remembers Saypur's suffering under Voortya's armies, and also the harshness of Saypur's response when the gods fell. She questions whether her service was ever just. The search becomes more dangerous. The missing agent had found knowledge that others want buried. Mulaghesh faces betrayal and combat. She sees that Saypur's current goals resemble the cruelty it once fought.
Despite age and injury, she acts. She stops those who seek to use Voortya's remains for war. The cost is high, but she finds something she thought gone, a sense of purpose. Though the past cannot be changed, she sees a way forward. She leaves behind the image of a soldier and chooses a different path.
Reception
Kirkus Reviews found the novel to be "(l)ess literarily allusive than its predecessor", judging it to be "richly detailed and expertly plotted" — albeit with a less-than-optimal voice for Mulaghesh.[1]Publishers Weekly called it "astonishingly good" and "a deep, powerful novel that’s worth reading and rereading", with Mulaghesh — "a physically and emotionally wounded warrior who both loathes battle and excels at it" — being a "fascinating character".[2]
Strange Horizons considered the novel to "rework(..) the fundamentals of [Stairs] in ways that serve to make it a much stronger work", emphasizing that Bennett's depictions of colonialism had improved, but faulting him for "opaque" portrayals of the Voortyashtani citizenry.[3]
National Public Radio lauded the novel as better and more "streamlined" than Stairs, and commended Bennett's decision to abandon both the setting and the majority of the cast of the first novel as "stupid and brave".[4]
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