YMMV / Something Dark and Holy

• Complete Monster:
  • Chyrnog, the fallen God of Chaos and Entropy, desires nothing less than the end of all things. Concocting a series of events to revive himself, Chyrnog possesses High Prince Serefin Meleski and forces him to kill his magically enhanced brother, Malachiasz Czechowicz. Chyrnog then possesses and revives Malachiasz and forces him to go on a serial killing and cannibalism spree to force him to submit to his control. Chyrnog sends his minions to attack and wipe out populated areas, planning to increase the carnage for his pleasure. Ultimately, after breaking Malachiasz's will, Chyrnog intends to use him as a host to wipe out the entire world, leaving nothing but an empty darkness.
  • Wicked Saints: King Izak Meleski, Serefin's father, is the tyrannical leader of Tranavia. Izak despises the idea that his people view him as weak and ineffectual, and now plans to prove them wrong by achieving godhood. To this end, Izak has thousands of his own citizens experimented on and killed for the ritual to achieve divinity. Izak is also cruel to the enemy nation of Kalyazin, which he's fighting in a war, sending countless prisoners to be worked to death as slaves in the salt mines. Izak despises his son, Serefin, to such a degree that he plans to kill him as his final act to achieve godhood itself.
• Magnificent Bastard:
  • Pelageya Borisovna is a kooky Kalyzanian witch who leaves her country when she rejects her gods and goes to be an adviser in the war against the rival country of Travania. She orchestrates a series of events to warn of the coming of the omnicidal Chyrnog and stirs the heroes into coming together to defeat him. Pelageya acts as adviser to both High Prince Serefin Meleski and Malachiasz Czechowicz, helping to push them onto the right paths and saves Nadya by giving her the amulet of the dangerous death God Velyos to unleash if she's in trouble. After Malachiasz is possessed by Chyrnog, Pelageya helps to transport his soul to a faraway region to stall for time, before Chyrnog consumes it, ultimately planning to manipulate the heroes into defeating him once and for all.
  • Velyos, the fallen God of the Dead and the Underworld, is a mischievous deity whose ambition was once so great that he sought to topple the heavens. Defeated and imprisoned, Velyos orchestrates a series of events to allow communication with Prince Serefin in order to manipulate him into freeing Velyos and the other fallen gods so, when free, he can get revenge on his jailers. Velyos also sees the coming of the omnicidal Chyrnog and creates prophecies and manipulates events to stop him and save the world. Velyos also acts as an adviser and later friend to Serefin, carefully pushing him to make the right decision to beat Chyrnog. Always seeking that which he does not have for amusement but at the same time being willing to genuinely help humanity, Velyos ends the series as its most successful character.
• Overshadowed by Controversy: It's difficult to discuss the trilogy without someone bringing up the accusations of the story having antisemitic undertones and the controversial online behaviour of its author, Emily A. Duncan (including allegations of bullying POC authors, being dismissive of incest survivors and getting very defensive over negative reviews or criticisms of the trilogy), some of which only came to light around the same time the final book, Blessed Monsters, was published in 2021. Duncan eventually issued a public apology for some of this in 2021, though the controversy has lingered, with even some readers who previously enjoyed the books stating they no longer felt comfortable supporting the series because of this.

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