I want to like this series. I do. The problem is that it wants to be a self contained story, yet has thousands of words worth of lore that are mentioned offhand and never returned to again. Intersting creature? Oh, sorry, the story demands we never mention it again. Ancient Conspiracy/ies? That's not important! Other worlds? Don't expect any info on them to pop up. This feels like it should be a series of tie in novels for an Urban Fantasy tabletop game, and there it would work, but wihout this hypothetical game's existence, this just feels like a(n), if inspired, mess.
Far less than the sum of its parts
I want to like this series. I do. The problem is that it wants to be a self contained story, yet has thousands of words worth of lore that are mentioned offhand and never returned to again. Intersting creature? Oh, sorry, the story demands we never mention it again. Ancient Conspiracy/ies? That's not important! Other worlds? Don't expect any info on them to pop up. This feels like it should be a series of tie in novels for an Urban Fantasy tabletop game, and there it would work, but wihout this hypothetical game's existence, this just feels like a(n), if inspired, mess.