Which is why I consider novels like Wicked Saints such a gift: I get to witness the indulgence of greed, wrath, lust, and all the other deadly sins without a modicum of guilt or a single twinge of my conscience! In my opinion, the best fiction makes it feel good to be bad. The bad guys in real life.well, they hurt real people and only inspire melancholy, at best. I love morally ambiguous - or downright bad - characters that authors can coax me into sympathizing with and rooting for.
This is actually a huge positive for me as a reader.
You MAY NOT LIKE it if.you need a clear "good guy" to root for. While the interpersonal battles dominate Wicked Saints, it's this grander experiment with belief, obedience, and free will that interests me most as the Something Dark and Holy trilogy unfolds. As the plot progresses, one even begins to wonder if the characters are allies of their gods, pawns, or slowly gaining control over them. At such a personal level, reader loyalties become complicated and almost impossible to untangle. Although it's a little easier to choose which nation to sympathize with in the on-going war, Emily focuses in on the soldiers, spiritual and militaristic, who actually have to defend the broader ideologies at play. (For other examples, see my love of Claire Legrand's Empirium trilogy or Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials universe.) This stuff is very much My Thing and this antagonistic triangle between mortals, monsters, and gods develops with some of the most enticingly menacing tension I've read in recent months. I absolutely ADORE entangling god-like beings in a story as real, accessible, touchable characters. You'll LOVE it if.you want to see gods and monsters do battle.
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