I usually don't comment on reviews, but it seems like you misunderstood a few things.
"how did the prot go from being unable to defeat mere cultists to becoming some battle god in such a short time?" In Avok's first encounter with the cultists, he had the upper hand until they summoned a monstrous demon, and even then, he didn't go down easily.
"was the demoness truly evil evil or more reality tv star, pop culture figure evil?" Heltorya keeps slaves, orders them to fight to the death for her amusement, bathes in the tears of her prisoners, forces herself sexually on unwilling people... I thought it was very clear how evil she was.
"What use was the prot’s promise to save and guide a certain people to safety when he did such an epically poor job on it?" Maybe I'm the one misunderstanding something. I'm not sure what the issue is. Do you think the hero should always succeed at everything he sets out to do? Or do you think he shouldn't have made the promise in the first place?
But anyway, thanks for reading, and I'm glad you mostly enjoyed the book.
"how did the prot go from being unable to defeat mere cultists to becoming some battle god in such a short time?" In Avok's first encounter with the cultists, he had the upper hand until they summoned a monstrous demon, and even then, he didn't go down easily.
"was the demoness truly evil evil or more reality tv star, pop culture figure evil?" Heltorya keeps slaves, orders them to fight to the death for her amusement, bathes in the tears of her prisoners, forces herself sexually on unwilling people... I thought it was very clear how evil she was.
"What use was the prot’s promise to save and guide a certain people to safety when he did such an epically poor job on it?" Maybe I'm the one misunderstanding something. I'm not sure what the issue is. Do you think the hero should always succeed at everything he sets out to do? Or do you think he shouldn't have made the promise in the first place?
But anyway, thanks for reading, and I'm glad you mostly enjoyed the book.