This is the second book in the Inheritance trilogy, and while the book can be read independently (I read the first book, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms nearly a year and a half before I read this one, which was fine, once I’d re-familiarised myself with the plot on Wikipedia), you’ll probably get a more cohesive and generally better reading experience if you read them in sequence (without waiting 18 months between them).
In the city of Shadow, beneath the World Tree that sprang into existence ten years ago, blind Oree Shoth makes her living as an artist. She does appear to be able to see magic of all kinds, though, and her strange second sight helps her paint. Oree lives with a mysterious, taciturn stranger who she rescued from a waste bin some months back. She doesn’t think he’s a godling (one of the many minor gods that have started appearing in the city since the World Tree grew), because he only glows at dawn. He’s clearly not all human, either, as he keeps killing himself and coming back to life.
When godlings start turning up dead, Oree and her strange house guest, along with Oree’s former lover, a godling called Madden, find themselves abducted and held prisoner by a secret religious organisation. Full review on my blog.
Cannonball Read V 