Ages ago, the world was created when the first god got lonely. Since then he created several other gods and godlings to keep him company, not least Sieh, the eldest of the godlings but perpetually a child. After a struggle between gods that left the world nearly destroyed, the one of the gods set up a single family of his descendants to be the rulers of the world. This family, the Arameri, ruled for thousands of years, with the other gods and godlings as their slaves. But no structure can remain forever. At last, the Arameri's rule has faltered, and the gods are free. Everything is changing--including Sieh. After promising friendship to two little Arameri kids, Sieh starts aging and as he loses touch of childhood, his godhood fades as well. Meanwhile, a god of vengeance is out to destroy the last remnants of Arameri power, and is willing to kill the entire world to do it.I have very mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, the world building is so interesting (the warrior "crop" in Darre! the sigils marking blood status on Arameri foreheads! godlings becoming part of the city!) and the underlying plot is cool and new to me. On the other hand, the pacing of this book is terribly uneven and all the plot happens off-screen. Shahar's entire political plot is only mentioned in passing. Deka has a huge mystical realization that basically makes him a godling, and it's glossed over. Ahad and Glee have an epic love affair that takes up about three sentences. And instead of getting to see any of this first-hand, we just get Sieh saying "then I woke up. Sixty years had passed, and blah blah blah had happened." over and over. The sheer number of times he blacks out and comes to after all the interesting stuff has already happened is just...it approaches [b:Twilight|41865|Twilight (Twilight, #1)|Stephenie Meyer|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1361039443s/41865.jpg|3212258] territory. Sieh's romances are not quite as frustrating, but they are inexplicable. He has maybe ten minutes of interaction with these kids, spread across two years, and this is the basis of lifelong obsession and devotion for all three of them? I didn't buy it. I wanted to believe Sieh's romances, but I need some interaction between the would-be lovers before I'm willing to believe they'll create their own universe or whatever. I felt like the book kept telling me a moment was Huge and Important and Emotional, and I never had any understanding why.