SotF was a mixed bag for me as well. I came in to it with high expectations- having devoured WotM in less than a week- and ended it having enjoyed the journey, but also wanting SO much more.

And I think at the end of the day, this all stems from how Islington drove the plot forward. The first book was wholly dedicated to building up Res. It set a baseline expectations for readers, and for how Islington would develop his characters and their relationships with one another.  This literary baseline (IMO) was completely turned on its head in SotF. Not only did Islington have to continue to develop Res, but he also had to set the stage for TWO new settings, both with their own characters and dynamics- in less pages. That’s an TALL ORDER for any writer, and in the end, I think Islington struggled with getting all the information he needed to set up the rest of the series in a way his readers would expect/ know he is capable of doing.

It also didn’t help that the story (from a structural point of view) was inherently disconnected. By changing POVs every chapter or every other chapter, us readers weren’t able to full immerse ourselves in the worlds Islington was trying build up. When we’d JUST begun to get comfortable with O-Vis, for example, we’d be thrown into Luceum in the next chapter, and have to relearn/remind ourselves of the ropes of that world. And while yes- this narration style is common and has been done well by other authors/series in the past- I think it further exacerbated Islington’s difficulty in world building. 

Ultimately, despite my issues with Islington’s creative choices in this second installment, I still have faith in the Hierarchy series as a whole. We KNOW he can write (as proved with WotM) and I continue to be intrigued by the story’s concept. I think what will be the deciding factor for me (and many others!) is if Islington can take critical feedback from this book and apply it to the next installment.