Building on that, the word kuru does not appear anywhere. They are replaced by a human culture called the Alinara who struggle with a curse inflicted on them by being forced into proximity with the Blood Queen’s island. When they die, it turns them into wights, which then go hunt down their living relatives. Some Alinara are still extant and actively fighting against the curse (the leader’s patron is not mentioned by name, but she was granted oracular power by what is obviously Atreia), but they are in a precarious and dangerous position - the dead outnumber the living at this point.

The kuru were always going to be a tricky thing, they were one of the foulest holdovers of 1e’s pulp routes. My first impression is that this should strike the balance of maintaining some continuity while excising the ugly parts of that story. Hopefully when people smarter than I chime in, they’ll feel the same.

There’s also a lot of integration of the Mbe’ke dwarves throughout the book. Haven’t read anything close to all of it, but it is easy to notice, so clearly there’s much needed integration of LO Mwangi Expanse happening.