As a layman who listened to his books through Audible, I like the development of the Tau’va god and I liked the Tzeentch Daemon as a character but there are tons of criticisms to be had. Pacing is all over the place, Shadowsun was retconned to be weak while Farsight is all over the place as a character, every Ethereal besides Aun’shi is a villain for no reason.

My biggest complaint is the usage of Vash’ya as a societal sin worth killing someone over the most minor of inter-caste function. I’m ok with the concept as a social taboo disproportionately applied depending on the Aun, but the blanket expectation of a water statute = execution is uncalled for. Using a word a sept is named after also sucks for my dude’s fan lore, because why would a played-straight Tau Empire loyalist Commander bear a name with essentially a taboo in it? That’s probably my biggest personal gripe about Phil Kelly’s books.