It’s a bold move to take the 20-something protagonists of your first epic fantasy novel and, after the first act in your second book, thrust them twenty years into the future. But A. K. Larkwood is nothing if not bold, and The Thousand Eyes, the second and final installment of The Serpent Gates duology, swings for the fences and ends up somewhere in another dimension, surrounded by giant snakes, with three gods cannibalizing each other. It’s bonkers. And if you loved Csorwe, Shuthmilli, and Talasseres before (and I did, very much so), you will only love them more when they are nearer middle-aged, jaded, and refusing to get over their first loves with such a burning passion that spite is what single-handedly motivates them for nearly thirty years.
I ate that shit up. With a spoon.
[Some spoilers ahead]