Book Review: To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods by Molly X. Chang
I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.
To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods by Molly X. Chang
Mogsy’s Rating: 3 of 5 stars
Genre: Fantasy
Series: Book 1 of Gods Beyond the Skies
Publisher: Del Rey (April 16, 2024)
Length: 368 pages
Author Information: Website
To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods by Molly X. Chang swings for the fences with an enemies-to-allies plot set in a world where its magically gifted denizens are ruled by their more technologically advanced conquerors. Yang Ruying is our protagonist, a woman “blessed by Death”, born with the ability to steal the life force from others with a touch. Many years ago, her home of Pangu, a fictional realm heavily influenced by Chinese culture and mythology, was invaded by colonizers from Rome who emerged from a portal in a sky and took over in a single day. Her people are further oppressed and controlled by the enemy with the introduction of a highly addictive and deadly drug known as Opian (yes, a heavy-handed allusion to opium) which keeps its users in a docile, languid state.
One day, a chance encounter on the street with the youngest Roman prince, Antony Augustus, leads to Ruying’s powers being exposed and her eventual capture by the Romans. Antony, however, offers her a deal which would ensure her safety and those she cares about—her twin sister and their grandmother—but only if she agrees to become his personal assassin by eliminating his political rivals. Ruying accepts reluctantly, but only after Antony convinces her that he is different from the rest of his family in that he genuinely wants to build a better Pangu to benefit both their peoples. But can a Roman really be trusted? Or is this simply Antony’s wily ploy to seize the throne? It’s a bargain that forces Ruying into a terrible choice, but as time passes, neither can she help or deny her deepening feelings for the charming prince.
While the core concept of this book is intriguing, its execution left me wanting more. Don’t get me wrong, there’s lots to like here. For instance, the story takes place in a world with a fascinating mix of elements, including a conquered population with lost magic, a dystopian setting with hints of historical colonialism, and a tenuous political alliance between two intriguing characters. That said though, many of these aspects felt undeveloped.
My main complaint is the vagueness of the world-building. Even with all the infodumps, I found it difficult to envision Pangu in my mind with its mix of sci-fi and fantasy components, because neither side was fleshed out completely. The details surrounding the magic system that encompasses Ruying and others’ powers are left mostly unexplained, and same goes for the Roman’s technology which was frustratingly hazy. This lack of clarity, combined with the inclusion of seemly random historical and cultural references to both Chinese dynasties and the Roman Empire felt neither here nor there, making the book’s entire concept feel disjointed. In my opinion, Chang could have created her own original societies and made her world more immersive while still achieving her same message. I’m also of the mind that authors should use foreign sayings sparingly, especially if you’re just going to translate them in the very next line. A touch of another language can add depth to the world-building, but too much makes it feel like superficial window dressing, not to mention it’s extremely distracting.
Also, I’m not sure if To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods was marketed as YA novel, but there are definitely elements of one. I have a sinking feeling that we are building towards a love triangle of sorts, though as others have mentioned, Ruying’s relationships with the two main men in her life are both kind of icky. But, to the author’s credit, I think there is great restraint being shown on the romance side of things which, despite its issues, wasn’t too intrusive.
To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods may be an ambitious but messy debut, but I think there is still potential here. The core conflict between love and duty is strong, and the plot itself is engaging. I will likely pick up the sequel to find out what happens next, and hopefully it will also smooth out some of the rougher edges.
The BiblioSanctum 
I would like to leave a nice encouraging comment, but I can’t.
😀
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Don’t worry, I’ve got you—glad you liked it enough to continue the series! I’m sure the next one will iron out a lot of the imperfections and it will turn out to be a great series!!
Booky, how was that?
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Dude, you’re a total lifesaver!
Mogsy, pretty much just pretend I said all that stuff Will wrote, ok?
😉
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You two are hilarious! But yes, you guys got it pretty well covered! Hahaha 😀
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I always feel like I’m taking a chance with a debut, and it seems that’s what happened here. Vague world building would frustrate me too…
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It was too ambitious and overwrought. Very rookie mistakes, but I think the author has promise!
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Yet another review of this book that’s along similar lines to other reviews I’ve read. It’s good to see you still think there’s potential. But given the consistent commentary about how messy it is (and repetitive), I decided ultimately to skip it. Hopefully book 2 has a better execution of the story!
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The repetition didn’t bother me quite so much, but it was indeed messy! It was just a jumble of ideas. With a little more polishing, things could have been more coherent.
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Oof, so much of this book sounds appealing, but the random historical info dumps would kill me.
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Yeah, those parts really bogged down the pacing. And also, for an assassin, the character did little to no “assassin-ing” – the author skipped over all the best parts!
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I see that there are still Romans in this fantasy world?
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Yes, apparently. It felt unnecessary in that the author could have achieved the same goals with a fictional culture and it probably would have been more effective.
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You are the second review I see witha mixed feeling about that book….
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Yeah, I’ve seen a lot of middling reviews for this book.
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I don’t recall exactly what it was, but I recently read another book with a foreign language that was used repeatedly with each phrase, sometimes a paragraph in length, then immediately translated for us readers. As you did with this one, I liked it initially but it quickly became distracting the more it happened. Regarding it possibly being YA, that’s what I would have guessed from the cover, it seems to fit with many others I’ve seen. Probably books I’d personally skip for now and yet I really like many of the covers, including this one. Very colorful with lots of movement and sometimes with the look of watercolors.
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You bring up a very good point. While as far as I know this book has not been expressedly marketed as YA, the cover pretty much screams it. Which I guess is a marketing tactic all on its own. There have been a lot of fantasy YA with this art style, so they are definitey aiming for the the YA audience by association.
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I’m glad this was promising enough to continue, even if it did have some issues. An intriguing premise for sure!
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Yes, I’m definitely interested enough to check out the sequel, and hopefully some of the issues will be ironed out.
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Yes… reading a book where the backdrop is so undeveloped goes to show how difficult it is to write this genre really well… Thank you for a lovely, informative review, Mogsy:).
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I think the author tried too hard to “force” a message using cultures that represent existing ones from real history, but by relying too much on that, she got complacent which led to the underdevelopment. It really is a tricky balance.
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Yes… it really is a tricky balance! Especially if the author forgets that many readers won’t necessarily have sufficient knowledge of the historical context to be able to join the dots and get a clear picture…
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Messy and underdeveloped, plus feels a little YA and potential love triangle. Happy that you’re going to continue but I think not for me this time. Although never say never.
Lynn 😀
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