(I'll assume that "Absolutely not" isn't in reference to the next book being different, heh.) I didn't recall Soli and Selia Barren at all...let alone their sexuality...so I looked them up; they don't seem to be very prominent characters right now. (Which is perhaps true of all the known-to-be-queer-ATM characters? It's been a while since I read Skull Throne, but all the ones I'd paid the most mind to seemed to end up dead or doing things that put them thoroughly at odds with the POV characters...some doing things and saying things that didn't seem remotely forgivable.) Blame the character limit for my use of "evil" as a shorthand... Inevera and Jardir are pretty much in a head-bob race throughout the last couple books for my favorite character in the series (tho Renna's riiiight up there too), so believe me I don't form my opinions in quick absolutes. But they're POV characters and no matter how they looked from the outside I *expected* them to get more complex and, for lack of a better word, likeable within their own chapters. Anyway...thanks for answering me: I spent the past year trying to decide whether to send the series off to the used book store or wait and try just one more. Despite my affection for most of the POV characters and appreciation for the overall quality of the books, finishing a book on such a sour note doesn't exactly make me eager to spend more time and money on another, so I figured I might as well query and add whatever answer I might get to my decision making process.
I didn't recall Soli and Selia Barren at all...let alone their sexuality...so I looked them up; they don't seem to be very prominent characters right now. (Which is perhaps true of all the known-to-be-queer-ATM characters? It's been a while since I read Skull Throne, but all the ones I'd paid the most mind to seemed to end up dead or doing things that put them thoroughly at odds with the POV characters...some doing things and saying things that didn't seem remotely forgivable.)
Blame the character limit for my use of "evil" as a shorthand... Inevera and Jardir are pretty much in a head-bob race throughout the last couple books for my favorite character in the series (tho Renna's riiiight up there too), so believe me I don't form my opinions in quick absolutes. But they're POV characters and no matter how they looked from the outside I *expected* them to get more complex and, for lack of a better word, likeable within their own chapters.
Anyway...thanks for answering me: I spent the past year trying to decide whether to send the series off to the used book store or wait and try just one more. Despite my affection for most of the POV characters and appreciation for the overall quality of the books, finishing a book on such a sour note doesn't exactly make me eager to spend more time and money on another, so I figured I might as well query and add whatever answer I might get to my decision making process.