Finished
The Ruin of Angels, 6th and latest in
Max Gladstone's The Craft Sequence, which apparently starts a new, more linear direction to the storytelling (previously written out of chronological sequence and numbered in the titles).
This one took us to a new city with interesting local geography and ensuing adapted culture, with some more detail on some specific God Wars backstory only previously hinted at. It was nice to see some established characters show up and interact, as well as meet new ones.
Unfortunately, the plot seemed to drag somewhat at first (some of the new characters were introduced in a side storyline which seemed to not have much to do with or be as compelling as the main plot). And there was rather more romantic relationship drama than I personally care for, though I acknowledge it's probably a useful additional motivator for prodding characters to less than sensible actions when family and friendship ties have already been invoked. And occasional characters setting up deliberate miscommunication and sabotaging each other and themselves by stubbornly withholding key information and expecting everyone to take everything purely on trust, instead of negotiating compromises like adults.
But eventually everything got resolved reasonably well.
Aside from that, while I don't think I really liked it nearly as much as the previous novels (might get better on a re-read), it provided an entertaining look at the rather Lovecraftian-sounding Iskari squid god religion I'd been curious about, along with other aspects of the world, and set up some interesting possibilities for the future.