In the intro to this book, the author brags about how he works out the entire series before he ever publishes any books. I would argue that this actually ends up being more of a liability than a virtue in this case. Age of Myth is a book where the characters are being positively dragged by the plot machinations.

There's a mystery related to why some men attempted to kill one of the main characters, Persephone. Her, along with 6 other people she talks to, all seem baffled by why they would do this, while I scream at them all at how obvious the answer is. All the characters, some of them quite smart, are rendered idiots because it would disrupt the plot path clearly already laid out well in advance for them.

It happens a lot in this book, with plot revelations coming out late in the game that seem to have no other purpose beyond getting characters to the planned climax when nothing about the characters personality or motives would otherwise dictate heading in that direction.

And the names. Oh the names. Look, I get that epic fantasy has goofy names, but can we settle on a variety? If you're going to use googly fantasy names, do so consistently. Don't throw in names like Persephone, which have a specific cultural origin and history. And if a race is clearly elves, either call them elves, or make them less like elves.

This book also made me realize how poorly multi-character narratives sometimes work for novels. It seems like fantasy writers are addicted to explicating every possible thing, revealing every single angle. So many scenes had a logical point where it could have stopped, and it just kept going. Limiting it to one character would provide greater verisimilitude and mystery. I would suggest Suri, personally, since she has the most interesting background and journey.

I had fun with these characters at times, but I doubt I'd continue on with the series, because I suspect I'd just keep getting aggravated by the lack of organic character progression.