I just completed my second listen to this book, a couple of years after the first. My memory of this story as a cherished favorite was re-polished & revalidated. Like the Bulgarian, an epic story that also pokes fun at itself is one of my all-time favorites.
Ruwen is the main character in a coming of age story that starts small but rapidly escalated into a grand struggle between citizens, city-states, and their gods. Uru has chosen him as her Champion, but by following the previous agreements between the ruling gods she has to let the others know, & Ruwen is assassinated on his very first day as a “Rooted” Champion by agents of the other dieties.
Running for his life, escaping from one critical situation to the next, this first book recounts the first “day” of the new phase of his life.
The avalanche has begun with a mere shifting pebble, leaving a 16 year old birthday boy grappling with a desire for agency and personal autonomy, while questioning everything he thought he knew about his world.