I'm glad I'm not the only person who was disappointed by this book. The Great Ordeal was such a wonderful setup and this could have wrapped up the series as nicely as The Thousandfold Thought did for TPON, which holds a place in my heart as an absolute masterpiece of fantasy writing.
I don't know what happened during the writing of The Unholy Consult, but the wheels completely fell off. The parts of the story that are actually intriguing are few and far between, which is pretty uncharacteristic for this author. I think my favorite part of the whole novel was a throwaway section where Aurang sits on the horn and reminisces about the different names he's had since Arkfall.
There could have been chapters for key members of the Consult as they prepare for the arrival of the great ordeal, and I bet it would have been great reading. But instead, we got 200 pages of MEAT MEAT MEAT and it got to the point where the sodomy, cannibalism, and insanity of the believer kings became boring to read about. Yes, yes, we get it, THE MEAT!
And look, I don't need a happy ending. I was half expecting Kellhus to sacrifice the great ordeal just like he assumed his father would do. Even the Golgotterath-torpos-possession thing had promise, but for some reason we just kinda glossed over that. The ending we got though, that was insulting. Yeah, we know how the Great Ordeal ends, but what about the characters that are still alive? You know, the things that keep us engaged in the story? And why even bother with the boring appendices that don't reveal any new insight?
So for anyone else annoyed by this "finale", just add this after the final sentence.
"Tsuramah waxed quite phallically, strung like a bow across the horizon. Kayutas, Serwe, Esmenet, Achamian, Mimara, Mimara's baby, Mohengus, and all Scylvendi, Nonmen, and Ordeal forces were consumed. Everyone went to hell except Mimara, Esmenet, and maybe Mimara's baby? The (now skeletal) Cnair urs Skiotha remains animated by hell demons and rides the whirlwind on a nimil surfboard."