I don't have a specific message for 'The Grace of Kings' and the sequels in mind other than wanting to challenge some of the source material I was working from as well as some of the assumptions of epic fantasy.

The 'Grace of Kings' isn't a narrative about a return to some golden age, to a lost status quo ante. It portrays a dynamic world in transition, where the redistribution of power is messy, morally ambivalent, and only lurches toward more justice.

Maxine,” Grant said, but I barely heard him. I was lost in that vision, in those emotions—the pain, and hunger for pain, forming the root of so much
agonized rage.
“ ‘Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate,’” I muttered.
“Yoda, from Star Wars?”
“ ‘Hate leads to suffering.’” I met his gaze. “Yoda knows his shit, man.”
Grant’s mouth crooked in a gentle smile.

I now wondered if the lullaby of death was not a lovely song, but the droning of flies. If flies and maggots were all Death's handmaidens.

My eyes burned, and I blinked as I faced the books. "And I suppose," I said with an effort at lightness, "That it's a miracle I can actually read these things."
Rhys's answering smile was lovely - and just a bit wicked. "I believe my little lessons helped."
"Yes, 'Rhys is the greatest lover a female can hope for' is undoubtedly how I learned to read."
"I was only trying to tell you what you now know.

The Nephelle Philosophy