Though I do somewhat wish there was a section here that reviews the plot, for those of us who are curious about what happens in the book without reading 1M+ words.
I think I could take a stab at a summary.
This is going to elide most of the actual events of the story to focus on the “main conflict” that gets resolved at the end of the story. (I may try to make a more narrative-focused outline later if there’s interest, but this is already quite a long comment.)
As I see it, the main conflict (the exact nature of which doesn’t become clear until quite late) is mainly driven by two threads that develop gradually throughout the story… (major spoilers)
The first thread is Keltham’s gradual realization that the world of Golarion is pretty terrible for mortals, and is being kept that way by the power dynamics of the gods.
The key to understanding these dynamics is that certain gods (and coalitions of gods) have the capability to destroy the world. However, the gods all know (Eliezer’s take on) decision theory, so you can’t extort them by threatening to destroy the world. They’ll only compromise with you if you would honestly prefer destroying the world to the status quo, if those were your only two options. (And they have ways of checking.) So the current state of things is a compromise to ensure that everyone who could destroy the world, prefers not to.
Keltham would honestly prefer destroying Golarion (primarily because a substantial fraction of mortals currently go to hell and get tortured for eternity), so he realizes that if he can seize the ability to destroy the world, then the gods will negotiate with him to find a mutually-acceptable alternative.
Keltham speculates (though it’s only speculation) that he may have been sent to Golarion by some powerful but distant entity from the larger multiverse, as the least-expensive way of stopping something that entity objects to.
The second thread is that Nethys (god of knowledge, magic, and destruction) has the ability to see alternate versions of Golarion and to communicate with alternate versions of himself, and he’s seen several versions of this story play out already, so he knows what Keltham is up to. Nethys wants Keltham to succeed, because the new equilibrium that Keltham negotiates is better (from Nethys’ perspective) than the status quo.
However, it is absolutely imperative that Nethys does not cause Keltham to succeed, because Nethys does not prefer destroying the world to the status quo. If Keltham only succeeds because of Nethys’ interventions, the gods will treat Keltham as Nethys’ pawn, and treat Keltham’s demands as a threat from Nethys, and will refuse to negotiate.
So Nethys can only intervene in ways that all of the major gods will approve of (in retrospect). So he runs around minimizing collateral damage, nudges Keltham towards being a little friendlier in the final negotiations, and very carefully never removes any obstacle from Keltham’s path until Keltham has proven that he can overcome it on his own.
Nethys considers is likely that this whole situation was intentionally designed as some sort of game, by some unknown entity. (Partly because Keltham makes several successful predictions based on dath ilani game tropes.)
At the end of the story, Keltham uses an artifact called the starstone to turn himself into a minor god, then uses his advanced knowledge of physics (unknown to anyone else in the setting, including the gods) to create weapons capable of destroying the world, announces that that’s his BATNA, and successfully negotiates with the rest of the gods to shut down hell, stop stifling mortal technological development, and make a few inexpensive changes to improve overall mortal quality-of-life. Keltham then puts himself into long-term stasis to see if the future of this world will seem less alienating to him than the present.
I think I could take a stab at a summary.
This is going to elide most of the actual events of the story to focus on the “main conflict” that gets resolved at the end of the story. (I may try to make a more narrative-focused outline later if there’s interest, but this is already quite a long comment.)
As I see it, the main conflict (the exact nature of which doesn’t become clear until quite late) is mainly driven by two threads that develop gradually throughout the story… (major spoilers)
The first thread is Keltham’s gradual realization that the world of Golarion is pretty terrible for mortals, and is being kept that way by the power dynamics of the gods.
The key to understanding these dynamics is that certain gods (and coalitions of gods) have the capability to destroy the world. However, the gods all know (Eliezer’s take on) decision theory, so you can’t extort them by threatening to destroy the world. They’ll only compromise with you if you would honestly prefer destroying the world to the status quo, if those were your only two options. (And they have ways of checking.) So the current state of things is a compromise to ensure that everyone who could destroy the world, prefers not to.
Keltham would honestly prefer destroying Golarion (primarily because a substantial fraction of mortals currently go to hell and get tortured for eternity), so he realizes that if he can seize the ability to destroy the world, then the gods will negotiate with him to find a mutually-acceptable alternative.
Keltham speculates (though it’s only speculation) that he may have been sent to Golarion by some powerful but distant entity from the larger multiverse, as the least-expensive way of stopping something that entity objects to.
The second thread is that Nethys (god of knowledge, magic, and destruction) has the ability to see alternate versions of Golarion and to communicate with alternate versions of himself, and he’s seen several versions of this story play out already, so he knows what Keltham is up to. Nethys wants Keltham to succeed, because the new equilibrium that Keltham negotiates is better (from Nethys’ perspective) than the status quo.
However, it is absolutely imperative that Nethys does not cause Keltham to succeed, because Nethys does not prefer destroying the world to the status quo. If Keltham only succeeds because of Nethys’ interventions, the gods will treat Keltham as Nethys’ pawn, and treat Keltham’s demands as a threat from Nethys, and will refuse to negotiate.
So Nethys can only intervene in ways that all of the major gods will approve of (in retrospect). So he runs around minimizing collateral damage, nudges Keltham towards being a little friendlier in the final negotiations, and very carefully never removes any obstacle from Keltham’s path until Keltham has proven that he can overcome it on his own.
Nethys considers is likely that this whole situation was intentionally designed as some sort of game, by some unknown entity. (Partly because Keltham makes several successful predictions based on dath ilani game tropes.)
At the end of the story, Keltham uses an artifact called the starstone to turn himself into a minor god, then uses his advanced knowledge of physics (unknown to anyone else in the setting, including the gods) to create weapons capable of destroying the world, announces that that’s his BATNA, and successfully negotiates with the rest of the gods to shut down hell, stop stifling mortal technological development, and make a few inexpensive changes to improve overall mortal quality-of-life. Keltham then puts himself into long-term stasis to see if the future of this world will seem less alienating to him than the present.