Veiled even further in secrecy than the other Incarnae, the Maidens' peculiar origin and their goals receives an enlightening close-up. Like Luna's iteration, it also dangles tantalizing hints of what lies up above Creation amongst and beyond the stars, and the Martial Arts Styles are things of elegant beauty. If Sidereals in your game are wanting for raw power, astrological Charm can help to even the odds, and present a set of powers that, although often difficult to employ because of their gravity in the setting, offer an expansion of capability formerly only possible with the highest tier of Martial Arts. As a matter of bias, I would also like to further note at how wonderful the artifact version of the urumi (whip sword) is.

Holiest of Holies, Ignis Divine, gets his due, and his Chosen gain displayed magic that can literally break mountains. The Unconquered Sun's faults and strengths are well-balanced, and his behavior (as well as actions attributed to him) becomes eminently understandable. Also noted in his history are the changes that he underwent through his existence. While the mechanical side doesn't contain a Defend Other action, it does contain an option for fine-tuning some basic parts of the game that Exalted other than Solars rely on, such as needing to Combo multiple defensive Charms. Also a must have, even if you only want to pin down the Deathlords to make them challengable, rather than unbeatable, adversaries.

Having given the bundle a broad outline, some individual highlights for the different Glories books deserve mention. First, this pins Luna down in just the right way - not too much, but enough to understand. If you were wondering just why the world had a seemingly supreme and undefeatable sun god guarding it as well as a moon god of great power, a very well-detailed, evocative and thoughtful explanation lies within. The description of the actual, physical moon (in which Luna holds her own dream-like domain) presents a setting full of potential hooks, as its importance to the fluid integrity of Creation is laid bare. Hints of what Gaia is up to come up. Finally, the Charms, Knacks and thaumaturgy are all top-notch, including some that are bound to become instant favorites for, say, fans of webslingers. In a vital rules sense, you can also find a non-magical Guard Other action. Very much worth getting.

Essentially, this title is book-ended by the good with some regrettable issues as one closes into the center. The chapter describing the day to day life in Creation as it applies to mortals, heroic or otherwise, manages to nail a normally stratospherically over the top setting down to earth when it needs to be, so as to apply a contrast. The last chapter, regarding Storyteller advice, asks a number of important questions to effectively remind anyone what playing the squishy, gritty examples of mortal life in a world of gods and demons entails (though I do hold that a factor of Exaltation regarding Lunars was somewhat contorted relative to how their Manual of Exalted Power presents potential members of their number, this is a problem with only one paragraph toward the end of the chapter).

The relic altered humans are where the People of the Earth are fully detailed for what amounts for the first time. This chapter is primarily useful, however, if you don't have Celestial Compass: The Wyld, and alters description of Dune People appearance relative to former presentations (regarding aesthetic qualities of their appearance). It is not bad. The second chapter, detailing heroic mortal splats with rough parallels to Solar Castes, has a few bizarre oddities in it regarding Ability point allocation and allowances.

The merits and flaws hit highs and lows. The range is particularly and regrettably pronounced, with good decisions covering non-established traits (how to represent very young or very old characters, for example) standing next to bizarre rules exceptions and merits that should have been mutations (special sense). The God-Blooded chapter makes reference to many traits and descriptions that you won't find in the second edition rulebook or that don't make sense within Creation, respectively. While Dragon-Touched are not problems to be dealt with in this edition, some God-Blooded mutations are wholly out of order with previously established mutations in a way that does not blaze a trail through brave new design space; Immortality, for instance, should probably not be at the same level of severity as being able to live four times longer than usual and getting negative mutations tacked on for your trouble, and the transformative abomination mutations strain established power levels at best. The experience point cost for god-blooded is also oddly reminiscent of that of ghosts as presented in Roll of Glorious Divinity 2.

All in all, if you're very serious about playing mortals in Exalted, you can decide if you want to get it. As presented, the God-Blooded rules don't work particularly well, and the merits are riding a wave that dips up and down. Both would need to be addressed to be workable.