That's fair, yeah. I did intend for heavy attacks to be higher commitment options while light attacks are generally safe to use in more situations, but you're right that it probably doesn't work quite as well as I'd wanted it to when factoring in the auto-lockon and bottomless pits. I'll think about including something like a second half-dodge (with less distance and fewer iframes) that can be used in midair after the slower heavies or when you're over a pit, as a compromise so those situations aren't completely out of your control.
The books, on the other hand... to be honest, I just totally forgot to give them the telegraph on their attacks that all the other enemies have, that'd probably help a lot to have, huh? Haha