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Kit Griffiths' dynamic narration, which enriches the story's emotions, pace and tension, grabbed my attention within seconds. Also, the different voices used for the characters bring them to life and strengthen the listening experience. In contrast to Kissen, we have Elogast, our knight turned baker. Immediately we see Elo is kind, gentle but he is also traumatised by his past. Throughout the novel we see that he is suffering from PTSD, the battles he has fought have left their emotional scars and knowing this we realise just how much strength, loyalty it took for him to help King Arren. These are the kind of characters I am fond of, ones who find the strength to face their personal demons and ones who have a firm sense of honour. However, my most beloved characters were Inara and her tiny god Skediceth. Though Inara is young, she shows as much resilience and courage as Kissen. She knows she’s the daughter of a powerful noble house, her mother has taught her well and she always strives to act accordingly. I loved her bond with Skedi, how this connection allows her to see people’s emotions through colours and how she could always sense if they were lying. Skedi’s form is a cross between a hare and a deer with wings and antlers, always changing his size to become noticeable or stay hidden. Though I found Skedi adorable, I also liked that he was the god of white lies and that power made his character rather untrustworthy throughout. One of our favourite questions here on the Fantasy Hive: which fantastical creature would you ride into battle and why? All the points of view are interesting; their past experiences, flaws, and vulnerabilities revealed to the reader as they’re detailed to the other main characters. Inara and Skedi’s connection and the god’s past are shrouded in mystery, as it should not be possible for a god to survive without a shrine and the love and dedication of followers.
And then, understanding I would be writing a disabled character, it was my responsibility to write a decent one. I did a lot of reading, and raised my awareness of frustrating tropes, challenges, and biases there were in writing disability, and worked with authenticity editors. Meanwhile, a former knight who had previously served in the king's court receives a visit from the king, who requests a final favor. As they meet, they don't trust each other at first, but over time, they realize they're stronger together. Despite their initial doubts, they all end up heading to the same place, each with their own reasons.Whilst reading Godkiller, we follow four different points of view. Two of them are reluctant legends in their own fields, both were active and influential throughout the god war, and are now just generally plodding along. They find themselves in a position that is similar to how Ringil begins in The Steel Remains. Kissen is the titular Godkiller and her occupation is pretty self-explanatory. She doesn’t like gods much and will kill them for a fee. Elogast is currently a baker, yet his previous occupation was as one of the King’s most trusted Knights. We also follow Inara, a young noble lady who the majority of the nobility don’t seem to know exists, and finally her bonded god companion Skedi, the god of white lies. I absolutely adored everything about this book, it was phenomenal! The world was so vibrant and alive, teeming with history and ancient beings; the characters were so real and human, always flawed and always interesting; the prose was beautiful and evocative. I simply cannot fault it!
Whilst reading Godkiller, we follow four different points of view. Two of them are reluctant legends in their own fields, both were active and influential throughout the god war, and are now just generally plodding along. They find themselves in a position that is similar to how Ringil begins in The Steel Remains. Kissen is the titular Godkiller and her occupation is pretty self-explanatory. She doesn't like gods much and will kill them for a fee. Elogast is currently a baker, yet his previous occupation was as one of the King's most trusted Knights. We also follow Inara, a young noble lady who the majority of the nobility don't seem to know exists, and finally her bonded god companion Skedi, the god of white lies. Kaner draws her world in deft strokes, many of them broad but leaving space to be filled in later. It may benefit from more thorough detail on the political situation in the sequel (for Godkiller is the first in a series), but none of the characters are intimately involved in national politics here yet, and the world of towns and villages, wilderness and rivers, gods and shrines, is illuminated with enough detail to make it feel plausibly real. It is also, pleasantly, a world where queer relationships are normal. Each person's colours were different, bright, manipulable. Skedi could tell a liar from a lover, a joker from a fraud.” Godkiller by Hannah Kaner is a dark, gritty and highly immersive debut. This is a tale where gods and mortals collide, where myth and legends are brought to life, where having faith could get you killed. The power of belief is strong, worship can bring peace to many but believing in Gods can be deadly. To seek a God's favour, to have their light shine upon you, is to pay a high price.Regarding what to expect, Godkiller includes an LGBTQ+ lead, main characters who struggle with mental illness, a point of view character who has a prosthetic leg, other important disabled characters, and this world's equivalent of sign language. All of these aspects fit seamlessly and enhance the story and the characters around them. We also have incredible set pieces, romance, betrayals, showdowns, curses, tragic loss, demons, and an amazing ending. Little statements and seemingly unimportant details come to be of the utmost importance later on, so Godkiller is absolutely a rewarding novel for those that pay attention. A richly rendered world . . . Kaner writes action that's both fun and intelligible . . . If "The Last of Us" didn't slake your thirst for stories of a grizzled fighter taking a tough kid on the road, then Godkiller should be your jam.” — Charlie Jane Anders, The Washington Post I really enjoyed this book; in my opinion, it hasn't received the attention it deserves. To be completely honest, the plot wasn't groundbreaking, but it was exceptionally well written, and I found the main characters quite relatable. Oh some kind of small house god of a local village or river I suspect. Maybe a magpie god of fire, fables and wine.
The book had a really strong prologue, and then I lost interest. It follows Kissen, a GodKiller (basically similar to Geralt of Rivia but instead of chasing and hunting down monsters for coin, she kills Gods), whose life becomes entangled with a strange girl called Inara and her little god, Skedi. Inara and Skedi’s bond reminded me of the bond that Lyra has with her Daemon in His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman. Hannah loves the histories and mythologies shared through our cultural histories, the stories we tell ourselves about being human. She also likes stabby swords and angry women. I also loved Kissen, who was such a fierce, and tenacious character whose gruff, standoffish exterior hides a deep well of compassion and protectiveness for her loved ones. She can be impulsive at times which does lead to some not so stellar results, but her ability to own up to them, learn and move on was something that really impressed me. As did her Geralt levels of attitude and badass-ness (and the matching feistiness of her horse, Legs also gives Roach competition for fave fictional horse of all time.) Ok, we have to mention how gorgeous your cover is, the artwork is stunning! How involved in the process were you? Was there a particular aesthetic you hoped they’d portray?On this forbidden pilgrimage—for in a land where gods are outlawed, pilgrimage is illegal—they encounter the former knight-commander Elogast. Elo has been a baker for three years, trying to put the war that haunts his memories out of his mind. Arren was once his childhood friend, but they disagreed when Arren turned on the gods that had helped them. But despite their disagreements, Elo’s loyalty remains with his friend the king, and Arren has been dying slowly since the last battle of the civil war, when a god kept him alive and (suspiciously, to the reader alert for the potential dramatic catch) didn’t ask for anything then in return. When Arren asks Elo to go to Blenraden to find him a better solution, or a cure, from one of the gods who he has outlawed, Elo goes despite his misgivings. This ended up being a journey story, which can be a hard sell for me. A knight turned baker, a lady Godkiller, and a little girl attached to a small god end up thrown together on a dangerous journey to a forbidden city. The prologue grabbed my attention immediately and there were elements of the story that liked. The complexities of gods and faith as something with great potential for both good and evil is interesting. In a kingdom that slaughtered the gods and criminalized their worship, two god-slayers—a mercenary and a knight—join forces on a pilgrimage to save two other lives. The other characters we follow through the course of the novel are Elogast, currently a baker but formerly the Prince’s most-trusted knight suffering from PTSD from his time in the war; Inara, a young noble’s daughter who spent her short life hidden away from prying eyes to a point where no one knows she exists; and Skedi, the hare-deer-bird God of White Lies who is mysteriously bound to her, and whose existence puts both their lives at incredible risk.
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