Reviews

I'd just finished H.M. Long's debut Hall of Smoke when, thanks to this arc, I was able to dive right into this standalone sequel. I really enjoyed said debut so I was excited to see what the author came up with in this second installment, especially because it's still following the same (badass amazing) protagonist. While yes, both books are standalones, I probably would advise everyone interested in reading Temple of No God to read the first book before getting this one, because it really helps with understanding the lore and the characters.

The world of Long's stories is still a fascinating one, steeped in Norse mythology but with a unique spin and this time adding more insight into the Arpa Empire, which reminded me a little of the Roman Empire. The lore is rich and deep, complex but understandable. Hessa is still a badass warrior priestess queen of everything 10 years after the events of the first book, and I simply adore her. I loved seing what became of her, and I was intrigued by her complicated marriage and the new threat rising from the ashes of the gods we got to know in Hall of Smoke. I loved meeting characters like Nisien, Estavius and Sixnit (even though the latter was sadly barely in this story). The new characters are intriguing, too, especially Uspa.

I still think "Temple of No God" doesn't reach the quality of its predecessor. For one, most of the characters are just not as intriguing as the ones I mentioned, but remain shallow. Some of their actions are very very predictable too - there is a betrayal later on in the story that I saw coming from miles away and was really hoping Long would surprise me by not going that way, but alas, here we are. One of the main villains is very easy to spot, too, another one is just kinda thrown in out of left field so I didn't care much (and that says something because I am a villains kind of gal). Personally, I was also hoping for more scenes involving the aforementioned returning characters. Nisien and Estavius had their roles, but were mostly absent for most of the book, and as I loved their respective relationships with Hessa (and was intrigued by their relationship with each other, which was nicely tragic and also added at least a dash of lgbt representation) I just wish they had spent more time with her. I also really really wanted Sixnit to play a larger role because she was such an important anchor to Hessa in the first book and obviously her children are very intriguing as well.

The story is a little meandering at times. The twists in general were not that hard to predict, though I still liked reading them - I just wasn't necessarily as surprised as I was with certain aspects of the first book. The pacing is another issue, because there is honestly not that much happening in the entire middle part of the book and I found myself getting a little bored with it, though the pace kept picking up the closer we came to the end. The end was just epic, amazing and very emotional.

All in all, this is a really good kind-of-standalone that expands the lore and makes one love Hessa even more. I hope she gets all that she wants from life - she sure earned it.
3,5 stars, but closer to 3.

Many thanks to Titan Books and Netgalley for the arc!

palmkd's review

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4.0

Picking up not long after Hall of Smoke, Temple of No God brings us back to the Arpa empire and the strife within. This is a viking inspired epic fantasy series full of brutal gods and waring clans. Hessa is the High Priestess of the Eangen and her goal is to make life better for her people. She's put through some brutal trials in the first book with more to come in this second installment of the series. These books are definitely not for the feint of heart, but if you like viking/Norse mythology and epic fantasy, this is one to check out!
Adult - Epic Fantasy: Viking inspired - The Four Pillars #2
Content Warnings: Death, Violence, Blood, War
Format: Audio/Paperback