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sarahlreadseverything's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars!
Finally putting some thoughts down on this one.
I honestly still find it hard to believe Godblind is a debut novel. It's extremely polished, from start to finish, and has a level of sophistication that is just pretty delightful. Things I loved:
- The short chapter narrative, from numerous perspectives. Admittedly, it took me a while to get into the swing, but by 100 pages in I was thoroughly enjoying exploring each POV-character's perspective on the events unfolding and getting to see just a little more of their character at a time.
- The contained fantasy world. I didn't realise I was sick of fantasy novels where either a) it takes six months to get anywhere or b) some magical form of teleportation has to exist, until Godblind showed me it's perfectly possible to have a complex fantasy novel set in one small nation.
- The brilliant female characters. Rilliran is the obvious, and will probably be the most quoted example, but I loved Tara - the girl in a man's world trope always gets me.
- The combination of political maneuvering with spiritual warfare. It just worked. Though admittedly, I'd quite like to see the Fox-God and the Goddess of Light to become as real and "on the ground" as the Reds Gods in the second installment, rather than the misty presence they presented here by comparison (I thought I maybe caught some hints that could be coming. . .? We'll see).
- The twists and turns. The big reveal (with THAT scene) that comes about 100 pages in completely pulled the rug out and is probably the biggest plot twist in a book I've read this year that I didn't see coming in advance.
That's just a short list. Book 2 eagerly awaited, thanks very much.
Unfortunately Godblind lost half a star from me simply because of my continued ability to not-handle violence/gore. That's a reflection on me, not on the excellence of Godblind. That being said, earlier this year Defender by G.X Todd, another local author, made me almost physically sick (I had to put it down for three days and barely managed to finish it) whereas Anna Smith's Godblind was brutal and graphically violent (I know, I know, it's grimdark, what did I expect) but still unputdownable.
Finally putting some thoughts down on this one.
I honestly still find it hard to believe Godblind is a debut novel. It's extremely polished, from start to finish, and has a level of sophistication that is just pretty delightful. Things I loved:
- The short chapter narrative, from numerous perspectives. Admittedly, it took me a while to get into the swing, but by 100 pages in I was thoroughly enjoying exploring each POV-character's perspective on the events unfolding and getting to see just a little more of their character at a time.
- The contained fantasy world. I didn't realise I was sick of fantasy novels where either a) it takes six months to get anywhere or b) some magical form of teleportation has to exist, until Godblind showed me it's perfectly possible to have a complex fantasy novel set in one small nation.
- The brilliant female characters. Rilliran is the obvious, and will probably be the most quoted example, but I loved Tara - the girl in a man's world trope always gets me.
- The combination of political maneuvering with spiritual warfare. It just worked. Though admittedly, I'd quite like to see the Fox-God and the Goddess of Light to become as real and "on the ground" as the Reds Gods in the second installment, rather than the misty presence they presented here by comparison (I thought I maybe caught some hints that could be coming. . .? We'll see).
- The twists and turns. The big reveal (with THAT scene) that comes about 100 pages in completely pulled the rug out and is probably the biggest plot twist in a book I've read this year that I didn't see coming in advance.
That's just a short list. Book 2 eagerly awaited, thanks very much.
Unfortunately Godblind lost half a star from me simply because of my continued ability to not-handle violence/gore. That's a reflection on me, not on the excellence of Godblind. That being said, earlier this year Defender by G.X Todd, another local author, made me almost physically sick (I had to put it down for three days and barely managed to finish it) whereas Anna Smith's Godblind was brutal and graphically violent (I know, I know, it's grimdark, what did I expect) but still unputdownable.
stiofanob's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.5
themarquessmagpie's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
4.0
anouk90's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
adamborst's review against another edition
4.0
I'd call this a solid book, somewhere in 3.5 to 4 stars. Very fast paced with no fat on the bone, it grabs you right away and doesn't let up. More POVs than I anticipated but they all add something to the story. Some pretty brutal parts to the book, so it's not for everyone. I did wish the ending had a bit more to it. Things just seemed to stop without any big event, more of a cliffhanger type of ending. Lots of pieces on the board ready for the rest of the series. All in all, nothing really took me out of the story but it felt like there was something missing from the world-building or lore that could have upped the stakes. I'll be reading the next book at some point but not right away.
yharnam's review against another edition
1.0
I've learned a great lesson about judging a book by its cover. I picked this up because it looked so cool. The cover perfectly appealed to my aesthetic. Unfortunately, the contents did not live up to my expectations.
I'll start with the world-building. Maybe I'm silly and wrong, but I would personally expect a fantasy book, set in a completely fictional and new world, to have at least some bit of identity and culture, or else it isn't believable. Godblind's world is bland. There are very few defining features of the different groups of people in this world. No details on architecture, superstitions, fashion, language, food, art, etc. Somehow, not even the conflicting religions have much of an identity beyond the Red Gods are EVIL and the gods of Light are . . . light and good? Why do these people believe in these gods and follow them? What is the history? How did they discover them? What brought them to these gods? I'm not expecting 3000 pages of exposition, but for real. I want something, otherwise I just don't really have a reason to care about the events, world, or characters.
There are also barely any details on the geography other than the fact the Mireces were exiled to the mountains, and Rilpor seems to be primarily plains, with some rivers and forests. There's an ocean somewhere.... but where? I don't know! There isn't even a map to help with this. This probably directly influences the lack of world-building because geography influences culture. Also, with no map, it's hard to visualize the actual movements of the war. It's just a bunch of random skirmishes and fights dotted here or there. No interesting war plans, movements, etc. It's messy. Much like the characters.
So, I will now talk about the characters. There are (at least) 10 different pov's in this book, and so many other side characters. This, paired with the ridiculously short chapters, makes for some of the most boring and uninteresting characters. I feel like I know nothing about them except one or two little defining traits. So many of them are completely unnecessary and just take away from the potential of characters that could have been much more interesting. Much of the character development and relationship development ends up happening off-screen and it makes it impossible to care. I don't want to see a character in the beginning stages of healing from years of abuse suddenly be healed because the author was busy wasting my time with the pov's of Old Soldier Man #1 and #2, and Super Evil Dudes #1 and #2. I would form more of an attachment to a character if I get to see those changes happen throughout the course of the book and not in snapshots where she ends up making a complete 180 since the last time I saw her. Now she is just Snarky Fighty Lady #3.
Again, no one is interesting or nuanced. Everyone is extremely and ridiculously boring.
This book would have benefitted from like, 7 of the character pov's being cut to leave Rillirin, Dom, and Crys.
idk what else to really add. Sorry my review is messy. I don't feel like editing it. Just like Anna Stephens when she wrote this mess of a book.
I also don't really care if the next book fixes these problems. It probably doesn't, and also the first book should be the one to do this. It shouldn't take more than 400 pages to make me care.
EDIT: Also, the LGBT rep is pretty shit and starts with some pretty bad homophobia. So, fuck that actually.
I'll start with the world-building. Maybe I'm silly and wrong, but I would personally expect a fantasy book, set in a completely fictional and new world, to have at least some bit of identity and culture, or else it isn't believable. Godblind's world is bland. There are very few defining features of the different groups of people in this world. No details on architecture, superstitions, fashion, language, food, art, etc. Somehow, not even the conflicting religions have much of an identity beyond the Red Gods are EVIL and the gods of Light are . . . light and good? Why do these people believe in these gods and follow them? What is the history? How did they discover them? What brought them to these gods? I'm not expecting 3000 pages of exposition, but for real. I want something, otherwise I just don't really have a reason to care about the events, world, or characters.
There are also barely any details on the geography other than the fact the Mireces were exiled to the mountains, and Rilpor seems to be primarily plains, with some rivers and forests. There's an ocean somewhere.... but where? I don't know! There isn't even a map to help with this. This probably directly influences the lack of world-building because geography influences culture. Also, with no map, it's hard to visualize the actual movements of the war. It's just a bunch of random skirmishes and fights dotted here or there. No interesting war plans, movements, etc. It's messy. Much like the characters.
So, I will now talk about the characters. There are (at least) 10 different pov's in this book, and so many other side characters. This, paired with the ridiculously short chapters, makes for some of the most boring and uninteresting characters. I feel like I know nothing about them except one or two little defining traits. So many of them are completely unnecessary and just take away from the potential of characters that could have been much more interesting. Much of the character development and relationship development ends up happening off-screen and it makes it impossible to care. I don't want to see a character in the beginning stages of healing from years of abuse suddenly be healed because the author was busy wasting my time with the pov's of Old Soldier Man #1 and #2, and Super Evil Dudes #1 and #2. I would form more of an attachment to a character if I get to see those changes happen throughout the course of the book and not in snapshots where she ends up making a complete 180 since the last time I saw her. Now she is just Snarky Fighty Lady #3.
Again, no one is interesting or nuanced. Everyone is extremely and ridiculously boring.
This book would have benefitted from like, 7 of the character pov's being cut to leave Rillirin, Dom, and Crys.
idk what else to really add. Sorry my review is messy. I don't feel like editing it. Just like Anna Stephens when she wrote this mess of a book.
I also don't really care if the next book fixes these problems. It probably doesn't, and also the first book should be the one to do this. It shouldn't take more than 400 pages to make me care.
EDIT: Also, the LGBT rep is pretty shit and starts with some pretty bad homophobia. So, fuck that actually.
themorbidcorvid's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
metalandteacups's review against another edition
5.0
This book is definitely not for the faint of heart. I found this novel to have a combination of John Gwynne and Mark Lawrence, but with more graphic violence than both, that left me cringing. If you've read this, you know what I mean. This is going directly into my favourites shelf.
jadeyrae's review against another edition
2.0
Marking this as finished despite DNFing at about 30%. I’m afraid I just didn’t care enough to continue, it wasn’t memorable enough and seemed to be a cardboard cutout of Game of Thrones, just not as good.
blodeuedd's review against another edition
Ia m just gonna dnf this one. I think it would work better for me in print than on audio...