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3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
adventurous
fast-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This was pretty good. It didn't wow me, and I had moments where I didn't really know what the story was supposed to be about, but I still enjoyed reading it.
The story starts off with a lot of action that provided good exposition without being too dry. The setting is probably urban fantasy, as most modern technology exists, but the religion and magic is based on something more similar to the mythos of Greek gods and goddesses. The magic and religion elements tend to dominate the tone and the feeling of the book, so the modern technology aspect feels almost anachronistic. Recently divorced, Terah moves back into the home her grandfather left for her. It's near too the only possession she kept after her divorce. As she contemplates how to move forward with her life, the gods intercede with plans of their own. It turns out the titular stone god is Kol, the lesser god, the messenger of the gods, and also her distant grandfather. He has been trapped in stone for centuries, but now he has escaped and as his only living descendant, Terah is meant to be his Hood, acting in his stead in administrating his rule/allies. Only Terah has grown up a follower of a greater god, Aran, and she feels wrong denouncing him. She ends up sort of committed to both. She also doesn't have a clue how to be a hood, so Aran's hood, Adomanei, is tasked with helping her. Only, Adomanei has his own life, which is currently taken up with trying to wed a different Hood, Nilea. As Terah steps into her role, she gains a suitor, and maybe ally, in Edgerin, the Hood for another lesser god, also aligned with Aran. All of this is happening as Phemera, a different Great One, is trying to kill a child of Aran and kidnap Terah. Phemera is the god that trapped Kol, because he convinced Phemera's daughter to elope all those centuries ago.
The plot it all a bit messy. To compound the mess, the POV changes through a bunch of the characters. I didn't really know where to focus half the time. I thought at times that the different conflicts were meant to act as red herrings or distractions for the bigger plot points, but not quite. Now that I've finished, it feels like it was all meant as one story, being cohesive and sort of grand in scale. I think the author was going for the epic fantasy style of having a lot of moving parts. However, this book just didn't accomplish that. Perhaps it needed more length to develop and achieve that. Perhaps, it didn't, and this story just fell short of the goal.
The characters themselves are all interesting. The world system is also fairly interesting, but also doesn't feel fully fleshed out. There is a lot of assumption and blind faith in the magic system, and it just doesn't feel quite right. I liked that all the characters are complex. There are times where they all seem wholly good and heroic and smart, and others where they might come across as conniving or dumb. That could've easily turned into a situation that felt like the author was creating inconsistent characters, but instead the characters felt real and organic. Nobody is friends or lovers at first sight. All the relationships are earned or in growth.
One note regarding the shelves I put this book on, this book is definitely fantasy, and there is enough romance to include it on the shelf, but the romance isn't a driving factor in the plot, so it doesn't fully apply to the broader romance genre.
One trope in this book that I didn't love involved the gods. It has been a bit overdone, but the gods are supposed to be greatly powerful and omniscient, but they are also made to be prideful and above dealing with human affairs, but they are happy to interfere at their own whims (or through lust). It's been done in so very many stories I have read, and it is just not my favorite, because it feels like a weak tool for an author to move the story forward in a deus ex machina fashion. In this book, the gods seem to be more involved than in other stories that feature this plot element, but they still possess that mysterious air that they have a long-term plan that the puny humans need not be concerned about, but that the humans just ought to trust them and go about watching people die or struggle.
Overall, this book was entertaining enough that I wouldn't mind continuing the series, but I'm not eager to find the next book either. I'll probably add it to my reading list.
The story starts off with a lot of action that provided good exposition without being too dry. The setting is probably urban fantasy, as most modern technology exists, but the religion and magic is based on something more similar to the mythos of Greek gods and goddesses. The magic and religion elements tend to dominate the tone and the feeling of the book, so the modern technology aspect feels almost anachronistic. Recently divorced, Terah moves back into the home her grandfather left for her. It's near too the only possession she kept after her divorce. As she contemplates how to move forward with her life, the gods intercede with plans of their own. It turns out the titular stone god is Kol, the lesser god, the messenger of the gods, and also her distant grandfather. He has been trapped in stone for centuries, but now he has escaped and as his only living descendant, Terah is meant to be his Hood, acting in his stead in administrating his rule/allies. Only Terah has grown up a follower of a greater god, Aran, and she feels wrong denouncing him. She ends up sort of committed to both. She also doesn't have a clue how to be a hood, so Aran's hood, Adomanei, is tasked with helping her. Only, Adomanei has his own life, which is currently taken up with trying to wed a different Hood, Nilea. As Terah steps into her role, she gains a suitor, and maybe ally, in Edgerin, the Hood for another lesser god, also aligned with Aran. All of this is happening as Phemera, a different Great One, is trying to kill a child of Aran and kidnap Terah. Phemera is the god that trapped Kol, because he convinced Phemera's daughter to elope all those centuries ago.
The plot it all a bit messy. To compound the mess, the POV changes through a bunch of the characters. I didn't really know where to focus half the time. I thought at times that the different conflicts were meant to act as red herrings or distractions for the bigger plot points, but not quite. Now that I've finished, it feels like it was all meant as one story, being cohesive and sort of grand in scale. I think the author was going for the epic fantasy style of having a lot of moving parts. However, this book just didn't accomplish that. Perhaps it needed more length to develop and achieve that. Perhaps, it didn't, and this story just fell short of the goal.
The characters themselves are all interesting. The world system is also fairly interesting, but also doesn't feel fully fleshed out. There is a lot of assumption and blind faith in the magic system, and it just doesn't feel quite right. I liked that all the characters are complex. There are times where they all seem wholly good and heroic and smart, and others where they might come across as conniving or dumb. That could've easily turned into a situation that felt like the author was creating inconsistent characters, but instead the characters felt real and organic. Nobody is friends or lovers at first sight. All the relationships are earned or in growth.
One note regarding the shelves I put this book on, this book is definitely fantasy, and there is enough romance to include it on the shelf, but the romance isn't a driving factor in the plot, so it doesn't fully apply to the broader romance genre.
One trope in this book that I didn't love involved the gods. It has been a bit overdone, but the gods are supposed to be greatly powerful and omniscient, but they are also made to be prideful and above dealing with human affairs, but they are happy to interfere at their own whims (or through lust). It's been done in so very many stories I have read, and it is just not my favorite, because it feels like a weak tool for an author to move the story forward in a deus ex machina fashion. In this book, the gods seem to be more involved than in other stories that feature this plot element, but they still possess that mysterious air that they have a long-term plan that the puny humans need not be concerned about, but that the humans just ought to trust them and go about watching people die or struggle.
Overall, this book was entertaining enough that I wouldn't mind continuing the series, but I'm not eager to find the next book either. I'll probably add it to my reading list.
I didn't expect to love this book as much as I did. I was surprised to see that how well the mixture of gods and modern day life could work out together. Terse was not only relatable, but also a total badass. I'm excited for the next book in the series to come out.