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A review by malglories
Godblind by Anna Stephens
4.0
"Then fuck you all, she thought, I'll save myself.”
Godblind is a wild, gory, sweet, and surprisingly funny ride. Here we have a world in which two gods, the Red Gods, have been banished, and their worshippers with them; called the Mireces, those who still follow the Red Gods live in the mountains, engaging in petty raids, and as you do, torture and sacrifice. They desire to bring the Red Gods back to the world, and as these gods are fed by pain and blood and death, war is their purpose. They seek to reclaim Rilporin, from which they'd been exiled, which now follows kinder gods and which is ruled by an ill king.
We follow several viewpoint characters: a seer who's slowly being torn apart by what he sees, caught between both kinds of gods; a slave who escapes from Mireces and comes into her own; a captain in the Riporian army, who fights to save his land; the bloodthirsty, proud priestess of the Mireces; and many, many others.
Just to be clear, Godblind is a grimdark novel. It is violent, it is bloody, it is shocking at times in its goriness and repulsiveness. Curse words are the least of your worries here.
But this book is also addictive and fast-paced, excellent in its development of female characters both young and old, and conscious of social issues such as sexism and homophobia. One of the characters discovers his sexuality in such a tender way, and another is one of the only female soldiers in her army, who takes no shit and suffers no fools. There's abundant court intrigue (and everyone loves court intrigue), mysterious destinies hinted at and fulfilled, and the shadows of gods lurking in every corner.
As for faults, one of the biggest things that stood out was worldbuilding. I wish the cultures and societies had been more fleshed out, especially between the Rilporians, the Watchers and Wolves, and the Mireces. Their differences are minor and not very compelling. Also, the names: you have characters named Rillirin and Galtas and Sarilla, and then there's a side character named Joe. Uh, no. Also, I think the pacing was somewhat off in the second half of the book, especially in terms of relationships between characters.
All in all, though, Godblind is a thrilling debut, and Anna Stephens shows so much promise, as does her series. As a final, very important note: I'm so unbelievably happy that more women are writing fantasy, and here's to many more to come.
Godblind is a wild, gory, sweet, and surprisingly funny ride. Here we have a world in which two gods, the Red Gods, have been banished, and their worshippers with them; called the Mireces, those who still follow the Red Gods live in the mountains, engaging in petty raids, and as you do, torture and sacrifice. They desire to bring the Red Gods back to the world, and as these gods are fed by pain and blood and death, war is their purpose. They seek to reclaim Rilporin, from which they'd been exiled, which now follows kinder gods and which is ruled by an ill king.
We follow several viewpoint characters: a seer who's slowly being torn apart by what he sees, caught between both kinds of gods; a slave who escapes from Mireces and comes into her own; a captain in the Riporian army, who fights to save his land; the bloodthirsty, proud priestess of the Mireces; and many, many others.
Just to be clear, Godblind is a grimdark novel. It is violent, it is bloody, it is shocking at times in its goriness and repulsiveness. Curse words are the least of your worries here.
But this book is also addictive and fast-paced, excellent in its development of female characters both young and old, and conscious of social issues such as sexism and homophobia. One of the characters discovers his sexuality in such a tender way, and another is one of the only female soldiers in her army, who takes no shit and suffers no fools. There's abundant court intrigue (and everyone loves court intrigue), mysterious destinies hinted at and fulfilled, and the shadows of gods lurking in every corner.
As for faults, one of the biggest things that stood out was worldbuilding. I wish the cultures and societies had been more fleshed out, especially between the Rilporians, the Watchers and Wolves, and the Mireces. Their differences are minor and not very compelling. Also, the names: you have characters named Rillirin and Galtas and Sarilla, and then there's a side character named Joe. Uh, no. Also, I think the pacing was somewhat off in the second half of the book, especially in terms of relationships between characters.
All in all, though, Godblind is a thrilling debut, and Anna Stephens shows so much promise, as does her series. As a final, very important note: I'm so unbelievably happy that more women are writing fantasy, and here's to many more to come.