A review by sashahc
Godly Heathens by H.E. Edgmon

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I’m going to end as I began with a Turtle Island Indigenous author.  “Godly Heathens” by H.E. Edgmon, is a dark and biting YA.  It follows Gem, a non-binary mess of an indigenous teenager in Gracie, Georgia.  He has been having visions and dreams of magic and violence, and somehow, the new girl in town not only knows about the dreams, but knows that Gem is  the reincarnation of a kind of nasty god,  Also, they are not the only one.   It’s full of teenage bad decisions, trauma, ancient vengeance, and reincarnations of a pantheon from another realm.  

HE Edgmon: “My Indigenous characters have their worldview, beliefs, morals, and actions shaped by their identities, like we all do, and that in turn shapes the way the story unfolds. But they’re also just… vibing. Living contemporary Native lives and getting dragged into the nonsense of my stories. You know? When fantasy world-building, I have to tackle it from a decolonial lens. Not only do I have the obligation to do that, to question every decision I make and interrogate my work for colonizer ideas I might unintentionally be regurgitating, but, to a certain extent, I can’t do world-building any other way. Like the Native characters I write, my identity shapes my worldview. And it bleeds through in the way I tell stories and create fantasy systems.”

H.E. Edgmon (Seminole, they/he) is a non-binary trans man who lives in the Pacific Northwest.  They have an eccentric little family of their own design, several very sensitive pets, and a lot of opinions.  It is always their goal to make fascists uncomfortable.