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guillaume_rho 's review for:
David Mogo, Godhunter
by Suyi Davies Okungbowa
“It is fabled that there’s still a gateway back to their pantheon there. Literally no one knows because who ever goes there? Well, okay, I have. There’s no gateway.”
David Mogo Godhunter was a great non-Western urban fantasy book!
Taking place in Lagos, Nigeria, after thousands of gods have fallen from their original plane of existence, this premise had me hooked instantly! Unfortunately, African culture (and that's a very large term, this book focuses on Nigerian culture) is so little-known in Western litterature, that the setting itself was a little foreign.
What was most fascinating in this book was the pantheon of divinities and the intriguing magic that they brought in the world. The gods and goddesses came in many forms: godlings, almost insignificant creatures, or high gods, extremely powerful beings, and everything inbetween. I don't know if it was my lack of knowledge (read: absence of) about the Yoruba pantheon, but I had no idea what types of powers to expect and what magic powers some characters could channel. Still, it was all very interesting.
What I liked a bit less about this book was the plot. It felt like it was meandering most of the time. The character would face a new god, fail at fighting them, black out, then wake-up somewhere new and be rescued. This chain of event was repetitive, and it also made it hard for me to see where the book was going.
I have to give a final shoutout to the tone and voice of the book. It stood out for all the right reasons. David’s voice was a bit snarky and (in the first half of the book, mostly) overly confident. It was fun and entertaining.
All in all, I'm very excited to follow this author in the many new types of stories he will bring to the world of fantasy!
David Mogo Godhunter was a great non-Western urban fantasy book!
Taking place in Lagos, Nigeria, after thousands of gods have fallen from their original plane of existence, this premise had me hooked instantly! Unfortunately, African culture (and that's a very large term, this book focuses on Nigerian culture) is so little-known in Western litterature, that the setting itself was a little foreign.
What was most fascinating in this book was the pantheon of divinities and the intriguing magic that they brought in the world. The gods and goddesses came in many forms: godlings, almost insignificant creatures, or high gods, extremely powerful beings, and everything inbetween. I don't know if it was my lack of knowledge (read: absence of) about the Yoruba pantheon, but I had no idea what types of powers to expect and what magic powers some characters could channel. Still, it was all very interesting.
What I liked a bit less about this book was the plot. It felt like it was meandering most of the time. The character would face a new god, fail at fighting them, black out, then wake-up somewhere new and be rescued. This chain of event was repetitive, and it also made it hard for me to see where the book was going.
I have to give a final shoutout to the tone and voice of the book. It stood out for all the right reasons. David’s voice was a bit snarky and (in the first half of the book, mostly) overly confident. It was fun and entertaining.
All in all, I'm very excited to follow this author in the many new types of stories he will bring to the world of fantasy!