Book Review: Godkiller
Author: Hannah Kaner
Publisher: Harper Voyager
(2024) First published 2023
Genre: Adult Fantasy
Date Read: June/July 2024
Main Characters:
Kissen (The God Killer)
Elogast (Once a knight to the King, he now runs a bakery)
Inara Craier (High born young girl who is mysteriously attached to a small God creature by an invisible force)
Skediceth (The small God creature (God of white lies) who is tethered to Inara)
Blurb:
As a child, Kissen saw her family murdered by a God.
Now Gods are forbidden. But they still wander the kingdom demanding worship – and sacrifice. Kissen makes a living killing them, and enjoys it.
Until she meets a god she cannot kill. Skedi, the god of white lies, has bonded his soul to a young noble girl, and Kissen can’t kill him without ending the girl’s life.
Kissen reluctantly agrees to travel to the ruined city of Blenraden, to demand aid from the last wild gods.
But the city of the gods is no place for a godkiller…
My review:
The story is set in a fantasy world which used to openly worship many Gods, but which has now banished them due to the ‘Gods Wars’ at the now ruined city of Blenraden. Worship of Gods is now banned and punishable in many parts of the land and godkillers are employed to search out and destroy any new Gods that appear along with their altars/shrines which they are supposed to be tethered to. Each chapter is titled with one of the main characters names and written from their point of view. The story is moved on appropriately with each passing chapter. Whilst we are introduced to the characters separately, they all eventually meet up on a quest to reach the ruined city of Blenraden for a variety of reasons. Blenraden is a place of pilgrimage for many people who still secretly worship Gods and is one of the only places left that still contains some of their shrines. A pilgrimage can be a tricky expedition at the best of times but add in the threat of possible curses and civil unrest and it does make for an interesting story. There is a lot of secrecy and unknowns in the book which gradually get revealed as the story goes on. For that reason, it could be described as a slow burner and I only really started to get into it when I was a good third of the way through. Each character has a detailed back story, particularly Kissen and Elogast. Of course, these two characters start off being very distrusting of one another not helped by Skedi’s ability to read minds and influence people’s thoughts. As the story progresses, he tries to force Inara to choose between her two human companions, but thankfully his lies are all too obvious to the godKiller Kissen. Whilst new information is slowly introduced to us about each of the characters and their plight, there are still a lot of loose ends and threads left unexplored at the end of the book. It is also unclear whether one of the main characters meets their end or not, leading the way for the second book in the three-part series.
Overall, I thought that it was a very intriguing and complex book. The print itself is quite small and the chapters do vary considerably in length. There are, however, some breaks in between the longer chapters in the story. It is a very inclusive story which features queer relationships, sign language and a disabled main character. Whilst I enjoyed reading this book, it is not one that I would necessarily choose to read again due to the plot sometimes being a little bit too detailed to follow along with easily. Whilst I am interested to know what happens in the following books in the series, I am not about to rush straight out and buy them. As fantasy books go, it is interesting how the book explores the relationships between humans and gods and how it gives the Gods and Goddesses very human like qualities. Ultimately it is a fantasy story of journeying and self-discovery as the characters either struggle to learn about or come to terms with past events and look to create a better future for themselves and others.
Three out of five stars
