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| Godkiller by Hannah Kaner |
Book title:
Godkiller
Author:
Hannah Kaner
Genre:
Fantasy
Published: January
19, 2023
304 pages
My rating:
4.5/5
“Why does
it matter what happens to me?” said Elo.
“Because we
could be the same, you and I,” she said after a moment. “What happened to us
does not define us, what we do next is what matters.”
After a
brutal war between gods and people, worship of gods is forbidden in the kingdom
of Middren. Kissen makes a living as a godkiller, but when she meets a god that
has bonded with a young girl, she promises not to kill him. They set out to the
ruined city of Blenraden to ask for help from the last wild gods haunting the
place. On the way, they meet a former knight on a mission to save the king.
Godkiller is the first book in Hannah Kaner’s adult fantasy trilogy Fallen Gods. This was a fast-paced and exciting read. Although the plot was rather simple, there were nice twists along the way to keep my interest up. I also liked all four point-of-view characters, and there wasn’t single one whose chapters I wanted to skip. Despite them all being moody and grumpy, it was easy to learn to like them and to root for them. I also liked the disabled and queer representation in this book.
The worldbuilding was intricate and fascinating, but I did find myself occasionally lost with all the different nations and place names. The map wasn’t particularly helpful either, as it was more ornamental than useful. In general, I prefer it when fantasy series expand the world slowly. A more detailed map of just Middren would have worked better.
I was also unsure about the function of the prologue, as it mentioned characters who didn’t play any role in the later narrative. Although the prologue did play an important role by the end of the story, the information could have just as easily been given in a flashback. But my issues with the map and the prologue were rather minor grievances.
If I have to say one slightly bigger grievance, it was the relationship between Kissen and the ex-knight Elogast. Their romance developed so slowly that I wasn’t even sure if it was intended as a romance, until all of a sudden they not only kiss but immediately have sex in a totally unnecessary (fade-to-black) sex scene. A sidenote: Goodreads labels this is as a queer book, but although there are multiple queer characters and Kissen herself is bi, the main “romance” (if we can call it that at this point) is heterosexual.
That being said, I really enjoyed this book and I’m excited to continue with the series. I’m giving this book four and a half stars, and I highly recommend it if you love fantasy with strong heroines and mischievous and cruel gods.
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