Review: Godkiller by Hannah Kaner

Title: Godkiller
Author: Hannah Kaner
Series: Fallen Gods #1
Genre: Fantasy/Adventure
Publisher: HarperVoyager
Publication Date: January 19, 2023
Edition: Kindle
Source: Library
Purchase: Amazon US | Barnes & Noble | BAM | Bookshop | Powell's | 

Synopsis:

   Gods are forbidden in the kingdom of Middren. Formed by human desires and fed by their worship, there are countless gods in the world—but after a great war, the new king outlawed them and now pays “godkillers” to destroy any who try to rise from the shadows.
   As a child, Kissen saw her family murdered by a fire god. Now, she makes a living killing them and enjoys it. But all this changes when Kissen is tasked with helping a young noble girl with a god problem. The child’s soul is bonded to a tiny god of white lies, and Kissen can’t kill it without ending the girl’s life too.
   Joined by a disillusioned knight on a secret quest, the unlikely group must travel to the ruined city of Blenraden, where the last of the wild gods reside, to each beg a favor. Pursued by assassins and demons, and in the midst of burgeoning civil war, they will all face a reckoning. Something is rotting at the heart of their world, and they are the only ones who can stop it.

**********

 

I wasn't sure what to expect going into this book. I just know that I'd heard a lot of good things about it. Many of the reviews I read/watched were somewhat vague, and that actually helped me enjoy it more. There were small comparisons from reviews to Witcher, and while I do see where the comparison comes from, it doesn't have as much in common as I thought. 

 

The pantheon of gods in this book, honestly confuse me a little. Everything has a god, and I feel like there's a lot of overlap with that and it starts to feel a little inflated. I also don't fully understand how much time has passed between events. I don't understand when the war against the gods started and what happened to Kissen's family. I think I caught that it had only been three years since the war "ended", but that also feels like a very short amount of time for things to go sideways. I don't know when the faction of godkillers started, or if that was a response to the war. All that was a little vague, there's also a chance that I missed it.

 

I liked Elo enough as a character, but I also found him kind of boring. He's extremely noble, to a fault but he at times also didn't seem to have any convictions. I didn't believe the friendship between him and Arren. We were told about their friendship, but I wanted to see it. 

 

The mystery surrounding Inara is the more interesting part of the story for me. Even by the end of the book it's not fully clear what is going on with her, and why she's connected to a minor god. I'd like that to be explored more in the next book. These books are on the shorter side, but the pacing is really good. They don't feel as short as they are, in a good way, because of that. 

 

I am looking forward to the next book, which I already have (and started) through my library, and I'm already eager to read the third book.