Against All Gods

This is the best thing Facebook has ever told me about. 

Against All Gods is the first book in the Age of Bronze trilogy. This author, under both this name and another name, has written a lot of fantasy and historical fiction books. I'm planning on starting his ancient Greek series after this one. 

The book is set in an alternate universe during their age of bronze. So think ancient civilizations time. It opens with a note on their systems of money (none, as they barter) and distance, followed by a map. One of the areas jumped right out at me: Narmer. With cities like Memis and Lukor. Running through the middle of it is the Iteru River. Do you know what the ancient Egyptians called the Nile? Iteru. (Which means river, so in the book, it's the river river. Heh.) There are loads of cities and my knowledge isn't so great that I'm picking up on references for all of them. Dardania appears to be Greece with a city called Mykoax (Mycenae). There are the Noan islands, which have the city Noa, so Minoan. One of the characters is a bull-leaper, which was a Minoan thing, although he learned it in Mykoax, not Noa. One of the semi-divine attendants to the gods wears a Minoan dress. Others are less obvious. We haven't been to Dendrowna yet, but they almost sound like Native Americans. The Hakrans are a non-violent people that I think are more Eastern-inspired. I'm sure there are other connections to real world inspiration that I'm missing, but I don't think every single thing is inspired by something real. 

In this world, the new gods have killed the old ones a few hundred years ago. It's like Greek myth where the gods are physical beings that are more involved in human life. The gods, both old and new, have a variety of names, some of which have no clear inspiration and others that do. Temis, the virgin huntress, is the only one of the old gods to be active in the new pantheon, though they hate her. Obviously, Artemis. But her sister Tyka is the blue goddess, who sports antlers and doesn't speak. So less obvious who she's referencing, if anyone. Ranos, the father of the old pantheon, is Uranus. Ara, the current god of war, Ares. Urkigul, the lady of the Underworld, is Ereshkigal, and her husband Gul is Nergal. They rule Kur, the underworld, which is exactly what it was called in Mesopotamia. Interestingly, we also have some godly names amongst the human characters: Zos, Era, Pollon, Hefa-Asus (he's even a smith), Dite, and Gamash (I think Gilgamesh). 

The book switches from individual character PoV chapters set on Earth (or whatever they call their world) to ones set in Heaven, where you see what the gods are up to. There are A LOT of characters. Like there's a character guide in the front and you will reference it. But each character is very well-developed and they have in-depth personalities and backstories. 

The main players:

-Gamash: A former warrior who's now a mage. Resheph, son of the war god, killed his daughter, so he's out for revenge. 

-Era: Era is awesome. She's a warrior, a bard, a dancer, and very, very gay. 

-Zos: Zos is the bull-leaper. An excellent fighter who works as a sell sword. But he's older and isn't quite as good as he used to be. 

-Daos: A young orphaned boy that Era meets in a destroyed city. She becomes his adopted mom basically. Daos talks to the gods through his stuffed bear, Bror, so he's kind of like a seer. 

-Pollon: A scribe and archer. Less major than the others so far, but he has some PoV chapters. He has the interesting ability to connect to the "God's Eye" network. The God's Eyes are sort of like surveillance cameras, set up by the messenger God Nisroch, to observe what's happening on Earth. 

-The Hakrans: These characters are three men and three women, all of whom form a single marriage group. They're traders who essentially live on their boat, although there are more members of their marriage family that live in their homeland. They're all each other's wives and husbands, which is an unusual dynamic, but I love that it's presented in such a commonplace way that it doesn't seem unusual at all. Aanat is the oldest husband, a mage. Jawala is the eldest wife, who often acts more like a captain. The other two husbands are less important, though the other two wives are more present. Pavi is the middle wife, who's a really good sailor and very knowledgeable. Miti is the youngest, maybe a bit of a stubborn brat. I have moments of liking her and moments of not. The Hakrans don't believe in the same gods and they're all pacifist vegetarians.  

There isn't a single one of these characters that I didn't become invested in. 

The god characters aren't nearly as loveable. Heh. That's the entire point of the story, after all. The head god, Enkul-Anu is a storm god with the head of a bull. He's like Zeus gone wild. His consort is Sypa, goddess of lust. Druku, the god of drunkenness and orgies, can change gender at will. He's like Dionysus gone wild. Three newer gods are seen fairly often. Nisroch is the messenger, often mocked by the others. Resheph is the son of the war god. He's the god of pestilence in war or something like that. He's an asshole. Nerkalush is another death god, who doesn't really do much until the final battle. Then there's Laila, who's some sort of demi-goddess that basically bounces from one god's plot to the next.

Temis and Tyka (the sisters) bring the humans all together on the Hakrans' ship, along with an unnamed Dry One. The Dry Ones are a sort of insectile people that occasionally attack, occasionally trade with humans. They produce a substance called resin, which is what keeps the gods immortal. The Dry One on the ship helps them out immensely, because he's a healer. All Dry Ones likely are. The sisters have sent "star-stone" down to Earth and it's the humans' job to collect it and make weapons out of it. Star-stone is iron. It can hurt the gods. So you've got a bit of fairy lore in there, combined with a hint that the Bronze Age will be followed by the Iron Age. A lot of the book is spent getting all the humans together in one place, and then the rest is spent on this plot to free a bunch of slaves from this island, which is where they're sold. 

I'm not going to spoil how that plot turns out. It is seriously some of the most action-packed writing I have ever had the pleasure to read. And I can't talk about how the book ends in detail, because spoilers, but I will say that the cast is spit up on two separate ships, so it'll be interesting to see how they come back together, if they come back together. 

The book hooked me right away. Why? Because the opening line is "What the fuck just happened?" Said by none other than Enkul-Anu, the king of the gods. The gods speak in an almost modern sort of way. Like the humans swear, but the gods' dialogue feels more modern in tone, which is absolutely hilarious at many points. Nerkalush has a moment where he sounds like Michelangelo the ninja turtle. Enkul-Anu frequently calls his fellow gods "fucking idiots." It's so great. 

So what makes this so good? 

The world-building is excellent. You've got a clear Bronze Age world with some real-life inspiration and a lot of new stuff. The different lands are well-described and you can reference the map at the front to see where things are. 

The character development is top notch. You're not going to confuse this cast. They are all very distinct. One of my favorite things is a huge cast of characters that are well-developed and well-written. That's why Battle Royale is one of my top favorite books. That is a good part of the reason why this book joins it in that top spot. It isn't hard to follow either. I read a few reviews and one complaint was the character switches, but if you can't read multiple PoVs, then this is not meant for you. They couldn't be more clearly separated. 

There is inclusivity and diversity. Era is very much a lesbian. It's a big part of her character. The interactions of the marriage family are great. Druku can be whatever gender he wants and flips around frequently. The races of the cast aren't exactly the same as the real world, but there is a clear wide variety of skintones and all of them are appreciated. Sypa, the lust goddess, is a blonde, but Laila is much darker, yet also clearly seen as very beautiful. Dite, who appears later in the story, is very dark-skinned, yet described by both Era and Zos as the most beautiful woman they'd ever seen. No one is judged as more or less based on their skin color. 

The writing is fast, fun and accessible. If you've seen the A Song of Ice and Fire series, you know how damn fat those books are. These books aren't as long, handle the characters even better, and the plot also moves along much more smoothly. The language isn't flowery, over the top, spending paragraphs describing a single thing. This series would make an excellent TV show, because it's got a lot of awesome elements that people would get hooked on, and it's written to flow quickly, not bog you down with too much information. 

I highly recommend this to anyone. Especially if you have any interest in ancient history, mythology or fantasy series. It seriously blew me away and is now alongside Battle Royale and Whom the Gods Would Destroy in my favorite adult books of all time list.  

 

Guardians of Dawn 1

 

I bought this back in 2023, but it's taken me this long to finish it. It's quite good, but we all know how easily distracted I am. Then time flies by without me even realizing how long it's been since I last cracked the cover. 

This was described as Cinder meets Sailor Moon. Cinder is in my TBR pile, but honestly, I think they should have just said Cinderella, not Cinder. 

This is definitely not a fairy tale retelling though. There are only the barest elements of the Cinderella story here. Orphan girl who's basically a servant for her stepmother, though her "evil stepsister" isn't evil. Meets the prince, though it's long before the ball and she spends a good chunk of the book not knowing who he is. Does get to dress up and go to a ball, including losing a slipper, but I think those are about all the parallels. 

Zhara's world is an odd one. There seem to be three types of people. There are magicians, who can wield a sort of magic based in writing spells using brushes. There is a group of magicians called anti-magicians, because they can neither use magic nor be affected by it. Technically, they're also magicians, but it's easier to think of them as separate. And there are regular humans. Magicians are open to being possessed by demons and they turn into monstrous beings called abominations. After this happened too often, one of the rulers decided to wipe out all magicians, so Zhara is growing up in a place where she has to constantly hide who she is. She also holds a lot of guilt because she blinded her stepsister when she was trying to heal her failing eyesight. So she puts up with her alcoholic stepmother's treatment and tries to make the best of her situation. 

She runs into the prince, thinking he's a student, and when their books are accidentally swapped, she gets a peek into the world of magic. Things keep happening and she, the prince and his palace BFF end up joining the Guardians of Dawn, a pro-magician group. 

The characters are all quite fun. 

Zhara herself is your basic teen girl hiding a secret. She's a giggly and bubbly and can be sassy and fun. She also holds a lot on her shoulders, so she's got a bunch of conflicting emotions and frustrations going on. As you probably guessed from the cover, she's the Guardian of Fire, though the reveal doesn't take place for maybe half the book.

Han is the Royal Heir. His dad is the actual prince, but Han is the Prince Charming character. He's also quite fun. He's a bit thick sometimes, as several of the characters point out, but he enjoys poetry as well as physical education, and he's hilariously innocent when it comes to double entendres. It's a running joke that's quite entertaining. (Oh, the names for the porn books!) 

Xu is Han's best friend in the palace. Xu is an interesting character, because of the pronoun setup the author has created. Basically, in this world, when you first meet someone, you use they pronouns until they give you their preference. Like there's a shopkeeper referred to as "they" until she introduces herself as "Mistress," which is when she becomes "she." Xu is always they. From little hints, you learn that Xu was born male and likes men, but that's it. I don't remember any other distinctions being given. Xu is flirty, promiscuous and likes the finer things in life. They're into expensive clothes and makeup and such. They're also very protective of Han, determined to get their prince to his majority (18). Definitely another fun character. 

Then we've got the northern Princess Yulana, Han's betrothed, who is the granddaughter of the man who wipes out a bunch of magicians, including Han's mother. Yulana is easily my favorite. She's epic. She's tall and a blend of masculine and androgynous. She's got red hair and freckles, which stand out in this East Asian-inspired fantasy world. She's blunt, funny, flirty, and very, very gay. Her nickname is Yuli and she's the Guardian of Wind. She can speak telepathically, though not read minds. She has an astral form that she can project and travel places. One of her first appearances has her meeting Zhara in astral form, so revealing she's Wind isn't exactly a spoiler. Also, by this point, she's been revealed as the third book, so it's pretty obvious. 

The last main character is Jiyi, who's a former courtesan turned writer/magical historian. She's not a magician herself, but she knows a lot. She's also the author of the most mentioned porn book, which is hilarious. Jiyi is another blunt character, but she's sassier than Yuli. She's got a short fuse and loses patience quickly, especially with Han. I think she's supposed to be a little bit older than the others, who are around seventeen. Zhara guessed her to be around twenty-one, but nothing was ever clarified. Jiyi is extremely beautiful, but also extremely doesn't give a fuck, and that makes her even more awesome. She and Yuli have a bit of a flirtation that I wish they'd done more with. Jiyi is called the Ice Princess, because she can be cold in personality, and there were a couple references to water when describing her. We know all the other guardians (the second book shows Ami, who's clearly Wood), so I'm wondering if Jiyi will become the Guardian of Water. Otherwise, it will be a new character we haven't met yet. 

Most of the book introduces the characters, their struggles, their motivations, and does a lot of world-building. The conflict is resolved in just a few chapters near the end, but it's an exciting read. 

I'm looking forward to getting into the second book. Ami's story is Beauty & the Beast-themed and we met the Beast at the end of Zhara's book. 

Definitely recommend this to those that enjoy magical girl-type fantasy and fairy tales. 

Finally Heard

I finally got around to picking this up and blew through it in one day. I loved Finally Seen, the first in this series. 

Finally Heard picks up with Lina dealing with puberty issues, as well as phone envy. She and her best friend Carla are the only two kids in their class without phones. Lina's family being poor, she doesn't want to bother her mom about puberty stuff and its added expenses. 

The entire book is basically about both kids and adults dealing with phone-related problems. The puberty stuff comes in second to all of that. Lina's mom is using Instagram videos to up her bath bomb business, with the help of Lina, Carla and Finn. The three kids even start earning money to help smaller local businesses make advertising videos. Which would have been the wise time for Lina to buy herself some of the things she wants, like deodorant or a bra. I mean, at least get the deodorant. Maybe I missed a line or two about what she was doing with the money, but deodorant also doesn't cost $14.99 like whatever she was looking at. There are plenty of cheaper options. 

So Lina's mom becomes too content-obsessed to see what Lina's going through. Lina should just talk to her mom about her body problems but instead gets hooked into the algorithm's ability to keep sending you videos about things you looked up once on a slightly-related topic. Everyone gets hooked on their videos doing well with lots of likes and comments, though that eventually slides into mean comments and cyberbullying. Even with Lina's mom. Both Carla and Finn have their own issues, too, which I'm not going to go into for the sake of spoilers. Mostly on Carla's part.

I think this book deals with a lot of important phone-related topics for both adults and kids, though I didn't like it nearly as much as Finally Seen. It was still a fun read and I'm hoping Kelly Yang continues to give us more from Lina. I like the modern world setting as much as I like the Front Desk series' older setting. 

GIRLS SURVIVE Part 12

Okay, I got REALLY behind on these. These came out back in August and I read the four graphic novels, but not the two chapter books. 

So I don't remember much about them, but I'll try to recall what I can. 

This one is set in 2011 during an earthquake. I remember liking it, but that's about it. 

 

Blah, it's the Salem witch trials. I hardly ever like this topic. I don't remember liking it here. 

And the Titanic. Not a topic I dislike but definitely on the overdone side. 

I should have taken a few minutes to reread these before typing this. Alas. 

Okay, this one I remember better, mostly because I've never read another children's historical piece on the Hindenburg. 

I liked it. 

Okay, now on to the chapter books that I just read a few days ago. 

I enjoyed this book, but Chernobyl is such a big topic and shrinking it down to fit in such a small book didn't work very well. I liked it a lot, but was definitely left thinking it could have been four times as long. 

The same applies to this one. Tiananmen Square is another topic that's just plain too big for such a short book. 

I would definitely have read longer versions of all three of these topics, including the Hindenburg. 

These are the two brand new releases for this series, having just come out on the first. 

I had never heard of the Sandy Lake removal until this book. I'm very glad it was written by an Ojibwe author! I liked it as much as one can enjoy such a sad and depressing story. The characters were good, though I wished the sisters were developed a bit more. 

This one I really enjoyed. I give this series a lot of credit for touching on topics I've never read in any other series before. Even if I'm left wanting longer versions of the stories, at least they're being told in some way. 

Penny and her older brother are passengers on the Lusitania, which was bombed by the Germans during WWI. So this has some similarities to Titanic stories but also is totally different. Like they weren't underfilling the lifeboats. They couldn't actually reach them to get into them because of the angle of the ship's sinking. Penny is one of the most likeable characters in this entire series, as is her new friend Mary. 

Always pleased for more Girls Survive!