Godkiller by Hannah Kaner – book review (spoiler free)

The blurb

You are not welcome here, godkiller 

Kissen’s family were killed by zealots of a fire god. Now, she makes a living killing gods, and enjoys it. That is until she finds a god she cannot kill: Skedi, a god of white lies, has somehow bound himself to a young noble, and they are both on the run from unknown assassins.

Joined by a disillusioned knight on a secret quest, they must travel to the ruined city of Blenraden, where the last of the wild gods reside, to each beg a favour.

Pursued by 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 only they can be the ones to stop it.

The review

What a fantastic gem of a book.

I requested this from Netgalley, having heard a few good reviews but not overly knowing much about it. Turns out, it was just my cup of tea.

There are The Witcher influences for sure, expect we kill gods in this book, not monsters. Fans of The Blcktongue Thief will enjoy this too. The humour is witty and with a dark edge.

The world feels fresh. Things are off kilter to what we usually expect. In this world, gods are not good. They are greedy. They demand gold, worship, sacrifice. Wars are started by gods, lives are ended. As such gods are now to be killed… forbidden… it makes sense… but some people can’t let go of their gods and some gods can’t let go of their desire to be worshipped.

Thus enters, Krissen, a fierce godkilling warrior – whose whole family was killed by a god. She kills for money, but also pleasure – and is really quite hilarious at times too.

We also have Inara – a child who for some reason has found herself bound to a god who has no memory of who he is or where he come from – other than he is the god of white lies.

And then there is a former knight, Elo, who takes on a secret quest for an old friend.

These three characters are an unlikely group and yet they bounce and play off each other really well. The prose it snappy and fresh – and the story whips along at speed. No flab or extra padding here. No, Krissen is much to impatient for that!

I’d also like to highlight how well it deals with disability and LGBTQ+ characters. It feels very seamless – much like Priory of the Orange Tree – and I found that wonderful. More of this please.

I believe this book is out this week! Excellent! Buy and devour! You will enjoy it.