Publisher: Angry Robot
Publication Date – 2 January 2018
Those looking for a fast-paced action fantasy adventure to really get the blood pumping should prepare themselves for Fallen Gods, the latest novel from one of the leading authors in dark fantasy, James A. Moore.
Brogan McTyre, former soldier of the Kingdom of Stennis Brae, is a damned man. After the Grakhul, the servants of his world’s cruel gods, took his entire family, Brogan risked everything to save them from being sacrificed. Although he failed, his actions resulted in the disruption of sacred rites, a desecration he compounded by killing or enslaving all of the Grakhul. Now with the gods angered beyond all belief, their dark heralds, the He-Kisshu, have unleased terrible storms and intense acts of destruction across the Five Kingdoms. The only way they will stop the destruction and avert armageddon is with the sacrifice of Brogan and his companions.
Now Brogan and his men, including his loyal second-in-command, Harper Ruttket, are being hunted. Everyone is out to capture them – not just the servants of the gods but anyone seeking to survive the oncoming destruction. As Brogan and his men flee across the Five Kingdoms, their adversaries start to become more powerful and demonic in nature, and not even an army of mercenaries will be able to save them. Their only hope might be an item of immense power: a sword containing the heart of a slain god hidden within the Broken Mountains.
Elsewhere, Myridia the Grakhul leads her remaining sisters to salvation while trying to avoid the shadowy Night People hunting them. Niall Leraby and Tully, two freed former sacrifices, seek safety in Niall’s home city of Edinrun but find it already in the grips of an intense magical madness. Brogan’s former king, Bron McNar, and his fellow rulers of the Five Kingdoms must find a way to appease the gods before their lands and people are completely destroyed. Beron the slaver seeks revenge against Brogan and the men who brought the wrath of the gods down on him and his people. But Beron is serving a darker master; one who may prove to be an even greater threat to the world then the gods.
As the world he knows breaks down around him, can Brogan claim the power he needs to survive, and will it be enough to stop the utter chaos he has unleashed?
James A Moore is a renowned author of dark fantasy and horror who has written more than 40 books in his career. Some of his previous works include the Serenity Falls trilogy, the Seven Forges series and the Subject Seven series. Fallen Gods is the second book in The Tides of War series and is the sequel to his 2017 action extravaganza, The Last Sacrifice.
This is a perfect book for readers who are looking for an action-packed adventure story. Moore has made sure to include a large number of varied battles and fight sequences through this book, as well as several other intense action scenes. These action sequences are also enhanced by the author’s use of crazy and inventive fantasy creatures that are encountered by the book’s characters. In addition to the unique creatures that Moore introduced in the previous book in this series, the characters within Fallen Gods are also forced to contend with numerous new creatures and opponents. Not only do they encounter rampaging gods, magically powered soldiers and maddened slavers, they are also forced to contend with corrupted and demonically mutated Grakhuls and He-Kissus that are even more freaky than the original versions. As a result, this is an extremely fun dark fantasy book than contains enough action to excite any reader with a pulse.
As soon as a reader starts Fallen Gods it will quickly become obvious that there is a lot going on within this book. Moore makes use of several recurring narrators throughout the books and is constantly implementing quick-fire changes between them. Each of the narrators has their own unique storyline filled with their own side characters and adventures throughout different parts of Moore’s fantasy world. There are also several interludes told from the perspectives of minor characters and groups away from the story’s main characters. Whilst many of these interludes contain key plot points and set up later scenes with one or more of the main characters, a number have been included to explore the rest of the Five Kingdoms. In particular, they show how a range of different characters are experiencing the wrath of the gods and the associated destruction, as well as the various ways in which they are attempting to survive. Moore does a great job of tying the varied storylines and interludes together at the end of the book, as most of the main and minor characters have been subtly placed in or have had their focus turned towards a singular location where they will all meet up. As a result, Moore is able to showcase large portions of his fantasy landscape to the reader whilst also expanding on his fascinating narrative of a world suffering divine punishment and the craziness that results.
While there are a number of positives to Moore having such a huge range of narrators and storylines, Fallen Gods does seem a bit overcrowded at the start. However, readers should be reassured that each of the individual storylines is very easy to follow and they should have no problem viewing all of the storylines together as one cohesive and enjoyable plot. That being said, new readers could possibly benefit from starting with the first book in the series, The Last Sacrifice. While Moore does a really good job of explaining the vast majority of the book’s story elements, there are one or two features that may confuse new readers when they are first introduced. Most of these are eventually explained later in the book, so readers will only be in the dark for a short period of time. However, there is at least one plot element that originated within The Last Sacrifice which could prove to be slightly confusing to the uninitiated. That said, if a reader wishes to start their exploration of this series with Fallen Gods, they should have no problem enjoying this excellent action adventure.
Overall, this is an exciting and highly charged book that makes the most of its dark fantasy premise. Readers will love the overarching story of a world experiencing the wrath of its vengeful gods, which Moore masterfully tells with his huge range of narrators and point-of-view characters. This is a fantastic sequel to The Last Sacrifice, and I can’t wait to see what madness occurs in the next instalment of this series.
My Rating:
The Unseen Library 