Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon by Wole Talabi

Pages: 294 

Publisher: Gollancz

Released: 8th of February 2024 

Shigidi is a disgruntled nightmare god in the Orisha spirit company, reluctantly answering the prayers of his few remaining believers to survive long enough to buy his next drink. When he meets Nneoma, a sort-of succubus with a long and secretive past, everything changes.

Together, they attempt to break free of the obligations and restrictions that have bound him to his godhood, and navigate the parameters of their new relationship in the shadow of her past. But the elder gods have other plans for Shigidi, and they are not all aligned - or good.

From the boisterous streets of Lagos to the rooftop bars of Singapore and the secret spaces of London, Shigidi and Nneoma will encounter strange creatures, rival gods and manipulative magicians as they are drawn into a spectacular heist that spans two realms . . . and could turn their own worlds upside down . . .

What I Have to Say 

I'll be honest here, I really was only interested in this book for the heist and the introduction to the Yoruba gods. The latter was done really well. I enjoyed getting to know about the gods and the culture and I thought the idea of a spirit company was really interesting. But the heist, which was the main draw, only took up about 20% of the book. Most of the book was flashbacks to introduce characters or set up certain things and I just wanted the writer to get on with it and get to the actual heist! 

As I said, the gods were really interesting and I found the different descriptions of the characters interesting as well. I love how they melded different religions into it and made a space where everyone's gods could exist together. 

I really wish I could have been less bored by this. It was such a great idea and had real potential for excitement. It just didn't hit the mark for me. 

2 stars 

My thanks goes to Netgalley and Gollancz for providing me with this copy for review. 

Shanghai Immortal by A. Y Chao

Pages: 352 

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton 

Released: 1st of June 2023 

This richly told adult fantasy debut teems with Chinese deities and demons cavorting in jazz age Shanghai.

Pawned by her mother to the King of Hell as a child, Lady Jing is half-vampire, half-hulijing fox-spirit and all sasshole. As the King’s ward, she has spent the past ninety years running errands, dodging the taunts of the spiteful hulijing courtiers, and trying to control her explosive temper – with varying levels of success.

So when Jing overhears the courtiers plotting to steal a priceless dragon pearl from the King, she seizes her chance to expose them, once and for all.

With the help of a gentle mortal tasked with setting up the Central Bank of Hell, Jing embarks on a wild chase for intel, first through Hell and then mortal Shanghai. But when her hijinks put the mortal in danger, she must decide which is more important: avenging her loss of face, or letting go of her half-empty approach to life for a chance to experience tenderness – and maybe even love.

What I Have to Say 

I loved the vibrant setting and the Chinese concept of the afterlife, but the character was so, so annoying. The character was meant to be approaching adulthood at 100 years of age, but half the time she acted like a five year old. It was a relief during the times when she actually decided to be responsible for stuff because we got a break from the brattiness. 

Despite that though, I really enjoyed the book. The setting was just really interesting and I was invested in seeing how everything worked. I loved the idea of the roosters coming into hell because it was popular to burn paper roosters for the dead so that hell was just infested with wild roosters. That really spoke to me. 

I enjoyed the stuff in the mortal world as well. It was nice to see Jing away from the pettiness of the court so that she could just relax and be herself. It didn't get rid of all of the brattiness, but it did help a lot. 

Read for Chinese culture and traditions and a really interesting world. 

4 stars 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for providing me with this copy for review. 

 

The Curse of Saints by Kate Dramis

Pages: 480 

Publisher: Penguin Random House 

Released: 11th of May 2023 

Has she been sent to save the realm or destroy it?

As Spymaster to the Queen, Aya's blood oath ensures she protects those she fights alongside - including Will, the Queen's Enforcer and Aya's bitter rival.

When rumors of dark magic rise in a nearby kingdom, both are sent to investigate.

But when Aya's power acts beyond her gods-given affinity, she risks being turned into a weapon in a war she doesn't know how to win.

And when her relationship with Will unexpectedly shifts, neither knows the danger that will follow . . .

What I Have to Say 

This book really, really fell flat for me. Nothing about it captured my attention and I kept getting distracted. It just didn't feel that much to set it apart from the other fantasy novels that are out at the moment. I was interested in the whole idea of what makes a saint and whether her power was coming from the right place, but not enough to hold up the whole novel. 

I also didn't get the point of having magic bonded wolves in the novel but only showing them for such a brief time! If you're character is magically bonded to the wolf, I want the wolf around all the time and to really explore the relationship with them. What is the point of the bond otherwise?? 

The author also had the habit of changing the viewpoint character in the middle of the scene with no scene break to indicate that it's changed. A couple of times, which I'm really hoping are mistakes, they didn't even change paragraphs between characters. It was really disconcerting to read. 

I wish I could have given it a more favourable review, but I did not enjoy the book. 

2 stars 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Penguin Random House for providing me with copy for review. 

The Isle of the Gods by Amie Kaufman

Pages: 465

Publisher: Rock the Boat 

Released: 4th of May 2023 

Magic, romance, and slumbering gods clash in the start of a riveting fantasy series spanning gangsters' dens, forgotten temples, and the high seas from the New York Times bestselling author of the Illuminae Files and the Aurora Cycle.

Selly has salt water in her veins. So when her father leaves her high and dry in the port of Kirkpool, she has no intention of riding out the winter at home while he sails to adventure in the north seas. But any plans to follow him are dashed when a handsome stranger with tell-tale magician's marks on his arms commandeers her ship under cover of darkness: He is Prince Leander of Alinor, and he needs to cross the Crescent Sea without detection so he can complete a ritual on the sacred Isles of the Gods.

Selly has no desire to escort a spoiled prince anywhere, and no time for his entitled demands or his good looks. But what starts as a leisure cruise will lead to acts of treason and sheer terror on the high seas, bringing two countries to the brink of war, two strangers closer than they ever thought possible and two dangerous gods stirring from centuries of slumber...

What I Have to Say 

An beautiful fantasy tale with fantastic world building and description that makes you feel like you're actually on a boat, this book was a delight to read. I loved the characters, the world, the themes. It was really good. 

The themes of grief and personal growth were really interesting to read. The characters all had roles they had to grow into and bad habits they had to move on from. It gave it a coming of age style of narrative to the book, that really added a level of realism to the characters. 

This book was seriously almost perfect. The only thing that gave me pause was the fact that both queer characters were on the villain side. There was a hint that a third character was asexual, which would add some balance to it, but I wasn't sure. I'm hoping that in the next book one of the characters will switch sides, but I'm not sure if he will or not. All the characters were well rounded and didn't seem like tokens at all, but I'd like to see at least one LGBTQ+ character on the side of our heroes. 

Overall I enjoyed it and I'm really looking forward to the next book! 

4 stars 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Rock the Boat for providing me with this copy for review. 

Godkiller by Hannah Kaner

Pages: 296 

Publisher: Harper Voyager 

Released: 19th of January 2023 

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.

What I Have to Say 

This book killed me! It was so sad! My first mistake was getting so attached to Skedi, but in my defence if you have a little rabbit creature in a book who can talk and is attached to another character, I'm going to very quickly fall in love. 

My second mistake was assuming for even a second that I knew where it was going to go. This book had more twists and turns that anything I have ever read. It shocked me and surprised me and generally made for a very enjoyable read. 

I am really looking forward to the next book in the series because I can tell that this is going to be good. 

4 stars 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Harper for providing me with this copy for review. 

Against All Gods by Maz Evans

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 384 

Publisher: Chicken House 

Released: 7th of February 2019 

In the series finale of Maz Evans' bestselling Who Let the Gods Out? series, Elliot faces his darkest period yet. As well as facing up to his fears, he realises that the future of mankind - and the survival of everything he holds dear - is at stake. But can a bunch of misfit gods, a lost constellation and a mortal boy stand up to the daemon hordes?

What I Have to Say 

This series is silly, has a cringe-worthy sense of humour and I love it so, so much. It's fun to see a load of really bad puns and over the top characters all keeping in touch with the essence of Greek Mythology. Using very British humour on Greek characters may see a little weird at first, but they connect with the heart of the myths and make them into characters that children will love to connect to and enjoy. 

With each book of the series, I've learned to love the characters all over again, coming back to them and remembering the joys of their personalities and interactions. It was really great to see all the characters come together for the last book, bringing back characters I've forgotten from the earlier books as well as others that we've met more recently. The final battle was as epic, compelling and written with all the heart and humour that the books in the rest of the series have had. 

I will miss Elliot and his family of gods and constellations. I'm glad to see his story come to a conclusion and for him to finally find peace, but I have to admit, I will miss these guys. I might cringe at Hermes being such a bro or feel that maybe Zeus's womanising is a little over the top (although it is Zeus.... can it be over the top?), but I love them despite that, because the ridiculousness of it  is a part of what makes these books great. 

I can't wait to see what Maz Evans does next! 

My thanks go to Chicken House for providing me with a free copy to review. 

Runemarks by Joanne M. Harris

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 528

Publisher: Gollancz

Released: 24th of November 2016 

It's been five hundred years since the end of the world and society has rebuilt itself anew. The old Norse gods are no longer revered. Their tales have been banned. Magic is outlawed, and a new religion - the Order - has taken its place.

In a remote valley in the north, fourteen-year-old Maddy Smith is shunned for the ruinmark on her hand - a sign associated with the Bad Old Days. But what the villagers don't know is that Maddy has skills. According to One-Eye, the secretive Outlander who is Maddy's only real friend, her ruinmark - or runemark, as he calls it - is a sign of Chaos blood, magical powers and gods know what else...

Now, as the Order moves further north, threatening all the Worlds with conquest and Cleansing, Maddy must finally learn the truth to some unanswered questions about herself, her parentage, and her powers.

What I Have to Say 

This book dragged a little for me. It was a really interesting concept and I really enjoyed the first half of it, but then it just went on a bit to long and it got a bit too involved with all the Gods and factions. It may just be that I'm not so used to reading High Fantasy these days and I really wanted to enjoy it, but I think I just wasn't in the mood for such an involved plot. 

I loved the characters. Each of the gods was played up to almost caricature level of personality. Loki as always was a very complex and beautifully mean character who seemed to love pissing people off as much as he regretted having everyone hated him. Odin, the one who wanted to be the man behind the scenes and pulling all the strings, the general of the army, but weakened by Ragnarok. And then there was Maddy, stuck in the centre of all the politics and backstabbing of the gods and trying to make sense of everything and survive it all. 

I'll probably read the next one at some point, because I really think I could like this series. I just have to be in the right mood to read it. 

My thanks go to Gollancz for providing me with this copy for review