Godkiller by Hannah Kaner

Godkiller is Hannah Kaner's highly acclaimed debut, set in a richly realised brutal world, in the throes of a chaotic looming civil war. It is a world rife with with conflicts, between the Gods and humans sick of their tyrannical murdering world order, nobles scheming against royals, and the long-suffering citizens caught in the middle of all this, trying to flee from their own wretched destiny. 

Hannah presents an interesting, refreshing take on the conflicts between Gods and humans, giving us a world that is teeming with strife, torn between half the populace on the side of the King, wanting to kill and eliminate the errant murderous Gods who are drunk on their concept of power derived from the desperate faith and the other half, clinging to hope that their prayers would still be heard by the Gods left. Cities are in ruins, where the shrines are destroyed and gangs of Godkillers, mercenaries who specialize in exactly what that name implies. The only city that still has Gods roaming free with dedicated shrines and temples is the city of Blendraden. And to this city come this ragtag bunch of misfits - an ex-knight of the King's guard turned baker, a Godkiller trying to flee her destiny and past, a young noblewoman with hidden powers and a God of white lies, shrine-less and scared. 

Godkiller is a well paced story, structured like a quest narrative as our bunch of misfits travel to this city of shrines in search of answers and redemption. The most interesting aspect of this narrative is the character development as the the main protagonists start to work on their inter-personal relationships even as the quest is beset by danger of all types; not just the errant wild Gods, or their monsters but also the scheming backstabbing humans. While the story is fashioned to be Kissen's (who is the Godkiller in question) personal story of redemption, the other characters are fleshed out quite well. Eloghast, the former knight turned baker, gets emotionally sucker-punched into travelling to this city, to get aid for his best friend, the King suffering from a secret ailment. His arc is the ‘purest’ of them all, as he’s painted out to be the ‘hero’ stereotype, possibly the most likeable of the protagonists with noble intentions and an endearing personality. I loved the delectable food descriptions that feature in his POV chapters best! Then there’s Imara – the young noblewoman, whose mother kept her birth a secret from the royal court and who’s possibly harboring more secrets than even her personal God-consort, Skedi, the little god of white lies stuck with this young girl in some inexplicable bond. Skedi is a self serving scared little fellow, despite being a God. And as the name implies, Skedi lies his way through all troubles, causing his audience to believe in them and thereby, achieving his vested goals of finding sanctuary in a world that has gone to killing the likes of him for just a few silvers. Imara, possibly one with an yet-to-be-revealed backstory about her birth, has secret powers that surprises the God and her set of protectors, Kissen and Elo, who are sworn to see her through to this city of Gods, in search of answers and to free her from this bond with Skedi.

Hannah’s concept of Gods is well thought and uniquely presented. These are not just formless beings you pray to, these are living breathing, physically present Gods who are unpredictable, whimsical and often, cruel and despicable. Kudos to this interpretation!

Despite being a debut, I found little to complain about Hannah’s Godkiller. Hannah takes an axe to the tropes and dismembers them with glee as she wades through all the grit, blood and muck in this ruthless God-cursed world. There is action aplenty, with some gnarly monsters and cruel despots of Gods thrown into the melee. But what strikes you more is the quiet moments of truth, friendship and camaraderie between the quartet. Kissen is a prickly personality and frankly, hard to like. But what you come to admire is her resolve and plucky attitude, despite the mountain of odds thrown her way. She’s had a bad draw of hand, right from the beginning as we witness from that pretty heart-wrenching opening chapter where she loses her entire family to the fear and wrath of small-minded jealous fellow-villagers and a wanton bloodthirsty god of fire. We realize how she’s hidden her heart behind a wall of thick briars and bracken, but we never get to see it actually thaw. Her relationship with Imara could have been a bit more tender, and loving but Kissen remains true to her character and never once shows love. Because of which, that budding relationship with one of the other main characters (which we saw coming from miles away) remains unconvincing, leaving us cold and indifferent. But Kissen, despite her disability, is badass personified. I hope to see more of her in the future.

All in all, Godkiller is a crackling introduction to this strife-torn world, where death is just another way of life. It gives us four interesting well rounded characters to root for, and with the dramatic explosive twists thrown into the action-packed violent story towards the end, we got more heart-stopping revelations to look forward to. It’s a unique refreshing addition to the epic fantasy tales out there, a terrifying story of courage and survival, of grit and faith and friendship. With Sunbringer, the second tale in this trilogy out now, it’s definitely the right time and totally worth diving into this one. Am in for the ride! Highly recommended.