Godblind

I enjoyed this book. Some of the characters are developed well as is the world they are set in and it has potential for being a good series.However, I do have a few gripes. I found the writer tried too hard to shock at times and in doing this failed to do so. Similarly, all the baddies are so evil that they are almost cartoonish pantomime villains and are hard to believe in. None of them have any doubts about what they are doing and you can almost hear them twirling their moustaches as they do their dastardly deeds. As to how they trick some soldiers to follow them, this is almost childish, but I can't say much more without a spoiler alert.Then the book just seemed to stop. It seems to be a bad editing choice rather than blame falling on the author.Not bad though for a first novel and I will give the next one a go as well in the hope that the faults get ironed out.

Who are the characters again?It felt like there were far too many, each chapter seemingly devoting a page or two.I just couldn't connect.I wanted to, Rivil had a great role. That just died off once you'd been shown he was interesting.Then of course, the elephant in the room. Or should I say sneaky elephant.Waiting until near the end we just have a homosexual encounter.I do not want to read it.

I like this book. It's a fun, violent, dark tale, told from the perspectives of many characters in a grim world where violence reigns. Its a fast-paced yarn, too, with chapters coming thick and fast as the viewpoint changes regularly. The good in this is that the story never lingers in one place for long, and there is a constant sense of events unfolding (I'd ask Robert Jordan to take note, but it's too late for that now). On the other hand, I sometimes wanted to spend a little more time with a character before rushing on to the next; it meant that getting to know the characters took a little longer in Godblind than it might in other books. It reads quite like a TV series, scenes here and there, quick and snappy. I like to leave my bookmarks on a new chapter, so this was ideal for short train journeys.I've read a lot of violent stories recently, and Godblind sits fairly close to the top of the pile in terms of sheer gratuity. Now, I quite enjoy this, it can be nice to just run away with. I can, however, see some readers balking at some of the descriptions on offer, as they can be very in-your-face! If anybody is wondering, both sexes take similar levels of punishment throughout Godblind, though there is one scene in particular that leaves me with the sense that men are the worst off in Stephens' world.Lastly, there are a couple of immersion-breaking errors to be found (minor spoilers): we are told Rillirin hasn't held a weapon *after* she has set in motion story events with a knife, and one-eyed Galtas is sometimes described with "eyes". Regardless of this, the writing is better than anything I have put out, so four stars it is!

Colour me surprised, because after a rocky start this grimdark debut dragged me into its blood-drenched war and when I stopped to check I found I didn’t want to put it down. There’s certainly still tropes I could do without, but they're presented here in order to subvert them. Once the action reached the egalitarian and fiercely independent community of Wolves, I was completely invested and keen to find out what happened.I eventually grew bored with all the hacking and slashing (the mechanical gore of warfare wears thin pretty quickly for me), but I find I care enough about the characters to want to read the sequel.

The author has created a great world, for a first novel it's a really rich and full of intrigue. There are few things that stop me giving it more stars (Eg Some of the characters feel just like modern earth dwellers transported to a distant swords and sorcery realm, also the pacing, placing and spacing of the chapters within the multiple-book story-arc feels like it needed a little bit more work) but ultimately I will definitely read subsequent chapters.

Godblind was the dark fantasy I have been waiting for, full of murderous rampages, betrayal and deadly gods and goddesses it's one for the ages.The reader is truly absorbed into the story from the start and gets lost in the war, it is bloody with one of the most brutal torture scenes I have ever read. The action is fast paced and not a page goes by without the plot developing.I highly recommend Godblind for anyone looking for a new dark fantasy series to binge.

This gets 5-stars for quality of writing, creativity, and humour. A really great debut book that I would heartily recommend.This is Grimdark so no children should be reading this, but everyone else should!

A diverse range of characters, intertwining threads and a pace that never slows. An excellent first instalment, I await the next book with relish. In an overcrowded genre this take really does stand out. I will give nothing away, read it for yourself and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.