I didn’t want to tokenise, isolate, or undermine Kissen’s story, so it was most important to me that Kissen would have community, people she sought out, who understood her, that she didn’t face the world alone. Kissen is a breath of fresh air in today’s fantasy landscape. While the character still displays some tropey traits such as being orphaned at a young age, and consequently being a self-reliant, mulishly stubborn, hides-her-heart-behind-high-walls protagonist, she is also hella queer, knows how to fight and fights well!! ( let’s not talk about those FMC that are either too overpowered and naturally gifted at literally every single thing they do or, while said to be a great warrior, actually aren’t), disabled (the disability rep in this novel was outstanding), and the brains to know when a situation is outside her capabilities. All in all, Kissen felt very well-rounded, and I enjoyed reading her POV. Elo was likewise a really intriguing character, his endearing Jaskier/Dandelion level of goodness and self sacrificing personality make it impossible not to love him (not to mention his skills in baking and occasional renditions of bawdy military songs), plus his relationship dynamics and banter with Kissen was perfect.

Godkiller by Hannah Kaner is a dark, gritty and highly immersive debut. This is a tale where gods and mortals collide, where myth and legends are brought to life, where having faith could get you killed. The power of belief is strong, worship can bring peace to many but believing in Gods can be deadly. To seek a God's favour, to have their light shine upon you, is to pay a high price. Skediceth, the God of White Lies. Truth to be told, I found him irritating even though we barely had to read through his eyes. Still, he was an interesting character and was useful to the storyline so I’ll let him slide but I still would crush him like a bug if I had the chance. It’s an interesting question, I didn’t start Godkiller intending to write a disabled character, or a character with PTSD, but as I sketched the characters, who they were, what they’d experienced, then these became important parts of who they were, how they acted, who they loved and who they hated.

New in Series

Godkiller is set in the aftermath of a God War, where our characters are trying to survive in a dark and gritty world where gods and monsters roam. It reminded me very much of The Witcher, was this a source of inspiration to you? What other aspects influenced your worldbuilding? but at least, at the very least, he now had someone to fight alongside, though he would not in a thousand years have suspected it would be a god, a godkiller, and a child. Overall, a phenomenally strong and enjoyable debut from Hannah Kaner which ends on a satisfying, though slightly cliffhanger-y ending. I’m definitely excited to see where the rest of the series takes us—and desperately hoping the wait won’t be too long! Our story follows Kissen, a godkiller. Kissen’s childhood was filled with tragedy, one which has left her with scars that will never fully heal. Haunted by memories and filled with a constant simmering anger, Kissen devotes her life to killing gods, and she’s pretty damn good at it. Yet when she chances upon a young noble child in a tavern, she sets forth on a quest to free her from a god Kissen cannot kill. Inara Craier is bound to Skediceth, the god of white lies, and should they try to part from one another they would both die. Kissen cannot allow another child to die at the hands of a god. Then there is Elogast, once the King’s knight who fought to destroy shrines and kill gods in the great God War, yet in the horrific aftermath Elo put down his sword and to escape his nightmares turned his hand to baking. Elo longs for a quiet, simple life, but when King Arren, once his closest friend, sends him on a mission to save his life and the kingdom, he is forced to return to the city of gods, Blenraden, the city he helped bring to ruin. Kissen is a god killer; her entire family was sacrificed to a god when she was a child, and she was spared only because her father made a deal with a god. She has sworn to kill every god. One day, she encounters a young noble girl with a god linked to her. Kissen cannot kill the god without harming the girl. When the girl's family is assassinated, they embark on a journey to find a god who can help them break the link.

Gods are forbidden in the kingdom of Middren. Formed by human desires and fed by their worship, there are countless gods in the world—but after a great war, the new king outlawed them and now pays “godkillers” to destroy any who try to rise from the shadows.

Customer reviews

She puts the desire to communicate and challenge into her work in the technology sector, specialising in creating digital tools for hard to reach communities. Joined by the former knight commander; Kissen, the young noble and the god of white lies all journey towards the ruined city of Blenraden (where the last of the wild gods reside) to each beg a favour. Regarding what to expect, Godkiller includes an LGBTQ+ lead, main characters who struggle with mental illness, a point of view character who has a prosthetic leg, other important disabled characters, and this world's equivalent of sign language. All of these aspects fit seamlessly and enhance the story and the characters around them. We also have incredible set pieces, romance, betrayals, showdowns, curses, tragic loss, demons, and an amazing ending. Little statements and seemingly unimportant details come to be of the utmost importance later on, so Godkiller is absolutely a rewarding novel for those that pay attention.

I loved writing Inara and Skedi and their relationship. I mean – Inara felt pretty easy at first, possibly because I was that wilful and intensely vulnerable know it all as a child. Hers is a journey of self-discovery, and finding her grit, which is such a delight to write. I had this book in my TBR for a while, then I saw a premise that went “You’re not welcome here, godkiller.” and I knew I had to read it. And thank gods I did because it was awesome. It was literally like The Witcher, without the misogyny of course. I guess that’s one of the reasons I loved it so much. (I quit reading The Witcher series at the fourth book because as a woman, the author’s view of women made me very uncomfortable.)Tom Roberts is exceptionally talented and meticulous. I love his dark, mythic aesthetic, and knew it would be perfect for the books. It’s a very vigorous, violent, and fraught climax, let’s just say. And recalls, satisfyingly and unexpectedly, elements from the prologue. As of the beginning of writing this I'm still not sure what rating I want to give, so maybe I'll figure it out by the end. I wanted to love Godkiller (look at that cover!) but I have very mixed feelings about it. Pitched as perfect for fans of Witcher and Gideon the Ninth... I have questions. Witcher I kind of get as a comp title, though I think think that might set up the wrong expectations. There are some loose similarities. As for Gideon, I think it's a terrible comparison. The only similarity is that both books have queer women with swords.

Elogast, the Knight. Of course every badass character needs a soft, golden retriever kind of man on their side. Elogast was nice, loyal, and honest. He had this savior complex going on, and her loyalty was frankly annoying sometimes, but what would you expect from a person who literally embodies a dog? And I don’t mean any of this in a bad way. He wasn’t a zealot, nor was he annoying. He just followed what he thought was right.

All the points of view are interesting; their past experiences, flaws, and vulnerabilities revealed to the reader as they’re detailed to the other main characters. Inara and Skedi’s connection and the god’s past are shrouded in mystery, as it should not be possible for a god to survive without a shrine and the love and dedication of followers. Her relationship with Skedi was harder, because it comes with problems, a challenging power dynamic, and two people, one a child, one immortal, who are bound together and want and need very different things. I think that tension will play out over the rest of the series. Gods both need and demand human love, so Skedi being loyal to one human above others, above himself, is a paradox. I liked the characters well enough, but I wanted more from them. I was never invested enough to really care about this romantic subplot, and we never get enough information to really get why Elo is so loyal to his childhood BFF. The representation in this one was mind blowing. There is lgbtq+ rep, but also mental health and disability rep. Which when you think about it? In a medieval like magic world with swords, surely a missing leg or a deaf character wouldn’t be totally unheard of, but I rarely see anybody attempting to give that rep to any MC. It’s filled with strong and angry women, who need nobody but who can still be vulnerable and loving when the time comes. In Godkiller, gods are common, arising at every crossroads, demanding sacrifice and worship. Some are new, some have hardly any power at all, and some are both ancient and powerful. This ecology of divinity has given rise to a profession specialising in getting rid of gods that people want not to have to deal with: the veiga, or godkillers.