scijessreads

Maybe it’s the lapsed Catholic in me, but I am drawn to stories of Gods and faith. What it takes to have faith, what it means, and what you would do for it.

Hannah Kaner’s Fallen Gods trilogy — Godkiller, Sunbringer, and Faithbreaker — is a absolutely wrenching story of what it means to be a god and to love a god. What it means to become a god. And what it means to sacrifice yourself for gods and power.

Throughout the trilogy we follow Kissen (the veiga godkiller), Elogast (the baker knight), Inara (the lost child of unique parentage), and Skediceth (the little god of white lies). As the story progresses, we also see the POV of Arren, the king that fought the gods out of Middren, and in the process became entwined with one of his own, kept alive through the power of the god and his own ambition.

We see journeys to kill gods, to save kingdoms, and to find lost family. Throughout the entire process, we see Kissen, Elo, Inara, and Skedi learn what it means to truly love, to sacrifice, and to hope for better. We see how tiny embers of faith can start a fire, and how flames of obsessive devotion can destroy what was once a chance for good. So much of this story is not just the journey and the war and the politics of faith, it is the lives of those caught in the webs of power.

“What is faith if not an offering in return for love?”

“Gods are never lost if there is someone who still believes in them.”