An engaging and detailed first look into this fantasy world, I was hooked from the start! The world building is very well done, and whilst I'm sure there were certain aspects that I missed overall I felt it was explained very well. The characters are exciting and well written, with my favourite easily being Inara. I can't wait to see how HK develops her character in the second book!

I hit a slump with reading till I got this arc and it completely brought me out of it! Wow! Buy this book! Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for access to this book!

Thank you so much Netgalley and Harper Collins for letting me read this beautiful book! I requested this book mainly because of it's cover, it is stunning and easily one of the best covers I’ve seen so far this year. Thankfully, the story completely lived up to the standards of its cover and it blew me away. It came to me at the perfect time as I was getting into a slight reading slump, so a 300 page fantasy was exactly what I was looking for! I even ended up wanting it to be even longer, and felt like I could have carried on reading the story forever. It was the perfect mix of adult high fantasy with a mix of mythology and fairytales, beautiful world building but not too intense that it becomes overwhelming and the characters (and their diversity) were the perfect icing on the cake. I felt so invested in the main characters and their intertwining storylines, it was hard to put this book down to go to sleep! I am so beyond excited for this to officially come out and to see what the author does with the next book.

Taking inspiration from LeGuin’s Earthsea Cycle and Abercrombie’s brand of grimdark comes Godkiller - the debut novel from Hannah Kaner.

With what feels like the first piece of a larger tapestry Kaner has expertly layer the foundation of her world. There’s a great deal of depth and explained lore that is readily woven into the narrative without ever feeling overly academic.

This is an incredible piece of contemporary fantasy.

I can’t wait to read what comes next!!

Noble child, small god, godkiller, and broken knight pilgrimage together to a forbidden city to save themselves and their friends.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC copy.

This book starts with sacrifice and introduces the reader into a world of manifest gods, worship, and violence. Each of the key figures that are central to the plot have their powers and flaws, and after a relatively slow start, the book warms up nicely.

Kissen is a one-legged Veiga, a GodKiller, tough, embittered, but loyal. Elogast is a broken former Knight Commander, hiding in a quiet town as a baker. Inara is a daughter of a Noble house, sequestered away from the wider world. Invisibly and inexplicably tethered to Inara is Skediceth, a young god of white lies, wishing to be freed.

The bulk of the story brings these four key characters together as they travel to a forbidden city to seek the help of other gods. Relationships strengthen and fracture as the motives of each character evolve or change. The wider political context and history is hinted at but not fully expanded. The second half of the book picks up pace, and employs some nice twists, and loose end resolution.

Overall the world has texture and its own weight and feel, with the relationships between gods and mortals, and the consequences of those relationships, nicely explored. At times the back stories of the characters were sketched very sparsely, and more exploration would have been welcome. This was particularly true in preparation for the pivotal twist at the climax of the book.

I certainly look forward to reading more in the future about Veigas, and the fate of the surviving protagonists.

This book was a bit of a letdown. The author's take on godhood was awesome, and her characters were likeable.

However, these characters were not developed enough. They felt like means to move the story forward instead of being the ones making it. It was also hard to believe in the friendships because of this lack of character development (same for the romance).

Unfortunately, Godkiller is a forgettable read for me.

Easily a new favourite fantasy series, and a debut that will firmly plant Hannah Kaner as a must-read in the genre. Godkiller was a brilliant feast of a book, and it took me a month to read it purely because I didn’t want it to end. Following Kissen, a godkiller who reluctantly takes the young Inara Craier to the city of Blenraden to sever a connection between the girl and the god Skediceth, and the knight-turned-baker Elogast, who ventures to the city to help his king, this book has everything.

The thing that first drew me into this novel (other than that stunning cover) was Kaner’s prose. Kaner has such control over her writing style, and I felt fully in place in the world of Middren. Matched with brilliant worldbuilding, from the first few pages of the novel, you’ll find yourself hooked, wanting to turn the pages as fast as you can. I’m a sucker for any fantasy book with gods in it, and this book stole my heart; I loved the role the gods played in the world, and the way that their magic worked. Kaner also gives you this world in pieces, and her worldbuilding is carefully dripped in rather than dumped. As you get further into the story, you learn more about Kissen’s past and Elo’s history with the war. Every little detail has its place in the narrative, and you’ll want to keep an eye out cause everything has a part to play.

The other thing that made this novel brilliant were it’s characters. From Kissen to Inara to Elo to even Skedi, they each were crafted with so much depth that I felt as if I really knew them. Each of them have their own flaws and strength, and they were built and given to you as a reader slowly, letting you learn about who each of these character are page by page. I grew to love Kissen’s subtle but strong love, and Inara’s passion, and Elo’s commitment to duty. Out of all the perspectives, I really enjoyed Skediceth’s, and I think it was such a good move on Kaner’s half to give us the perspective of a god. You got to understand just how fundamentally different their view of the world was from a human, and this added to the uniqueness of the world.

The plot was also perfectly done, and never felt slow or lacking. I enjoyed getting to meet the side characters, who in themselves had such a breadth. This is definitely more of a journey-over-end type of fantasy, with the actual arrival into Blenraden happening near the end of the book, near the start. But in spite of that, Kaner takes the time to let you know the world and the characters, and I enjoyed this slower approach to the narrative.

All in all, Godkiller was a delight of a book, and I might just cave and get the Waterstones Exclusive copy (man is it gorgeous) because I just love it so much. Do yourself a favour and preorder it, because this is a fantasy you do not want to miss!

God Killer by Hannah Kaner
Earc:NetGalley
Publisher: HarperVoyager
Publication Date: 19 Jan 2023 |
Genre: Sci Fiction and Fantasy

We say never judge a book by its cover, but this covers beautifully. Kissen characters I love.

The first is that of a young noble girl who is protected from the world but carries a secret of her own - the little god of white lies. He enlists the unlikely help of a Veiga (god-slayer) named Makura to ward off the evil spirits. Their interaction adds a lot of suspense and character building, as Pillow lost her family and her legs to the powerful Fire Goddess.

The second story arc belongs to Elo, a retired knight, former King's best friend, and now a baker. He reluctantly embarks on a secret pilgrimage to find a god who can save the king's life, even though years earlier, the same king had tried to drive all the gods out of the country. In this book, two moving stories intersect.

I adored the descriptive writing within this book. I was in another world. This book quickly gripped me.

@HarperVoyagerUK
#NetGalley #bookstagram #bookreview #goodreads #scifictionandfantasy #5starreads @hannah kane

I'm not 100% sure on my overall feelings on this book!

I definitely liked it, it was a good read, I think I may give this a 3.5 star rating overall, there was 4 points of view which was easy to follow, at first I was a bit iffy with the multiple povs but wore off pretty quickly, I liked all the characters and the plot was interesting if a little winded in the middle, felt like this book was a lot of build up to potential in book 2 which I will definitely be reading!

3.5

Thank you to HarperCollins and NetGalley for providing an eARC for me to review!

This is epic fantasy for readers wanting something diverse and nuanced! I really liked the setting, especially the traces of gods that are still present after the war. I found this a similar premise to The Shadow of the Gods but with less mentions of troll balls, so if you're interested in epic fantasy but want something less aggressively 'man' than I think this would be perfect!

I found our characters and plot interesting, but I think I needed a little more to be able to properly fall into the story. I also didn't think the brief romance was necessary and actually kind of took away from a cool vibe we had going on. Overall though I enjoyed and would be interested to see where book 2 ends up!

Godkiller by Hannah Kaner is a strong fantasy debut set in a world plagued by gods.

There are two driving plotlines that intersect in this book. The first is that of a young noble girl, shielded from the world but holding a secret of her own – a little god of white lies that she cannot be parted with. She elicits the unlikely help of a veiga (godkiller) called Kissen to free the god from her without harming them. A lot of tension and character building comes from their interactions, with Kissen having lost both her family and her leg to a powerful goddess of fire.

The second plotline belongs to Elo, retires Knight and former confidant of the King, now a baker. He is plunged reluctantly into a secret pilgramage to find a god that can save the King’s life, even though that same King tried to drive out all the gods from the land years ago.

While there is some action, most of the meat of the book comes from the interaction between the characters, as they peel away each others secrets and try to figure out how much they can trust one another. One development in particular I found shocking and bold, even if I think the character shouldn’t have gotten away with doing it to the level that they did.

A lot of the context for the plot revolves around events that happened years and years ago, which made sense in the way it was laid out. But this could have been exposed to the reader a little smoother, with information being hidden until immediately relevant to the plot, despite some of the characters having lived it. What does unfold in the present is pretty strong though, and the setting with lots of gods trying anything to win the faith of new subjects is one you rarely see.

Of course being the first book in a trilogy some mysteries are left unsolved, but the climax was pretty satisfying. I’m excited to see when Kaner takes the story next and recommend Godkiller to anyone who likes their fantasy stories to have gods that directly affect the world and plot.

Rating: 8/10

Thank you so much to the publisher, NetGalley, and the author for allowing me the chance to read this book as an e-Arc prior to publishing!

This book, ultimately, was an amazing read for me. For the first 30% of the novel, I'll be honest - I wasn't invested at all. I felt lost, I didn't understand much about the world and so I got bored! However, I am so glad I stuck it out.

Feeling a little reminiscent of Noragami, the anime/manga, I loved the idea that there could be a God for anything as long as people wished it so - war, love, feritility, broken sandals, lies, etc. The author has managed to introduce religion to her world in a way that engages the reader and makes it fun.

The main characters each start out as a little unlikeable towards each other, and even to the reader, but as they journey together and slowly warm up to each other, the reader warms to them too and becomes heavily invested in their past, present, and future.

This novel has everything you want in a cosy read that gets you invested -
found family,
badass female MC,
grumpy male MC,
troublemaker child MC with her little sidekick,
LGBT+ inclusive,
and finally, everyones favourite trope - keeping warm via close proximity on a cold night x

A dazzling, immersive fantasy that will join Jen Williams and Robin Hobb on my shelf. The characters are complex, their voices distinctive, their relationships real and compelling. While the place-names themselves felt a bit flat for me the worldbuilding is rich and the lore unique. The take on gods and magic is truly unique and refreshing. The book shines with magic. You can feel it while reading. I didn't want to put the story down and I can't wait to read more. I absolutely loved this book.

Kissen is a godkiller; she destroys shrines and banishes gods from this realm, hopefully, to never return. Until one day she meets a god she cannot kill- his life is tied to a young girl’s. Kissen, the girl Inara and her little god of white lies travel to a ruinous city in hopes of separating the two. Along the way, they meet the knight Elogast on his own quest from the King. They form a tenuous alliance to travel together to the forbidden city of a thousand shrines where they seek the gods long banned from their kingdom.
This was an excellent book- well crafted, well paced, rich world-building, and well-rounded characters. There are four POVs in this book and I like how that let us see things through different lenses. I loved the relationships between the characters and how they grew to become their own found family. The only relationship I did not like was the romance. I did not think that there was any romantic chemistry between the two characters that got together; I saw them as friends and I thought that the male character in the romance had feelings for someone else. I wish that the romance had been excluded and I am glad that it did not take up a lot of page time.
This book has some of the best disability rep I have seen in fantasy. Kissen is an amputee with a prosthetic leg. She is a badass warrior but one that still has to deal with the realities of having a prosthetic. I liked that it wasn’t used to make her stronger; it was very realistic in what dealing with a disability is like. It was never forgotten or pushed to the side and I really appreciated that. There was also a wheelchair user (plus Kissen uses one when she needs to take the weight off her leg) and sign was incorporated a lot!
Kissen is also queer; she is attracted to both men and women. There are a couple of different side characters shown in sapphic relationships. The main romance in this book though is m/f.
I think that a lot of people are going to love this book and these characters. It is an excellent kick-off to the trilogy. I would highly recommend it if you are looking for a good fantasy series to sink your teeth into.

Thankyou Netgalley and HarperCollins UK for letting me have a free e-arc of Godkiller by Hanna Kaner

This book was a really easy read, which I appreciated as had been reading a lot more adult and books with a more complex style of writing book recently. That being said, i am not sure if maybe i would have preferred it to have been a little more adult style (again just what seems to be my preference lately. The story lines concept is something that sounded right up my street and although i did enjoy it, and liked the characters, there was something missing for me- not necessarily anything to do with the actual book, but probably something to do with personal preference.

I would definitely recommend it to others that enjoy YA more than myself and it was actually pretty good as a pallet cleanser book for me.

My thanks to NetGalley for a free ARC of "Godkiller" by Hannah Kaner.
An intresting blend of clasic Fantasy with modern touches.
The presence of gods has some similarities to the pagan believes and a few elements of the asian culture.
I enjoyed the inclusion of disability.
The thenes of survival and friendship were beautifuly woven into the story.
An enjoyable read and and considering it is a debut the author can add even more excitement to the next instalments of this universe.
I will take my time deciding if I will continue this series.

I've finished Godkiller a week ago now, and when looking through my notes to write my review I've felt the same sense of light disappointment I did when I read the last page: this book is a decent debut, yet I can't help but feel that something was missing for it to fully win me over. I could make a detailed list of every aspect of it, look at it and think, "oh, that sounds great!!!!" but at the end of the day, I read to escape this hell world and with Godkiller I could never forget what the characters were : fictional beings of paper. I wasn't invested in their hardships enough and sadly that lowered the stakes for me : I didn't care enough to be shocked or wowed. In my book, it's necessary to reach a 4 stars rating, so 3/3.5 it is.

But let's make that list anyway, shall we?

✔ The world and its (presumed dead, but are they really) gods have potential, but don't feel fleshed-out enough quite yet ;

✔ it follows a travel-focused type plot in which the characters must go from Point A to Point B : the pacing wasn't bad at all, but I personally feel meh about those 99% of the time—definitely a matter of personal taste 🤷‍♀️

✔ the writing is simple yet compelling enough, I guess. I felt no particular way towards it— it did the job, but didn't wow me 🤷‍♀️ ;

✔ in this multi-pov Fantasy novel we've got 4 main characters and I should have adored them (mostly I didn't care) :
- Kissen : bisexual and disabled Witcher type character
- Elo: knight turned baker who struggles with ptsd and has a martyr strike
- Then there are Inara and Skedi, who I won't talk about for fear of spoiling you 👀

✔ as I said I never felt emotionally invested in the characters' fates, which didn't ruin everything but definitely prevented me from loving Godkiller 🥺

This said, I'm pretty sure I'll be in the minority on this so if the story appeals to you, I'd recommend you try it for yourself!

I really loved this story and I need the next book like NOW. The characters were all so in-depth and hilarious in their manners. Skediceth was my favourite of course. And maybe Inara....and Kissen... okay, maybe .all of them!!
The twists and turns keep you on the edge of your seat, like who will deceive who first. (And the deception really is surprising!). The only thing that caught me was that the blurb says "Until (Kissen) meets a god she can't kill" but it's not that she CAN'T, she just won't (even though she wants to).

That ending though... I can't wait until book two.

Kissen is a veiga: a godkiller for hire in a country once rife with gods, where worship is now illegal. To be a godkiller is to go looking for trouble, but this time trouble might have found her. Curses, betrayal, gods old and new, and a little girl bound to a god of white lies mark her way forwards. And perhaps, also, her way back.

The characters and worldbuilding of 'Godkiller' draw you in immediately, cycling through complex emotions and memories to build up the story of the continent and the context for the growing civil unrest around them. The narrative is well-balanced between action and quiet moments of reflection for the four main characters, and doesn't shy away from the more brutal aspects of revolution and victory.

I'm thoroughly looking forward to book 2!

'That's an interesting dagger, he said
as she stood up again, stamping the earth back
down over the roots. She sheathed her knife and counted the
ones she'd pulled, then lifted her eyebrow at him.
'That's an interesting fuck you give about it.’
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I LOVED THIS BOOK SO MUCH!!!
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I requested this book on NetGalley only because of it's appearance, it's one of the most beautiful covers ever and I'm so pleased I was accepted to review this because honestly for me it's a flawless and glorifying debut.
Everything about it ignited my soul, it was just what I needed at just the right time, I only wished that it had been a longer read, 300 pages wasn't enough. It has all the elements of epic adult fantasy and fairytale, just the right amount of imaginative world building, character development and intriguing plots. The diversity and representation is flaming fantastic, I loved how this was done so seamlessly and full of warmth. I felt not only invested in the four main characters but also some supporting characters. The concept of the story has me burning for more, I'm excited to see what the author is planning next. I may have to make a shrine for this book and pray to the Gods of harpervoyager to please send me the sequel!!!
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Totally obsessed and completely crushing on Kissen!!! (Imagine The Witcher monster hunter Geralt but as a smoking hot female GodKiller!)