Against All Gods: The Age of Bronze: Book 1

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Against All Gods: The Age of Bronze: Book 1

Against All Gods: The Age of Bronze: Book 1

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Description

As part of old goddess's plan to overthrow the current God in charge, several humans are carefully guided and manipulated to the same point:

Thanks to NetGalley & the publisher for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review! The first half of the novel, in typical 'caper' format, is about the gathering of these companions, and how they came to be so angry, disenfranchised or jaded that the idea of trying to overthrow their own gods seems like a good idea. The story follows several characters, most notably Zos, a godborn sellsword, Era, a singer, dancer and swordswoman, Pollon, a scribe and Daos, a mysterious young boy who can see things and talks to a stuffed bear that isn’t all what it seems. There’s also the gods, scheming away. I really liked the characters, they work well together and I enjoyed reading their stories. The tales of the Olympian gods, and before them the strange, capricious and harsh deities of Sumer and Akkad, have lingered in the mind of western civilizations through to the modern day, and arguably taken new form in the narratives of our modern deities and demigods: superheroes. I think the author put a lot of thought into it historically and had a great vision, however it was poorly executed.

Christian Cameron (otherwise known by pen names that include Miles Cameron, and Gordon Kent) is one of my all-time favourite authors. This prolific, best-selling author of over 40 novels, has penned one of my top ten fantasy series ever: "The Traitor Son Cycle". Pollon, a scribe and Atosa, a Chief jeweller whose honourable nature led to their imprisonment and punishment. Enkul–Anu is a shrewd, calculating leader, who rules with a heady mix of tyranny and manipulation. Still, the ruler of the gods likes his carnal pleasures, and fiendishly delights in pain to those who oppose him. This lord of gods cannot rest easy on his throne, however, as he and his followers overthrew the previous divine regime to ascend to their current heights. They are considered “The New Gods”, having successfully rebelled and replaced “The Old Gods”. The humans, who Cameron clearly identifies as the protagonists, are also really humorous. But they also have heart, complex motivations, and most are at least somewhat morally grey, save for the Harkans, who I found to be very noble overall. Era was my favourite: uncompromisingly proud of and comfortable with her sexuality, resourceful, tough, full of life, lust, and the kind of friend you want in your corner. Zos’ combination of charisma, world-weary skepticism, and bravado, made for a really dynamic character as well. The odd little boy Daos, and his relationship with his foster mother, Era, will melt your heart, and Cameron will also force you to care, a lot, about the donkey! A vibrant and powerful epic set against an alternate Bronze Age, this tale of gods, men and monsters, conspiracy and war, is a rich, compelling and original read from a master of the historical and fantasy genres. The people caught up in toils of the gods are merely trying to survive. Victims of vicious whims, trapped by their circumstances or pushed beyond what the mortal frame can bear, a handful of god-touched mortals – a scribe, a warlord, a dancer and a child – are about to be brought together in a conspiracy of their own.

Finally, Aanat, a master captain, and trader, wants to keep his ship, and his family who are its crew, safe from harm. He and his people are also pacifists, and take an oath not to harm others. But in a particularly savage world of gods, monsters, and barbaric humans, keeping that oath has never been more difficult. In his dreams a blue woman brought him bolts of silver lightning, and he gave them to the most unsuitable people: a slave with a bull's head tattoo, a dancing woman; a warrior; a scribe, but most of all a smith and his apprentice. It started a tad slow. The names were unfamiliar to me, and I had a little trouble discerning the various names, but it became apparent we have a "mediterranean" type sea surrounded by various city states and cultures. We get a slowly growing band of misfits from the mortals: Gamash (magician), Zos (godborn merc), Era (godborn "dancer"), Pollon (scribe), Hefa-Asus (smith). All have reason to hate the gods and have been mistreated in various ways. Among their stories we uncover a plot to unseat the gods with the aid of "star-metal" (iron - which is anti-magic and can kill gods and supernatural creatures) and some subtle influence by some among the gods who hate their brethren for being callous idiots... With this set-up (and I have told you nothing not contained in the prologue and chapter 1), Gammash begins to put together a rogues' gallery that feels like a Bronze Age RPG party: Zos, a powerful, if aging, mercenary; Era, a dancer and swordswoman who is the by-blow of a noble and temple dancer; Pollon, a scribe, archer and former priest; Hefa-Asus a giant smith and his apprentice, a tough-as-nails young woman named Nicte; and Daos, a young orphan who just may have a teddy-bear that is channeling a god. Something that would have helped a lot with the multiple POVs would have been character building. I found that the gods had character to them, a personality, but the mortal POVs mostly felt like husks with one defining factor about them, their 'origin' story, and nothing else to really separate them until the last 5-10% of the book. It felt like a Joe Abercrombie book but with little character development. Not much plot in there either.While this book is sometimes zany, often irreverant, the themes Cameron explores are very dire, including canibalism, ritual human sacrifice, slavery, betrayal, unmitigated greed, torture, sexual assault and murder, to name a few, so reader be warned. As expected with a writing master such as Cameron, these themes are handled with aplomb, dark humour, and a glimmer of real hope.



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