Against All Gods: The Age of Bronze: Book 1

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And perhaps the aged sellsword the most: Zos is a typical hero who's past his prime and who's seen countless battles. Reading Christian (or, in this case, Miles) Cameron books always makes me want to read EVEN MORE Christian Cameron books.

The tyranny of the gods is absolute, and they are capricious, malevolent and almost all-powerful, playing cruel games with the fates of mortals for their own ends. The world-building is solid but there are a lot of things that aren't explained well or are hard to pick up on. I just liked reading about them being flawed, vain and rude schemers with weaknesses to exploit, as opposed to them being omnipotent beings of ageless wisdom. Alone, he would be doomed to fail, but a gift of iron ore from beyond the stars and the fellowship of others similarly scorned may give him a chance.Against all Gods has a big cast of characters, but I didn't have any trouble keeping their personalities and stories separated.

Sacrificing lives, towns, even civilisations as they make moves against each other, oblivious to and uncaring of the suffering it causes. Gamash turns to a mysterious blacksmith and his apprentices for aid, to fashion weapons made of a substance that can possibly slay a god. The three are scattered across the map when we meet them, but right from the start they are being pulled towards one another by the machinations of the Huntress – also known as the Black Goddess, the Enemy, and Temis – who is always plotting against the other gods.The final 5-10% was actually really good and if that was the same throughout the whole book then it would have resided with me on a 4* level I think. The world-building was incredible, inspired by ancient Greek mythology, filled with magic, mythical creatures and diverse races, lofty temples, and sword and sandal heroes. Following the signs laid out before him, Gamash receives weapons that can hurt the corrupt divine beings and embarks on a quest to challenge the gods once and for all. Founded in 1927 and with a continuous SF publishing programme dating back to 1961, we are home to a galaxy of award-winning and bestselling authors.

The bronze age trappings are fantastic -- this is a secondary fantasy world but you can feel the Greek-like trappings.I don't mind books with many POVs, but even I get exhausted when I spend over 100 pages on what feels like a prologue (because the introductory chapters are mostly set during the same time and centre around a major event). I have done ever since I saw the 1980s Clash of the Titans when I was 7 years old and I still love reading stories inspired by that time period so I was in my element reading Against All Gods. But can a bunch of misfit gods, a lost constellation and a mortal boy stand up to the daemon hordes? This time we're in a bronze age epic fantasy, with gods and demigods walking the earth and oppressing mortals.

Throw in the various gods and their own plot lines and there is always danger of confusing the reader.To me, the human element was what let me down, and ultimately made it hard for me to truly enjoy this book. Brought together by circumstance and the meddling of higher powers, and disillusioned by the uncaring gods, an unlikely group of mortals set out to take a stand, aware that they’re being manipulated but determined to find room for their own choices.