| Title : Hammer of God Author : Karen Miller Reading Dates : 30 Oct - 2 Nov 2010 |   |
| Godspeaker Trilogy. | |
| Hammer of God is the third and final book in the Godspeaker trilogy. Other books in the series are | |
| From Amazon : | |
In Ethrea, Rhian sits upon a precarious throne. Defiant dukes who won't accept her rule threaten the stability of her kingdom. Dexterity has been banished from her court in disgrace. The blue-haired slave Zandakar, the man she thought was her friend, has been revealed as the son of a woman sworn to destroy her world. And Rhian's husband, King Alasdair, is unsure of her love. | |
Book Review of Hammer of God.
Hammer of God was an okay read. Not as good as The Riven Kingdom but better than Empress.
One of the reasons for this was the pacing of the first half of the book. Not only was it too slow but it was unnecessarily long. The story doesn't progress much from The Riven Kingdom and spends too much time on some of the characters whining. This served only to leave me annoyed and turn me against characters that I'd originally liked. Thankfully, the story picks up near the middle.
What I did find amusing about all the whining was how so many of these characters distrust or blame others for doing the same things they themselves would do or did. The difference apparently is in who are the ones doing it and who is the one benefiting. Take for instance the heroine Rhian. It was alright for her to demand that her followers act on nothing but faith in god's words when it helps put her on the throne. But keep certain truths from her as counselled by the same messenger and you're a traitor. And this is but one example. Overall, I got the impression that only savages don’t have double standards.
In the end however it was the characters I still liked that kept me interested in Hammer of God. I thought it rather telling that despite the harsh treatment of those they helped, they continued to do what they did even at great sacrifice to themselves. Han because of a faith which the Ethereans have difficulty accepting because it is different from theirs and Zandakar because of his unconditional love even for those who had betrayed him and whom they see as nothing better than a barbarian.
My conclusion : Borrow the series for a read. The combination of fantasy, politics and religious warfare is worth a read.
Hammer of God was an okay read. Not as good as The Riven Kingdom but better than Empress.
One of the reasons for this was the pacing of the first half of the book. Not only was it too slow but it was unnecessarily long. The story doesn't progress much from The Riven Kingdom and spends too much time on some of the characters whining. This served only to leave me annoyed and turn me against characters that I'd originally liked. Thankfully, the story picks up near the middle.
What I did find amusing about all the whining was how so many of these characters distrust or blame others for doing the same things they themselves would do or did. The difference apparently is in who are the ones doing it and who is the one benefiting. Take for instance the heroine Rhian. It was alright for her to demand that her followers act on nothing but faith in god's words when it helps put her on the throne. But keep certain truths from her as counselled by the same messenger and you're a traitor. And this is but one example. Overall, I got the impression that only savages don’t have double standards.
In the end however it was the characters I still liked that kept me interested in Hammer of God. I thought it rather telling that despite the harsh treatment of those they helped, they continued to do what they did even at great sacrifice to themselves. Han because of a faith which the Ethereans have difficulty accepting because it is different from theirs and Zandakar because of his unconditional love even for those who had betrayed him and whom they see as nothing better than a barbarian.
My conclusion : Borrow the series for a read. The combination of fantasy, politics and religious warfare is worth a read.
- Read an extract from the book on the author's website.
Interesting assessment. Do you think all the hypocrisy came from faults in the characters or the author's need for certain plot things to happen?
ReplyDelete@ Jennifer Hoffline
ReplyDeleteI'd guess it was more a way for the author to get things moving in a certain direction. Nobody even said or hinted at things along those lines even up till the end.
So it's not a historical fiction, isn't it?
ReplyDeletethe story seems complicated.
But I am going to check the blog of author first.
@Aleetha
ReplyDeleteNope, this one is fantasy. Set in another world.