It took me almost a year to finish this book. It’s a polarizing novel, you either love it or hate it. The story is built around a bloodthirsty and unapologetically morbid religion and a vengeful woman who commits to the religion whole heartedly. Many reviews have claimed that Hekat is an unlovable character. I disagree. The first half of the book endeared me to Hekat, while the last half left me feeling sorry for her. The prose is atmospheric and full of masterful word choices. However, since the characters are guided by a god, the plot becomes very predictable for a good 300 pages. I believed while reading that Hekat was an untrustworthy narrator in the sense that she did not know her heart as well as she thought she did. Especially with her feelings towards Vortka and her sons. However, her pride never really got in the way of her connection to the god, and she never acted on feelings I felt were there in the subtext. That’s probably what made the book so hard to finish: predictable and repetitive plot points, and unsatisfied expectations. Despite that, it was a very well written book with a lot of interesting lore, and I’ll probably be reading the next one to answer the questions left by this book.

A very dark, but very intriguing world with few (if any) likable characters. Will definitely continue reading the series.

This is a well-written engrossing book, so why the middling rating. For me it came down to lack of rootability and the very depressing ending. I liked the character of Hekat, though she was as cold-blooded a character as I've probably read. What surprised me was the arc - which grew progressively more negative by book's end. And not just because this is the first in a trilogy and obviously the author has more story to tell. It's just relentlessly dark. Too dark for me (and I like dark from time to time).

Main character has absolutely no redeeming qualities. Everyone else was weak and uninteresting. The writing itself was stilted and awkward and the book is in desperate need of better editing. I got the book as a gift and would not recommend it to anyone else.

World building is very good. Plot was intense, but ultimately I didn't like the way things played out. SPOILER: Unlikeable character that ended up doing everything she did strictly to have a child. Seems anti-climactic.

The more I read Karen Miller's work the more I think she is the next Tolkien. Each culture she creates she delves into so deeply. Especially beginning the second book in this trilogy you get a sense of the range and depth this writer goes to in creating a unique and unforgettable culture/characters. Also she is one of the rare authors that imposes upon the reader, making them emotionally involved as characters evolve. You will feel happiness, satisfaction, fear, sadness and even guilt at liking the characters in this book. If you have never read Karen Miller before be forewarned that this first novel in the Godspeaker trilogy is darker than her previous works, if it unnerves you or disturbs you at first it's only setting the playing field.

Awesome!

I am unsure of just what rating to give this book. The story being told was interesting and almost always compelling to read, and the world-building was excellent. There are, however, two faults: Pacing, and characterization.

The pacing was rather bad. It felt like a man sprinting up, only to stumble, fall down for a little before regaining his breath and awkwardly speeding away for a little while before repeating everything again. Really. One moment everything was being described in detail, then it suddenly started glossing over facts that seemed important, and then again everything started being described in detail for seemingly no particular reason. The effect was that at times I felt like I was reading a summary of the novel, rather than the novel itself.

As for the characterization... It was not bad, but many supporting characters did suffer from a certain 'same-ness' that I suppose can be very reasonably attributed to the religious system portrayed. The main characters were rather better, I think, and I mostly enjoyed reading about them.

All in all, it was an interesting read about a side of the coin not often portrayed with such lenses in fantasy.