The Mireces worship the bloodthirsty Red Gods. Exiled from Rilpor a thousand years ago, and left to suffer a harsh life in the cold mountains, a new Mireces king now plots an invasion of Rilpor’s thriving cities and fertile earth.
Dom Templeson is a Watcher, a civilian warrior guarding Rilpor’s border. He is also the most powerful seer in generations, plagued with visions and prophecies. His people are devoted followers of the god of light and life. But Dom harbors deep secrets, which threaten to be exposed when Rillirin, an escaped Mireces slave, stumbles broken and bleeding into his village.
Meanwhile, more and more of Rilpor’s most powerful figures are turning to the dark rituals and bloody sacrifices of the Red Gods, including the prince, who plots to wrest the throne from his dying father in the heart of the kingdom. Can Rillirin, with her inside knowledge of the Red Gods and her shocking ties to the Mireces King, help Rilpor win the coming war?
Book: Godblind by Anna Stephens
Narrator: Maggie Ollerenshaw
My Rating: 3.5/5
Goodreads Rating: 3.63
Storygraph Rating: 3.47
Length: 15hrs 5mins / 408pgs
Genre: High Fantasy | Grimdark | LGBTQIA+
Pacing: Fast
Spice: None
Gore: High
[Content Warning: Slavery | Sexual Violence | Torture | War Themes | Gore | Animal Death]
I ventured into Anna Stephens world as part of my foray to grimdark fantasy in July. Stephens is a new author to me and I found this first book in The Godblind Trilogy to be pretty solid.
This is a true good vs evil story. You will follow Dom Templeson a powerful seer for the Gods of Light as he tries to use the broken visions he receives from the Lady Dancer and Fox God to out-maneuver the Mireces who wish to return the Red Gods to power after almost 1000 years, and plunge the world into blood, pain, and suffering.
I will suggest checking content warnings for this one (I’ve flagged the big ones above), though I would imagine most people reading grimdark know what they are getting themselves into. You will be witness to slavery, sexual violence, pretty graphic torture (gents, there is a scene that will bring a tear or two to your eyes), battles that include animal injury and death as well as descriptive human injury and death. It all adds to the story and atmosphere and I thought the battle scenes were well written. Outside of the carnage there is some delicious political intrigue and machinations which I love in any story. Give me all the betrayals and dastardly plans mwahaha…
It gets complicated with 10+ POVs you will be following from both sides of the war. I don’t usually love multiple POVs, especially in this volume but it actually really helped to keep the pacing up and I found it easy enough to follow. The downside, for me, was with the abundance of characters I didn’t get that emotional attachment I love to feel. Having said that, I felt each character added value and was fleshed out enough. The narration by Ollerenshaw was pretty decent considering the task she had.
So a solid start to the trilogy and I plan to continue with book two, Darksoul, in the near future.
Would I recommend? Yes to any and all who enjoy a traditional good vs evil trope with lots of graphic battle scenes and multiple POVs.
Julia Kitvaria Sarene