God's War

This is a tough one. Threaded in between the lines of God's War is a powerful theme - about God, surrender, living without shame while still surviving with humility. Kameron Hurley had a lot to say here, not just in terms of character and philosophy, but in world-building and mythology as well. And it is all squeeze into a trim action-packed book that I feel like just didn't take enough time to breathe and say what it wanted to say.

God's War follows Nyx, a former assassin for the state, a bel dame who would execute runaway soldiers - often young boys conscripted at the age of 18 to serve at the front for 40 years in a war that's already been going on for centuries. Now an ex-con and regular old bounty hunter, she's given a note by the queen herself to pick up an off-world woman who may have left the country with state secrets, and has knowledge that could potentially end the war. I had a really hard time hanging with the motivations of each of the characters, and where they all fit into this huge plot. As far as I could tell, Nyx's only real connection to the main conflict was a paid job - she could have walked away at any time. Almost immediately after taking the job, she's threatened on multiple sides, and it only escalates from there. She's brutally tortured, one of her team members is dismembered and killed. But she sticks with it seemingly purely out of pride. Sure, there's service to her country, but I don't remember Nyx having any thoughts of national loyalty at any time. There's some personal vendettas involved, and the possibility of getting her team members pardoned for past crimes, but none of these motivations take the forefront. It's not the stakes aren't there, it's that they're confusing and foggy, which makes the peril that they're in tough to get invested in.

And that's mostly all I can tell you about God's War. The world-building is more overwhelming than interesting. A desert world where the religion is various versions of Islam that includes shapeshifters, magicians who use bugs to do magic, and bio-mechanical technology - any of those could have been the focus of a whole book in of itself, even a whole series. Hurley just throws it all into one pot, and treats each one like window dressing, not a center piece. The characters are good and I really enjoyed Nyx and Rhys' relationship, I just wish we got to spend more time with them. Every part of this story feels like it could have been expanded more, and maybe that's what Hurley does in the later books. The potential that's there is great, but in and of itself I found God's War to be rather unsatisfying

Pros: unique, diverse cast, interesting world and politics

Cons: limited description, slow beginning

Nyx used to be a Bel Dame, a government sponsored assassin sent after deserters from the war with Chenja. But after a bad job she's stripped of her membership and left doing dirty mercenery work. Her team consists of misfits escaping one thing or another: a Ras Tiegan communications man, a Mhorian shape shifter, a gun loving local (poached from a former boss) and a Chenjan draft dodger, whose magical abilities of controlling bugs are limited. When they're offered a well paying - but dangerous job, Nyx takes it, not realizing it would pit her against the toughest, most dangerous women in Nasheen.

Described by the author as being a book about “Bugs. Blood. Brutal women.” and “bugpunk at it's best” this was a... unique read. Heavily influenced by middle eastern culture, the book takes place on a planet colonized by several groups of people, all followers of the book. Each group interprets the book differently though, which has led to a centuries long war among the Nasheenians and the Chenjans. The politics, both between the nations and within Nasheen (where most of the book takes place) are fascinating.

The characters themselves are interesting, each having their own reasons why they've left their homelands to live in Nasheen, and why they're working for Nyx. There's a good balance between action and development, so you get the chance to really know what motivates each of her team members.

I would have appreciated more description and deeper world building. I had to look up what a burnous was (a long cloak with a hood that everyone in the book wears) as there was no proper description of it (I got that it was worn over clothing and had a hood and pockets, but didn't know it was a cloak rather than a jacket). Neither bug magic nor bug tech are explained at all, nor how this planet develped them. The same goes for shape shifters, who you learn were created, but not why or how (though this didn't play into the novel as much as the bug magic and tech so I can understand why the author wouldn't want to focus on it).

I also found the opening a bit slow. Not in terms of action (there's a LOT of action), but in terms of plot. The opening scenes set up things for later, but you don't realize that until you're several chapters into the book.

There's a lot of violence, and a fair amount of gore (several people are tortured and replacing body parts is one of a magician's talents, which gets used a lot in this book).

If you're looking for something very different from what's out there and like kick-ass women, you've found it. If you've got a weak stomach, look elsewhere.