Godkiller is the debut fantasy novel from Hannah Kaner and one that I’d seen doing the rounds across a lot of social media platforms before deciding to pic it up. The fact it was only £5 (about $6.50) in my local supermarket was also another reason I picked it up if I’m being honest!
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The narrative of Godkiller follows Kissen, a “godkiller” haunted by her past and driven by vengeance (and a prosthetic leg), as she attempts to make a living from her dark duties when one day she meets Inara Craeier and Skediceth (Skedi), the god of white lies attached to her very being and eventually Elogast, a former knight turned baker.
The group embark on a journey to find powerful gods who can give them favours to hopefully help Inara and Sedi break their bond.
Godkiller plot – 4.25/5
Godkiller had a story that started off really strongly. I was getting Witcher vibes from the idea of Kissen being a godkiller and the prologue was really strong too, building up a sense of urgency.
However, it quickly degenerated into a fairly confusing and lost plot line. After the gang all got together, their travel across the land to find these gods felt a little disjointed, and it was honestly where I lost concentration quite a bit.
Kaner’s writing and ability to write a fantasy book that felt fleshed out in so few pages though is something I was very impressed by!
Luckily, despite a weak middle that almost lost my interest – there’s a great ending to this book with a lot of big action and definitely some suggestion there’s going to be a sequel (there is, it came out in February 2024).
Godkiller characters – 4/5
The characters in Godkiller were solid enough throughout that I found myself enjoying some of their dialogue with each other.
Kissen, our main protagonist starts off as your typical stubborn, rejects-everything sort of protagonist and is annoyed by having any form of company, but she lightens up eventually and we see character progression from her (something I’m always a fan of).
Skedith, our “god of white lies” is a fascinating little character. Due to his ability to tell white lies the whole time, you never really know whether to trust him or not. His continuous attempts to discover those around the group to avoid any suspicions and to make their journey easier makes you feel as a reader that if it’s that easy for him all the time, could he be lying to our main protagonists too? Another element I enjoyed.
Godkiller final rating – 4.25/5
Quite a few things impressed me about Godkiller by Hannah Kaner. The first is how she managed to write a fleshed-out, complete fantasy book in so few words. Yes, the world-building wasn’t the strongest, but other than this, this book has everything a fantasy book usually has. Additionally, a unique set of characters and a unique world made this a great starter fantasy book for everyone. However, a really strong start but a tapered middle had me losing concentration for some parts. But a strong ending brought my spirits up once again. A great triumph of a debut dark fantasy novel from Kaner.
Buy a copy of Godkiller from Amazon.
