Review - Godslayer

You know what's coming, and yet it's still a punch to the gut. Some things actually caught me by surprise, in some ways, while making absolute sense in the end. The similarities to Tolkien are still very strong, but it brings something new to it as well: the noble enemy, the moral ambiguity. Deaths of characters who would be seen as completely evil from the other side of the argument turn out to be noble sacrifices. A lady gets a chance to kill her side's greatest enemy, and hesitates. Love grows where it shouldn't.

Carey does not go gently on her characters, or on the reader. She trampled all over my heart in pointy high heels and dug them in, hard.

There is no happy end. In fact, the implication is that it's a cycle, and it's all going to begin again. Despite the fantasy, the characters and choices and the ongoing nature of the story are all so very realistic.