Kitty G Books's Reviews > The Gods of Men

* I read this as it's a finalist for #SPFBO 2018 and I am a judge *

This book was one I hoped would be good judging from the attention paid to the cover, the premise which sounded exactly like my kind of read, and the blog that nominated it who I frequently agree with. All of those factors led me to having high hopes for this story, and thankfully I wasn't disappointed in the slightest, in fact I really enjoyed this and I definitely want to read what happens next!

This is a story of two main characters, we have Sable who is a young woman exiled from her homeland after a mysterious power within her risks the lives of many around her. Sable is a healer by the time we catch up with her story again and she is hiding out in The Wilds, away from those who may wish to hunt her down. She hasn't touched the power that banished her since the day she left and has instead managed to keep a fairly low profile considering that her Scab status marks her out as different. She's apprenticed to the town healer Tolya and she is doing her best to learn all she can. Sable has a lot to discover still about her true potential and I think her decisions and skills in the book showed her to be a realistic and believable character.
The other main character is the Wolf or Jos. He's a Prince and he's also an assassin of Scabs throughout the land. He is known to be a killer and a tracker and he's supposedly dangerous too. However, we meet the 'real' Jos when he is sent to find a healer to help restore his father's health which is deteriorating desperately. Jos is a character who has more to tell than first meets the eye and I enjoyed getting to uncover this.

There is a lot of magic in this story from the Liagé who are a race of powerful beings of the Sol (Sable's race) through to necromancers, ancient beings, and more. We see Shades attacking, evil changelings, and sorcerers too. There is constantly a threat on the horizon to keep things interesting, but there's also a lot to learn about the magic still.

The pacing of this one was thoroughly solid throughout and I found it incredibly easy to get into and to want to keep reading. It kept me up late finishing it, which is always a good sign, and ultimately I thoroughly enjoyed it. I gave it a 4.5*s in the end which is 9/10 for #SPFBO (the same rating I gave my own nomination and tied for the best score I've given so far for #SPFBO 2018). Highly recommended :)