Synopsis
Title: The God King
Author: James A. West
Genre: Epic Fantasy
Heroes are not born, they are forged in the fires of apocalypse...
In the heavens above, the three moons crash together, streaming fire and death
in their wake; below, the seas rage as the roiling face of the world shatters.
After Prince Varis Kilvar steals powers to transform himself into a god, chaos
reigns from the king's city of Ammathor to the forbidding walls of the Black
Keep. At his heels marches a demonic army torn from the very bowels of the
Thousand Hells, and the risen God King uses terror to stake his claim over all
lands.
Betrayed and bound to Varis by powers he does not understand, mercenary Kian
Valara is forced to masquerade as the world's savior, while a beautiful Sister
of Najihar prepares him for his last battle. Victory against a living god is
far from certain, but vengeance? For Kian, when the battle rage falls upon his
soul and the sword hilt is hot and alive against his palm, vengeance is never
out of reach.
Review
I really like the premise of this book. I love the idea of a person being able to
transform themselves into a god and the two sides being drawn in this
battle. The book is well written with
beautiful language. For example, early
in the book this description is given: “now
its pitted surface was covered in vines, creepers, and witchmoss. Dampness and
invading roots had crumbled its stones, giving it the look of an ancient,
slumbering beast stricken with leprosy.”
I also found my favorite new curse, “You son of a poxy whore!” I love the rich language and descriptive
passages.
I really wanted to love this book for all the above reasons;
however I had a hard time getting interested in the story as it dragged initially. At one point I was so bored I wasn’t sure I
wanted to continue reading. Despite
loving words and enjoying the unique descriptions, I just wanted something to
happen. I would have even been okay with
killing people off to get the story moving.
Finally after about half of the book, the story picked up.
The last half of the book was much more active and held my
attention. It was not engrossing like
many books I have read, and my son stopped reading after the first two
chapters. I would have called this a boy’s
book except for the fact that my son didn’t enjoy it and he loves fantasy
literature.
I would be interested to read something else by James West
to see if it was just this story that I had a hard time connecting with, or if
it is his style of writing. I do think
this story fits a nitch audience, it just wasn’t my nitch.
Overall I would give the book 3 of 5 clouds due to the rich
language and the promising second half.
West, James A. (2011-11-11 08:00:00+00:00). The God King
(Kindle Location 185). Kindle Edition.
West, James A. (2011-11-11 08:00:00+00:00). The God King (Kindle
Locations 210-212). Kindle Edition.
