Blood of a Fallen God by Joshua C. Cook
A quality fantasy novel reminiscent of the work of Raymond E. Feist
I try to keep fit by cycling, and I listen to a lot of audio books to keep me entertained as the hours go by. The older my children get, the less control I have over what we watch on television in the evening. Lately we’ve been watching a lot of animated films about flying unicorns and whatnot. It’s only with my personal audio books that I’m allowed to make a choice.
I’ve found that my exercise hours in any given week provide a good indication of how much I enjoy a book. When I’m really engaged, I start riding more so I can hear more of the story. If I don’t like the book, my exercise hours start to taper off.
I’d just finished The King’s Buccaneer by Raymond E. Feist when I started in with Blood of a Fallen God by Joshua C. Cook. Feist is very much a major figure in fantasy writing. To put it in terms of 60's music, it’s more or less fair to say that if Tolkien is The Beatles, Feist is approximately The Who. For further comparison, I’d put George R. R. Martin down somewhere next to Jefferson Airplane. Suffice it to say, Feist is very good and I was concerned it wouldn’t be fair to judge Joshua C. Cook in that context.
Imagine my surprise when I found my cycling hours starting to go up!
Blood of a Fallen God is a delightful fantasy novel with a well-realized world and a strong concept of magic and mythology. The inhabitants of Palnor scavenge for relics from a time of greater magic. In a sense, this novel feels like a fantasy dystopia where the events take place in the wreckage of some ancient historical catastrophe. The characters are well-realized, and if you get the audio book, you’ll find the performance by Eric Bryan Moore to be first rate.
The novel follows the exploits of a young blacksmith named Will Reis. Will aspires to be admitted into the smithing guild, but he’s well aware that nobody from his part of the world is ever selected when the master smiths come around for testing. What Will doesn’t know is that his exclusion is part of a large reaching conspiracy that involves corruption at the highest levels of power.
The conspiracy involves a plot to suppress the rebirth of a benevolent god, and Will gets caught up in the schemes of very dangerous and desperate men. Will’s inherent honesty make him ill equipped to anticipate what the very worst type of human beings are fully capable of.
Gods and magic abound in this novel, but they’re used sparingly and with appropriate subtlety. Readers sometimes recoil at the mention of gods, but they’re always willing to stay engaged if the author frames mysticism within a concept of unexplained phenomena. Cook provides enough magic and mysticism to be fun, but not so much that it bogs down the narrative.
I did find the first chapter of Blood of a Fallen God to be a bit of a slog. Cook has created a very well defined world, and the first chapter indulges in a little too much backstory. I think it would have been better to sprinkle much of the information in chapter one as bits of conversation over the next two or three chapters. However, the information dump is important, and once Cook feels the reader is up to speed he shows a good balance of exposition and dialogue.
Blood of a Fallen God is a nice little fantasy adventure that is new and original, but also brings to mind many of the great works of fantasy. If you’re looking for an exciting read, give this one a try. It’s a great book to keep you entertained as you go on a bike ride.
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