The Godless--Children

June 16, 2014
Fifteen thousand years ago, the true gods turned on each other for reasons beyond mortal ken. The outcome of their struggles is a landscape dominated by the corpses of dead and dying divinities. When fire fails to consume shop clerk Ayae, she discovers that she is one of the “cursed,” imbued with power by a divine spark. Her newfound abilities set her apart from the rest of the denizens in her beloved city of Mireea. The cursed are not the only legacies of the gods; as an army mysterious in purpose and savage in method advances on Mireea, determined to recover a treasure the Mireeans have forgotten, Ayae joins steadfast mercenaries and would-be deities in defense of her adopted homeland. Peek (Black Sheep) weaves multiple threads of the plot together with considerable skill. Ayae and the story’s other protagonists—reformed megalomaniac Zaifyr, baron turned professional saboteur Bueralan—are well developed, in contrast to the scenery-chewing monsters they oppose. Although this volume serves mainly to introduce the Children series, readers fond of open-ended epic fantasies set in vivid, and occasionally lurid, worlds will find it right up their alley.

August 1, 2014

Thousands of years after the gods have fallen, their blood and power still seep into the land. The people of Mireea live in the shadow of the god Ger, and Ayae is one of the "cursed" who seem to have inherited some power from Ger's remains. Ayae will strive to control the new fire within her, seeking the help of Zaifyr, another one of the god-touched. But as an army with blood-magic users among its ranks approaches the city, it's no longer safe for either of them to stay in Mireea. VERDICT This epic fantasy from Peek (Black Sheep) is big in scope, with absorbing characters, especially Ayae, Zaifyr, and the mercenary Bueralan, who spies on the approaching enemy to uncover their secrets. While this is a solid if not groundbreaking series opener, its presentation of the mythology of the gods and a battle among their offspring will appeal to fans of Brent Weeks and Steven Erickson.

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2014
Set in a world in which gods were physical beings, this first installment in a new fantasy series takes place 15,000 years after the War of the Gods; now the gods are dead, their remains scattered across the world. In one city, built near the body of a fallen god, a young mapmaker's apprentice discovers she has a unique gift: fire can't harm her. Can she use this gift to protect her city against an approaching army, or will enemies within the city strike her down first? Because it's the first in a series, the book spends a fair chunk of time introducing its characters and their environmentthe author is trying to create something new here, a world that no longer has gods but is constantly in flux due to the influences of the gods' mortal remains (down through history, since the terrible war, people have acquired strange powers, passed to them from the dead gods). It's an intriguing start to what could become a gripping fantasy epic.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)