Thank you Netgalley and HarperCollins UK for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review. This review has been postponed in support of the HarperCollins Union Strike. Congratulations to the union! It has the ease of writing of a YA fantasy book, while being entirely an adult fantasy in topics and themes. The world building was a huge part of what I loved most, it’s exhilaratingly atmospheric and threaded with uncertainty. I loved how vividly detailed the lore surrounding the dwindling gods were and how intrinsically linked their (and the world’s) magic was to the worship and offerings of desperate people, torn between their faith and the king’s new laws. Kaner draws her world in deft strokes, many of them broad but leaving space to be filled in later. It may benefit from more thorough detail on the political situation in the sequel (for Godkiller is the first in a series), but none of the characters are intimately involved in national politics here yet, and the world of towns and villages, wilderness and rivers, gods and shrines, is illuminated with enough detail to make it feel plausibly real. It is also, pleasantly, a world where queer relationships are normal.

I can’t talk about endearing characters and not mention the adorable-ness of Inara (the young noble) and Skedi, the little god bound to her. The bond they share was a genuinely sweet highlight for the most part and I liked that (alongside Kissen and Elo) we also got to experience both of their POVs—though Skedi’s did surprise me a little! If you loved Lyra and Pan from Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials series, then you’re most likely going to adore these two. Godkiller offers us four points of view on the narrative: Kissen, Skedi, Inara, and Elo. Kissen and Skedi are the most interesting and distinct from the beginning: Kissen in her cynicism and hard-won bitterness at the shape of the world and of her life, and Skedi as a shape-changing god who’s figuring out both his nature and the boundaries of his relationship with Inara and is pushing at the limit of both, sometimes in inappropriate ways. Inara is perhaps least-well defined, but she’s a twelve-year-old who’s growing up fast: there’s room for her to grow into, and Kaner writes her adolescent protagonist with sympathy and appreciation for teenage strength of will. Elo, meanwhile, is trying very hard to be a Good Friend and a good man, while struggling with the memories of his wartime experiences: he blames himself for the king’s injury, and carries a lot of guilt for leaving Arren, laying down his sword, and becoming a baker, but he’s having a difficult time figuring out how to be the kind of person he wants to be. While the fantasy genre is no stranger to divine characters, Kaner does something interesting with the concept by closely intertwining the Gods’ fates with humanity. Gods can only come into existence if people believe in and pray to them. The more shrines people build and the more offerings they bring, the stronger the God. This makes Kissen’s work more interesting in so far that she is more than just a killer of Gods, she is also a hunter of their symbols, and thus equally feared and despised by those who still pray to the beings of old. Inara and Kissen’s relationship is so beautiful to behold and watch as it grows and contorts, fitting around old wounds and scars, shifting amongst their newfound care and shared resilience. It’s a relationship that parallels and reminds me of Geralt and Ciri in the Witcher, a bond of family that refuses to break. Inara is a young girl with mysterious powers and a magical friend (who, I would say, definitely counts as an animal companion). She wants answers to the secrets she has had to keep for years, she wants to understand her place in the world and perhaps create a new one. She goes to Kissen for answers and discovers more than she ever would have guessed.If the great cover, the premise, and the world were not enough to convince you to read this already, let me tell you about the characters.

Killing God With Matt Pizzolo - Bleeding Cool Comic Book, Movies and TV News and Rumors". Bleedingcool.com. 2012-07-30 . Retrieved 2013-12-30. ACTUAL REVIEW: After initially struggling with the first few chapters of this novel, I’m happy to say it managed to convince me to keep reading to the point where I finished the last 60% in one go. Consider me SAT. 🧎🏼‍♀️ In Pizzolo’s stellar graphic novel, an orphan boy braves a desolate, post-apocalyptic land in search of a heart for his sister.Other than the MC, the other characters perspectives did not interest me much at all. As Inara is a younger girl, it is told from a younger perspective and I found it slightly irritating to read. However, I am curious about where her journey may go. Each person's colours were different, bright, manipulable. Skedi could tell a liar from a lover, a joker from a fraud.” Skediceth, the God of White Lies. Truth to be told, I found him irritating even though we barely had to read through his eyes. Still, he was an interesting character and was useful to the storyline so I’ll let him slide but I still would crush him like a bug if I had the chance.

Godkiller is a transmedia series of graphic novels, illustrated films, and novels created by filmmaker Matt Pizzolo that tells the stories of human beings caught in the crossfire of warring fallen gods. But then she encounters a god whose existence is bound to twelve-year-old Inara Craier, the sheltered and isolated daughter of one of Middren’s noble houses. Inara has never been allowed to leave her mother’s rural estate, where for five years she’s lived with the small god Skedi as her companion. Skedi is a little god of white lies, with hardly any power, but his life is connected to Inara’s: to kill Skedi might kill Inara, too, and neither of them can separate very far. But when Inara sneaks out to find someone who could, maybe, help her and Skedi live separate lives, she finds Kissen. And when Kissen attempts to return Inara to her mother, they discover the estate burning, all its inhabitants dead, killed by mercenaries. Inara has nowhere else to turn, and Kissen, once a young adolescent who had lost her whole family, can’t quite bring herself to abandon her. When Inara refuses to be left in relative safety with the two women who form the rest of Kissen’s chosen family, Kissen reluctantly agrees to take her to ruined Blenraden, to beg the remaining wild gods for aid. I really enjoyed this book; in my opinion, it hasn't received the attention it deserves. To be completely honest, the plot wasn't groundbreaking, but it was exceptionally well written, and I found the main characters quite relatable. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a free eARC in exchange for an honest review! Our story follows Kissen, a godkiller. Kissen’s childhood was filled with tragedy, one which has left her with scars that will never fully heal. Haunted by memories and filled with a constant simmering anger, Kissen devotes her life to killing gods, and she’s pretty damn good at it. Yet when she chances upon a young noble child in a tavern, she sets forth on a quest to free her from a god Kissen cannot kill. Inara Craier is bound to Skediceth, the god of white lies, and should they try to part from one another they would both die. Kissen cannot allow another child to die at the hands of a god. Then there is Elogast, once the King’s knight who fought to destroy shrines and kill gods in the great God War, yet in the horrific aftermath Elo put down his sword and to escape his nightmares turned his hand to baking. Elo longs for a quiet, simple life, but when King Arren, once his closest friend, sends him on a mission to save his life and the kingdom, he is forced to return to the city of gods, Blenraden, the city he helped bring to ruin.

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Pizzolo gave Bloody Disgusting additional thoughts on differences between motion comics and illustrated films: Elo was likewise a really intriguing character, his endearing Jaskier/Dandelion level of goodness and self sacrificing personality make it impossible not to love him (not to mention his skills in baking and occasional renditions of bawdy military songs), plus his relationship dynamics and banter with Kissen was perfect. The enemies-to-lover trope is skillfully used here, with the characters initially suspicious of each other but then gradually trusting and opening up to one another. As their walls come down, moments of attraction eventually lead to a passion that mostly feels natural and cute. Gods are forbidden in the kingdom of Middren. Formed by human desires and fed by their worship, there are countless gods in the world—but after a great war, the new king outlawed them and now pays “godkillers” to destroy any who try to rise from the shadows. In illustrated films, we drive the pace of the storytelling with the dramatic voice performances and the sound design, so that allows us to showcase the illustrations in a way where you can really take a moment to absorb the art in the same way you can when reading a comic book ... Motion comics are closer to a form of limited animation that uses comics as source material. Illustrated films are closer to the experimental cinema of Ralph Bakshi's work, Chris Marker's La jetée or animation like Liquid Television. [1]

Moore, Debi. "Halo-8 Announces New Comic Book/Illustrated Film The Long Knives". Dread Central. April 7, 2010. As a child, Kissen saw her family murdered by a fire god. Now, she makes a living killing them and enjoys it. But all this changes when Kissen is tasked with helping a young noble girl with a god problem. The child’s soul is bonded to a tiny god of white lies, and Kissen can’t kill it without ending the girl’s life too. Kit Griffiths' dynamic narration, which enriches the story's emotions, pace and tension, grabbed my attention within seconds. Also, the different voices used for the characters bring them to life and strengthen the listening experience. Godkiller delivers an impressive fantasy world, the way the gods are presented is unique, and, as previously mentioned, the fact that the mythology and history are delivered at a steady pace hints that this series has a lot more of its secrets yet to reveal. Kaner's debut reads similar to one of Sapkowski's short stories or the stand-alone Season of Storms in that it's self-contained, follows a few main characters on an adventure, and that it feels like we're only witnessing a small yet exciting part of what's going on in a massive, vivid world. In November 2014, it was reported that Godkiller would be rebooted as an animated feature film trilogy directed by Pizzolo. [7]The gradual introduction to the world and main characters is interspersed with vivid action scenes that keep the storyline engaging. Once the main characters cross paths, the storyline alternates between fast and slow moments, suffering somewhat from pacing issues but still compelling. Things culminate in a gripping ending with lots of action, several reveals and a delicious cliffhanger that sets things up nicely for the next book. I absolutely adored everything about this book, it was phenomenal! The world was so vibrant and alive, teeming with history and ancient beings; the characters were so real and human, always flawed and always interesting; the prose was beautiful and evocative. I simply cannot fault it! The decidedly adult novel features a good amount of sex and violence, though never in a typical fashion. Kissen is a breath of fresh air in today’s fantasy landscape. While the character still displays some tropey traits such as being orphaned at a young age, and consequently being a self-reliant, mulishly stubborn, hides-her-heart-behind-high-walls protagonist, she is also hella queer, knows how to fight and fights well!! ( let’s not talk about those FMC that are either too overpowered and naturally gifted at literally every single thing they do or, while said to be a great warrior, actually aren’t), disabled (the disability rep in this novel was outstanding), and the brains to know when a situation is outside her capabilities. All in all, Kissen felt very well-rounded, and I enjoyed reading her POV.