Godslayer (2005)

You know what's coming, and yet it's still a punch to the gut. Some things actually caught me by surprise, in some ways, while making absolute sense in the end. The similarities to Tolkien are still very strong, but it brings something new to it as well: the noble enemy, the moral ambiguity. Deaths of characters who would be seen as completely evil from the other side of the argument turn out to be noble sacrifices. A lady gets a chance to kill her side's greatest enemy, and hesitates. Love grows where it shouldn't.

Carey does not go gently on her characters, or on the reader. She trampled all over my heart in pointy high heels and dug them in, hard.

There is no happy end. In fact, the implication is that it's a cycle, and it's all going to begin again. Despite the fantasy, the characters and choices and the ongoing nature of the story are all so very realistic. ( )

sequel to Banewreaker, the pair collected as The Sundering. there's a grandeur to it, the Godslayer forces doggedly trying to outrun both fate and time. and there's a poignancy to the characters, as magnificent in defeat as they are in ascendance. it's a Tolkeinian clash of forces with a world at stake, a larger battle between good and evil. but where it really becomes interesting is: who holds the high ground really on that moral plane? they all have honour, justification, the greater good in mind. all of them choose, or feel in good faith they have no choices. moreover, the story is told from the point of view of those who lose, at which time a world ends, and begins again. but all of them on both sides fight for what they think is right, and they have their reasons - yet they are pawns in the gods' war they can't see, and can never win. and to the extent that they come to know that, and have compassion for those they fight, they may yet change the new world birthed by the end of this struggle, by the sacrifices they make, the blood they shed. a small classic. one book, really, not two, and splitting it into two did no service to the build, or the power of its ending. ( )

Summary: In the second half of the Sundering duology, Sartoris's forces have suffered a great many defeats. Their ruse at Beshtanag has failed, leading to the capture of Lilias the Sorceress and the gem of power she holds. Malthus has closed the Ways, and the young boy who bears the Water of Life, the only thing that has the power to quench the marrow-fire at the heart of Darkhaven, cannot be found. Even the foundations of Darkhaven itself seem to be crumbling, as the fortress above prepares for war. But Sartoris holds the Lady Cerelinde, and refuses to kill her, even though doing so may prevent the prophecy that predicts his downfall from coming true. And in the face of all that is arrayed against them, it falls to Tanaros Blacksword, a once-mortal man, to fight for his lord's survival - and his own - until the bitter end.

Review: Heartbreaking. Absolutely, beautifully, darkly, compellingly heartbreaking.

Godslayer is a direct continuation of Banewreaker, rather than a complete novel with a plot that stand on its own. All of the set-up and much of the worldbuilding has been done in the first novel. In Godslayer, however, we get to see the world that Carey built up so carefully in Banewreaker falling apart, piece by piece at first, and then faster and faster.

This series is a retelling, or a take on, or a deconstruction of Tolkien, and there are plenty of parallels to be drawn. (Plenty of places where the parallels fail, too, which is why it was easier reading once I stopped looking for them on every page.) But I think that Carey's world draws on a lot of the structures of epic fantasy more generally, and that a large part of why her story works so well is that her readers are readers of epic fantasy, and we know how things are going to go. In the big, epic battle, the forces of Good and Light will ultimately defeat those of Dark and Evil. What Carey's done is to question who decides which side is the side of Good, and what makes the Evil side evil, and by placing her protagonists on the "Evil" side of the coin, she turns the inevitable outcome of the final battle from a triumph into a tragedy.

That feeling of tragedy is one of the things that impressed me most about the book. We know going in what's most likely going to happen - a running refrain throughout the book is that "all things must be as they must" - but every time there's a chance to avert disaster, I couldn't help but hope... and every time that chance slips through the fingers, every time the tiniest coincidence of timing further seals the protagonists' fate, my heart broke a little bit further. Carey's prose is not particularly easy, but it certainly is powerful, and her story provides ample opportunity for her to demonstrate that power over the emotions of her readers. 4 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: Fans of Tolkien, and of epic fantasy more generally, should definitely check the duology out; it's a fascinating perspective and a compelling story. I'd suggest having both books on hand at once, though, since it really is one story split into two volumes. ( )

Great books, but the 'Kushiel' series is even better. What makes this one really interesting is that the reader gets to see the thoughts and driving forces by the "bad" side. ( )

This is the second book in this series – and it seems it will be the final one. As previously noted, the story borrows heavily from LOTR – which, once I got used to the idea, was not too much of an issue. (I mean, apart from Malthus doing a Gandalf – which was almost unforgiveable.)

Unfortunately, it's pretty clear from relatively early on that the supposedly evil guys are really not all that bad, and the supposedly good guys are little better - and in some ways possibly worse. Another thing that bothers me, and I think this was part of her point so it's not necessarily a criticism, is that I don't feel anyone really learned anything. There is almost no evolution of the main characters, which is a cardinal sin of storytelling, and what evolution does happen matters little, as Carey kills almost everyone off at the end. The ‘bad’ guys essentially just wanted to live and be left alone and the ‘good’ guys refused to accept that. I kept thinking about my mum when we were little saying “if you can’t play nice, don’t play” and sending us our rooms. If the two sides had stayed in their rooms, it is not clear to me that anything would have been lost. No-one comes out of this well; everyone loses.

I was very disappointed by this book - it left me ultimately dissatisfied and depressed. Not because of how it does or doesn't relate to Tolkien, but on its own merits. It's skilfully written, but the emotion foremost in my heart at the end was: so what? Stories that are a pure exercise in defeat may be good for discussion, but I much prefer a difficult journey with a happy ending, please. ( )