Patrick Garone

*** I received a free Advance Reader Copy of this book in exchange for this unbiased review. ***
Okay, this five star review comes with a big caveat. This book tells you up front what it is; just read the back cover synopsis. Sci-fi fantasy, Japanese kaiju + Mexican mythology. If you want UFOs and time travel mixed with monster movie style action, this book will be a winner for you. It almost feels like reading a comic book, just without the pictures. The overall plot and story was better show more than I expected. Now if you go in expecting Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, you're gonna be disappointed. But I don't think anyone could have written a better book than this while still being about the same things and in the same genre, so for that reason, five stars. Also, it is by far the best self-published book I've read; they're usually garbage, to be honest, but this one was fun and pretty good. So well done, Patrick Garone. show less

I wasn't quite sure what to expect going into this - the back cover definitely feels like it runs the gamut. Am I going to be getting a human-centric approach? Is it all going to be through the eyes of a single person? Is it third-person? Are there weird sci-fi shenanigans?

Turns out, yes to all of em, but actually a decent mixture, and kept it moving along at a good clip without feeling like they spent too much time, or rushed too often, to make it happen.

There are a few spots where it feels show more a little choppy, but I chalk it up to trying to jump around the varying viewpoints and some edits from the original version

I really liked the approach of spending equal amounts of time shifting between the people's view and what was going on with the "creatures" - sort of a bit of a Shin Godzilla vibe in terms of "here's a tiny view perspective" and "here's how destructive this scene was" at the same time. Also did a very good job of linking together historical and creative, with enough backstory of the actual to give you a grounded understanding without leaving it firmly in made-up territory.

All in all, I liked it quite a bit - quick read at 180 pages, few hours and done; good imagery and descriptions, so there's a pretty concrete picture in your head while you're reading of what's going on

I'm a little sad there isn't a follow-up - the author prepped it multiple times in the storyline of "what's next" and it left it there to encourage you that there's more; but while there isn't a second book that I can find, and it looks like the author is going to a different story without revisiting this one, it wasn't left with a massive cliffhanger at least

Maybe we'll get more in this universe, but until then, this book checks the box for "kaiju book i didn't know i needed 2026" show less

On what started as an ordinary day, a UFO appears over Mexico City and starts broadcasting messages in Nahuatl, an Aztec language. The ship soon heads off to Teotihuacan after requesting to meet with the ‘Revered Speaker’ and leaving a stone monolith in a plaza in the city. While an anthropologist who knows Nahuatl and a government representative are sent to Teotihuacan, the monolith releases a giant creature that resembles a deity from the Aztec pantheon which proceeds to wreak show more destruction on the area (and, like any good giant monster, proves invulnerable to any available military attacks). The arrival of the ship and the deity awaken something else, which might be the only thing that can stop them.

The book draws on both the mythology of various Mexican cultures (primarily Aztec) and kaiju stories. The former, along with the setting being Mexico, provides for a different feel from many other similar stories, although I lack familiarity with either the cultures or the setting to be able to tell if there are problems in their depiction. The latter, meanwhile, provides a good deal of action while not ignoring the likely results of giant monsters rampaging in a crowded city (which might be a reason for some people to avoid this).

Overall, while this isn’t groundbreaking, it’s a perfectly entertaining light read. While it says that it’s the first book of a series, it stands on its own, with the major plot threads wrapped up, although there are some things which are just settling things up for later books.

(I apologize for leaving accents out of various names in this review, but adding them is difficult on this tablet.) show less

City of the Gods: The Return of Quetzalcoatl, by Patrick Garone is a surprise. I mean, Godzilla vs Mothra except Mesoamerican style? With aliens that come from Earth to conquor Earth… maybe from the past but also maybe from the future? Or another dimension?

This is a 15th anniversary edition. I didn't read the 2010 edtion so don't know what might be different about this one, but the scenes that take place in the 2026 book's (more or less) normal now do seem consistent with today's world. show more The book is also subtitled The Jaws of History, Book 1. Elsewhere online I have seen the addition of 'of 1. I'm not quite sure if I'm relieved or disappointed that there's no sequel.

Garone does have a new book coming out in June 2026, though. It's set in the waning days of ancient Greek supremecy. Yes, there are demigods and mythological creatures in We Lowly Gods, but apparently no Olympians. Maybe no aliens, but I wouldn't put good money on that.

It's a fact that at one point I groaned while reading City of the Gods and Garone almost lost one star because of that. Then I realized that I look forward to reading his next book, so he got the star back. I can't explain it. You'll have to read the book to understand. show less