I started reading Kameron Hurley’s God’s War out of a sense of obligation to read the titles on this year’s Nebula Award ballot, even though I’m hard pressed to even imagine a better offering than China Mieville’s Embassytown.
And I’m glad I did. Hurley’s novel is a great ride of compelling characters, entertaining worldbuilding, intriguing sociology, and pace-pounding plot threads. Religious elements familiar but different, believable extrapolations/evolutions of today drive much of the book, but the book is not about religion. Nor is it about war, though war pervades every page, every character, every motivation, every outcome. Ultimately, this book is about what every book is about, people. What makes people tick. What drives us to acts of sacrifice and honor, cowardice and despair, love and fear, vengeance and transformation.
And if that’s too heady for you, no need to worry, there’s plenty else in here to keep you delighted, whether it be the all-to-casual beheadings as a way of bounty-hunting, or magicians who have the power to manipulate bugs for defense and healing and long distance communications, or boxing like you’ve never seen it before.
Buy this book. Read this book. Give your copy away to someone else, and go out and buy another.
Tags: Books
