Review: Faithbreaker

Faithbreaker by Hannah Kaner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the final book in the Fallen Gods trilogy, and it brings the series to a satisfying end. In this secondary fantasy world, gods are spirit beings that become intelligent, awake and aware through the faith of their worshippers. So the more shrines/prayers/offerings/sacrifices/followers a god has, the bigger and more real--and physical--he/she/it becomes. This leads to a few very powerful gods, but more common (and this comes into play at the climax, and saves the day for everyone) are literally thousands of small, unobtrusive gods, including a little antlered, winged god of white lies named Skediceth.

Over the course of the three books, a devastating war between the country of Middren and the fire god Hseth has been carefully set up, and in this book that war comes to its bloody climax. The king of Middren, Arren, attempted to cleanse his country of gods, but was forced to compromise his principles and make a deal with another fire god, Hestra, to keep himself alive (she occupies the space where his physical heart used to be). Arren's commander general, Elogast, left the court in bitterness and disillusionment after the battle of Blenraden and Arren's deal with Hestra, and fell in with a cranky godkiller, Kissen. Kissen came with an unwanted sidekick, a young girl named Inara with mysterious powers and a link to the aforementioned Skediceth. Over the course of the series we learn that Inara is in fact a "halfling," the offspring of a human woman and the god of change, Yusef, made flesh. Inara can talk to other gods and summon them, and as she draws close to Kissen and Elogast, she and Skedi become crucial players in the war against Hseth.

The relationship between Inara and Skediceth is at the heart of the series. Skedi grows from a lying manipulator to a true companion and friend to Inara, and at the climax of this book he sacrifices himself to bring Hseth down. The last quarter of the book is the huge sprawling battle against Hseth and her priests, but with the author's expert pacing and balancing of the characters, my heart was in my throat during the final chapters. There are other character deaths as well, of morally gray, nuanced characters who we have come to know and maybe not love, but at least understand.

Along the way the author grapples with questions of faith, and the murderous behavior that extremes of faith can lead to. All this is relevant to the hold religion and cult leaders have on some people in today's world, and is a taut, gripping and heartbreaking tale in its own right. I really liked this entire series, and heartily recommend it.

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