The Writer and the Throne Review (Reviewer Copy)
Saggilmut is a heavenly realm that has been plagued by feuds between gods for thousands of years. In this book, mythologies clash and gods with opposing agendas have no limits as to what they will do to come out on top. Aaron, the first proclaimed Writer, is charged with the task of traveling the sects and learning the truth of the gods and the war that is reaching its climax. Only one god can win and become Ruler of the Gods, but they must first come out of the Warfare of the Gods alive.
Keep in mind that everyone has their own opinion. This review is only my opinion, and you may have your own, different one. I would take into consideration what I say, but do not make a decision about the book solely based off of this review. Additionally, the author sent me this book as a free review copy; however, this did not influence my review. This is 100% my honest opinion. Let's begin:
I never really read much related to mythology (not even Percy Jackson- don't come after me haha it's on my TBR), so this was a pretty new experience for me. I was excited when I read what it was about because of it being different, and I think that it would be a unique take even if you have read a lot of mythology.
The plot of the book kept me entertained the entire book, but especially so for the last 2/3 of it. Take the title of the series seriously because there is a lot of warfare in this section of the book. If you love a lot of action, this will be great for you! I, personally, do and found myself reading this part of the book straight through because of it. The only thing is, if you're like me you don't like stopping in the middle of the action, so I'd recommend having plenty of time to read once you get past the first 1/3 of the book because the action goes for a very long time, so there is not much room to pause (I am definitely not complaining about that though! I just wanted to provide a warning so that you leave yourself plenty of time to read without having to pause in the middle of an intense scene.).
I loved how there were so many different types of gods involved. I think it was really clever the way the author ties them together. I appreciated the guide at the back of the book that gave a tiny blurb about each of the most important gods to the story along with where they can be found in religion. The only thing I had a hard time with because of there being so many types of gods mixed and so many gods from each type was keeping track of who was who. I found myself having to flip back to remind myself of which was which and when and how I met a specific god before.
This leads into thoughts on the characters. I loved all of the characters (even those I hated!) because they were written nicely and developed well. I really enjoyed seeing their true personalities build up until they finally shone through. I also loved their relationships with each other. The gods' relationships kept things very tense and made me want to know what would happen. I especially liked the relationship between Aaron and Dagon. It was fun seeing them grow closer to each other and their banter added a nice comedic aspect to the book.
I want to be sure to give props to the author for a writing style that I feel really puts you in the book. My mind was spinning trying to decide which gods I could truly trust, making me relate to Aaron and his job a lot more. I thought this was a really skillful and clever way to get readers to relate to one of the main characters and get you to understand his thought process.
One minor thing that I wish would have been done a bit better is the world-building. There was definitely world-building and I had a decent idea of how the different sects worked; however, I feel like I should have understood a bit better. I also had slight difficulty visualizing things in my head at times.
I mentioned the guide at the back of the book giving some background to the more major gods in the book, but I wanted to highlight the other things. I liked that the author also included the same ting but for locations and objects. The drawings at the end of the more major gods together was also cool, and I liked seeing if I was visualizing them correctly or not.
Overall, I really enjoyed this read and I will be reading the second because I am curious at the direction it will take. The book is action-packed, never leaving me bored, and really makes your mind spin in a good way. I wish it was a bit easier to keep track of who was who and that there was some more world-building, but I am hoping that those things will be resolved in the second book. Also, by the second half of the book I mostly had who was who figured out- I just wish it happened sooner. I would recommend giving this a try if you like mythology and want a unique take on it.
Rating: 4/5 stars (-1 for character confusion and world-building)
Author: C.T. Ortega
# of Pages: 299
Genre: YA, Mythology, Fantasy
Series: Warfare of the Gods (Book 1)
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