Title: The God Eaters
Author: Jesse Hajicek
Genre: Contemporary, Sci-fi/Fantasy
Pages: 442
Cover art: Quite mild and suitable for reading on public transport without the risk of strangers staring at you.
Book jacket blurb: Imprisoned for 'inflammatory writings' by the totalitarian Theocracy, shy intellectual Ashleigh Trine figures his story's over. But when he meets Kieran Trevarde, a hard-hearted gunslinger with dark magic in his blood, Ash finds that necessity makes strange heroes . . . and love can change the world.
Disclaimer: You’re all intelligent people capable of making your own decisions. Just because I like something and was willing to spend money on it doesn’t mean I’m saying the same will be true for you. And just because I don’t like something doesn’t make it crap.
It’s like reading Stephen King, if Stephen King wrote m/m fantasy-romance-action/adventure. Better than Stephen King, actually, because Stephen King generally sucks at endings. This one definitely does not suck.
The God Eaters is vivid and loaded with terrific imagery. The author has a real talent for setting scenes, making the reader see the surroundings, hear the little critters in the scrub. The world is introduced organically, through the eyes of the characters, it's not force-fed to the reader, and you never once feel like you're a very unfortunate, very bored fly on the wall at the Council of Elrond. Though the world itself is rather Earth-like in its scenery and occupants, Earth rules don't apply here.
Like all good fantasy novels, it’s better the second time around, when you understand all the references and recognize all the players. The author is very good at poking at some interesting insights into human nature without being preachy about it.
What I liked: I quite liked following Ash and Kieran through this pseudo-western, and I loved watching their characters change and grow as the plot intensified. It's got really good pacing, believable pacing—there are no idiotic pauses for sex in the middle of a crisis here—with the action unfurling alongside the character development and exposition. There are unpredictable twists, which carry the story forward constantly, leaving you wondering at two-o'clock in the morning whether you really have to get up at six for your morning run before schlepping kids off to school, or if you could maybe hit one more chapter and sleep 'til seven.
Naturally, for me, the bottom line is all about the characters, and I absolutely fell for these guys. Ashleigh is an inherent smartass, who cannot seem to keep his mouth shut—to save his own life or anybody else’s—and a lot of times can’t get out of his own way. His snark had me snorting at some really inappropriate times. Kieran is the tough-snarly-guy-with-a-very-deeply-hidden-squishy-center, which pushes my buttons dead-center. There is one point in the story, where Kieran is protecting an unconscious Ash and is approached by some people who most likely mean no good:
…Kieran took his gun out from the back of his waistband and stuck it in the front. “Pretend I’m a bear,” he said. “Ignore me and I won’t have to kill you.”
Did I mention the author has a gift for dialogue?
These guys go through hell, and then go through an even worse hell, and then get dragged into the mother of all hells, and I hung on every word. From a prison that isn't really a prison but has much more sinister applications, to an escape to a desert wilderness, to confrontations with old enemies and then more confrontations with new and much more terrible enemies, the story kept me involved, and the characters kept me caring. Ash might get on your nerves after a while (he did mine), but give him a chance. He gets better. And then Kieran might get on your nerves, because omg, boys are so dumb! Then again, boys are dumb, so there you go.
Nitpicks: The world wasn't as rounded as I thought it could have been. There are trains but no mass communication system, which seemed a little off to me, and was never put into a context that explained it. Now, the thing is, this is a fantasy novel, it's not this world, so it's quite possible that another Earth-like world would come up with trains, but not phones and computers, so I have to give the author the benefit of the doubt. It's just that I am from this world, and being from this world, stuff like that made me wonder about things other than the story itself.
Another really nitpicky thing was the endearments and the way everything turned purple every time these guys had sex. I mean, it was romantic, and certainly not a chore to read, but I kept wondering why a guy (Kieran, the big, tough-guy) would suddenly turn into a chick in the sack. Then again, this was written by a guy, so what do I know?
The last is my own pet-peeve, but there was a lot of 'the pale boy said', and 'the northerner turned', and 'the taller man did whatever', which really bugs me. Bugs me, and not people in general, so I can't really count it, but still.
None of those little yes-I'm-way-too-picky things took away from my enjoyment of this book. And none of them will take away my enjoyment during a second (or third or fourth) read, either.
The elephant in the room: Sex. Definitely sex. Nothing graphic, no harsh descriptions or vocabulary to make one wince. Tastefully done, if a touch purple. It was sweet and romantic, and definitely erotic. No annoying fade-to-black, but no twangy porno bass riff playing in the back of your head either.
Worth the $21.60? Yes. Absolutely. I finished it just a couple of days ago and then went back to the beginning to start it again and savor it this time. Definitely money well-spent for me, and the fact that it was long and involved only makes it better. I would have paid more.
Where you can buy:
Paperback: $21.60 (the used price is only a couple pennies less) at Amazon
(No ebook available.)
OR . . .
You can get it for free. Yes, free, at the author's website HERE.
Now, here's the thing—if you read it from the site and enjoy it, please consider letting the author know. For me, it was worth the money to have bought it, and I'm glad I did, so if you feel even somewhat the same, please thank the author for allowing you to experience the story for free.
Cross-posted to LiveJournal
