The Gods Below by Andrea Stewart - ARC Review

Book Review:

The Gods Below

by Andrea Stewart

Release Date: September 03, 2024 

Genre: Fantasy

Age Range: Adult

Series: The Hollow Covenant

Goodreads Avg. Rating: 3.72 stars

I enjoyed this book so much. This was my first Andrea Stewart title and now I want to read more worlds created by her. The details of the world-building history were great. Then to also have characters who are trying to have growth while others are holding firmly against growing. Our premise of a war of the gods stated in the description was misleading. While there might have been something in a piece of the book overall it is not as it seems. This story was about two sisters and their will to survive against all odds. Separated during a crisis Hakara determined to find a way back to her younger sister. Even if that way is with the rebels who seek to stop a god.

This world sounded so cool, broken but interesting. I love the way the book was split between characters and even time slightly. Based on the chapter opening though it lets you know where in time this was taking place. This is important as the established lore that our present-day characters know may not be accurate. In this world, mankind ruined the planet with greed for magic that came from a special tree called the Numinar. With progress and invention humans killed off all the Numinars to harvest the magic within causing the decline of nature. In the saving of the world, nations were separated from each other by barriers of aether that were dangerous to cross. There are distinct dialects and physical features of the nations but some are closer than others. Possibly there were other cultural or religious differences in the distant past but this was not gone into enough to say.

Magic in this world is the work of the gods. Through the book, we do get to learn a little about it though. The gods use the aether that comes from the core of the world to work magic. Such as Khluenn needs time to gather enough aether to restore each realm. There are also god gems that can be found in sinkholes throughout the unrestored realms. These gems will allow certain people the ability to have god powers for as long as they can hold the aether & their breath inside. Each color of the god gem produces a different effect. Only gods or the altered can call up the aether to make these gems work.

There were five characters in this novel. Two or three might be the main focus with the two males only getting a few chapters. We start the book with Hakara, who is 15 or 16 at the time. She is the sole caretaker of her nine-year-old sister. Hakara is a deep sea diver to support them with food and money. She is what you might describe as stubborn, in some regards strong-willed but mostly it is that she tells herself she can't fail because of Rasha.

Meanwhile, when we are first introduced to Rasha at the age of nine she is understandably timid and scared. Even in her older character, you will still see this nervousness around others. However, that does change through the book into a drive to prove herself to be strong enough.

Then there is Sheuan who when first introduced I did think would be a smaller character. She is from a noble family of Langzu who has fallen on hard times. Sheaun has been trained in combat as well as educated in formal and informal (spying) styles. She is willing to do whatever is necessary to save her clan, even putting her own life at risk time and again for their good. Through her story, we get to see different sides of the conflict and "truth" than our other characters who are more clearly on one side or the other.

The plot of this first book is broken between these characters. The world was shattered centuries before so that it could be restored by the only god willing to help. In return for remaking the world humans were to be changed. Now centuries later the population is divided into those who accept the coming Restorations and those who are trying to flee. Hakara and her sister are trying to flee the restoration of their homeland when they are separated. Now Hakara will do anything to find a way back to her sister, including fighting against the gods themselves.

As far as first book resolutions go I think this one nailed it. We got all the major plotlines worked out, just in a way that lets them extend differently into the next book. All of our characters are pivoting into the next phase of their journeys. There are several big questions I had after the clues sprinkled through the book.

I enjoyed this book so much. This was my first Andrea Stewart title and now I want to read more worlds created by her. The details of the world-building history were great. Then to also have characters who are trying to have growth while others are holding firmly against growing.

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