SFF

The Gods Below

Orbit. (The Hollow Covenant, Bk. 1). Sept. 2024. 528p. ISBN 9780316564892. $30. FANTASY
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A war between gods has left the world and its occupants in ruins. To ensure its survival, humanity has made a pact with the god Kluehnn for restoration—but the cost may be too great to bear. As Kluehnn magically terraforms the lands, the people are transformed into strange and sometimes monstrous beings, if they even survive. Hakara and her younger sister Rasha, like many others, flee to the borders of a neighboring kingdom to escape, but a tragic separation leaves Hakara across the border and Rasha abandoned to her fate. Forced to work as a miner to uncover gems for Kluehnn, Hakara discovers she can use the magic within them and falls in with rebels determined to destroy the God Pact formed long ago. The revelations do not stop: Rasha is alive, transformed and fighting for Kluehnn’s god killers. Can sisters on the opposite sides of a war find their way back to each other?
VERDICT In this series launch full of rich worldbuilding and invested characters, Stewart (The Bone Shard War) creates a story of families broken and reformed, magic, and the capriciousness of gods.
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