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A review by cat_rector
Hall of Smoke by H.M. Long
5.0
Hall of Smoke is an exciting adventure that hinges on the ideas of familial love, trust, rage, and fighting for the right reasons. Inspired by Norse myth, the landscape and characters will feel comfortingly familiar, while at the same time the story will take you to new and interesting places.
The book is great for fans of classic fantasy, but not so epic in style that newer Adult Fantasy genre readers will be overwhelmed by it. The structure is interesting and detailed without bogging readers down with hundreds of characters and plot threads, which is the ideal level of Adult Fantasy for me.
This book also focuses on the plot and characters without weaving in a love subplot, so it's a great option for people who don't enjoy romance, or for readers searching for ace-friendly reading materials. It allows the book to be perfectly what it was designed to be: a small glimpse into a vast, interesting world where gods are real, people are complicated, and alliances are fragile. One of my favourite aspects was the very realistic temperament of the gods, and the moments where we got to see the details of their own power struggles. I love when super-powerful beings are fallible, and that's part of what we get here.
While the book isn't part of a series in a traditional sense, Temple of No God promises to expand what we know of these empires. I'm eager to learn more about what's happened since we last visited, and to see more of the world beyond the scope of Hall of Smoke.
The book is great for fans of classic fantasy, but not so epic in style that newer Adult Fantasy genre readers will be overwhelmed by it. The structure is interesting and detailed without bogging readers down with hundreds of characters and plot threads, which is the ideal level of Adult Fantasy for me.
This book also focuses on the plot and characters without weaving in a love subplot, so it's a great option for people who don't enjoy romance, or for readers searching for ace-friendly reading materials. It allows the book to be perfectly what it was designed to be: a small glimpse into a vast, interesting world where gods are real, people are complicated, and alliances are fragile. One of my favourite aspects was the very realistic temperament of the gods, and the moments where we got to see the details of their own power struggles. I love when super-powerful beings are fallible, and that's part of what we get here.
While the book isn't part of a series in a traditional sense, Temple of No God promises to expand what we know of these empires. I'm eager to learn more about what's happened since we last visited, and to see more of the world beyond the scope of Hall of Smoke.