Land of Gods is the first book in the Falls of Redemption series and an epic adventure. It reminded me of other ancient Greek adventures in the vein of the Odyssey and I could not stop listening to it. If you enjoy Greek war stories and heroes with tragic circumstances thrust upon them, you will likely love this book as well.
Narcel is an artistic soul in a world he doesn’t fit in. He wants nothing more to live out his days in peace with the girl he loves, but fate has other plans for him. He’s thrust into the world of the Mawtu against his will and is forced to endure the horrors and torture of being bred into a killing machine. Narcel has a choice to either embrace his new brothers and join the mighty Mawtu warriors or follow his soul and run back to the girl he loves and search for their peace.
Narcel is a great protagonist who struggles with a role he doesn’t want. Land of Gods is very much an ancient Greek story in the sense that it’s filled with tragedy for our hero, Narcel. As we follow Narcel as he weathers blow after blow, you have to wonder if he’s going to break under the constant tragedy thrust upon him or if he would stay true to who he is and see the end of the day victorious.
I really enjoyed the characters and story in this book. They’re not simple black and white characters with each having to make difficult decisions forced on them often times by other people. The whole story I was left trying to figure out which side was right and which side was wrong. Ultimately, I had to decide that neither side was totally right or wrong. There are simply choices and the consequences of those actions.
I didn’t want to stop this book until I reached the end. It was a fantastic start to this trilogy and I cannot wait to dive into book 2. Justin did a great job of weaving a true ancient Greek adventure that reminded me a lot of stories I love like the Odyssey and other stories of heroes on perilous journeys. I have never watched Game of Thrones, but I could imagine people who enjoy that series would like this book from everything I’ve heard of it.
Jeff Hays did an excellent job with the narration on this one. I had no complaints and thought he handled multiple characters well.