The Younger Gods by Michael R. Underwood
Jacob Greene was raised in a cult, though to call it a cult might be a bit dismissive. They are killers, who have a relationship with a god or deity of some kind, that gives them powers beyond normal men and women and the ability to foresee and perhaps bring about a genuine apocalypse. Most cults don’t have members that can actually summon demons, so, like GOT’s Melisandre, you have to give them a bit of respect; the power is real and proven so a little hard to question.
One night Jacob brings over his best friend to be ritually slaughtered and, assuming his father has told the friend and has gotten his okay like previous sacrifices, is expecting him to go willingly and happily for the faith. Instead his friend has no idea what is coming and, despite being an unwilling sacrifice and allegedly breaking the rules of the ritual, dearest daddy knifes him. This causes Jacob to question the things his family is doing………
In present day Jacob has fled to New York to become a student and get lost in the bigger world but when a man is found crucified in central park and his families’ sigil is found on the tree nearby he knows that the time for a reckoning is approaching. Jacob looks quickly to take a leaf out of last years biggest cinema flops and calls the R.I.P.D. department and soon has ghosts tracking down the sister who is extremely powerful. She is looking to control the five ‘hearts’ of the city and when she does so she can resurrect her God to bring about the end of days and Jacob, despite being nowhere near as powerful, seems to be the only one who can stop her.
As a character, Jacob is completely unrelatable, unless maybe you were raised in a cult and escaped. He has zero social skills and does not seem to understand the concept of empathy let alone the process forming an emotional connection with another human being. This makes it really hard, as a reader, to give two shits about him.
The magic of the world is not particularly defined nor explained with their being a mixture of gemstone power fusion, glyphs, summoned spirits, all-powerful gods, werewolves….really a bit of everything.
At this point I discovered I have a trigger and had to stop reading the book. I simply could not continue hearing about people who were being sacrificed by religious zealots. Maybe it’s the current state of the world, maybe it’s the language used, maybe it’s because I am an atheist but quite simply it is one of the things I hate most bout this world we live in and I prefer not to continue to expose myself to things that enrage me.
I’d encourage others to pick this up and give it a go. If you don’t have the specific reaction I did, I think you will find it an easy and enjoyable read.
PocketStar and Netgally provided this book to me in exchange for an honest review.
If you are interested in reading The Younger Gods I have two promo codes for a free e-book copies in the US on any device but a Kindle. Email me at areadingmachine@gmail.com for details.
Michael R. Underwood is the author of Geekomancy, Celebromancy, Attack the Geek, Shield and Crocus, and The Younger Gods. By day, he’s the North American Sales & Marketing Manager for Angry Robot Books. Mike grew up devouring stories in all forms, from comics to video games, tabletop RPGs, movies, and books. He has a BA in Creative Mythology and East Asian Studies, and an MA in Folklore Studies. Mike has been a bookseller, a barista, a game store cashwrap monkey, and an independent publishers’ representative. Mike lives in Baltimore with his fiancée, an ever-growing library, and a super-team of dinosaur figurines and stuffed animals. He is also a co-host on the Hugo-nominated Skiffy and Fanty Show. In his rapidly vanishing free time, Mike studies historical martial arts and makes homemade pizza. He blogs at MichaelRUnderwood.com/blog and Tweets @MikeRUnderwood.
Buy link details for title: http://books.simonandschuster.biz/Younger-Gods/Michael-R-Underwood/9781476757797
