My book reviews for the Fallen Gods trilogy by Hannah Kaner; Godkiller, Sunbringer and Faithbreaker! Please be aware that the reviews for the second and third books contain spoilers.

Godkiller by Hannah Kaner
Age Group: Adult
Format: Fiction
Genres and Categories: Action, Adventure, Dark Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Theological Fantasy, Bisexual Characters, Black Characters, Brown Characters, Lesbian Characters, Mental Health Representation, Queer Characters, British Authors, Deity Characters, Diverse Representation, Knight Characters, Royalty Characters, Villain Characters, Found Family, Hearing impairment, Mobility Aids, Physical Disabilities, Trauma, Religious War, Various Magic
Series: Fallen Gods #1
My Rating:
Published on: 19th January 2023
Pages: 448
Disability Representation: Deaf, Missing Limb, Prosthetics, PTSD, Trauma, and Wheelchair User.
Buy this Book! Amazon UK / Amazon US / Barnes & Noble / Blackwells / Bookshop.org US / Bookshop.org UK / Waterstones
Add to Goodreads

Kissen’s family were killed by zealots of a fire god. Now, she makes a living killing gods, and enjoys it. That is until she finds a god she cannot kill: Skedi, a god of white lies, has somehow bound himself to a young noble, and they are both on the run from unknown assassins.

Joined by a disillusioned knight on a secret quest, they must travel to the ruined city of Blenraden, where the last of the wild gods reside, to each beg a favour.

Pursued by demons, and in the midst of burgeoning civil war, they will all face a reckoning – something is rotting at the heart of their world, and only they can be the ones to stop it.

This book was provided for free by NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book!

Content Warnings:

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I almost put off reading Godkiller by Hannah Kaner because I wasn’t quite sure if I was in the mood for it, and I am so glad I didn’t. I saw it getting fantastic reviews, including from my friends, and I had to check it out for myself. Right from the start, I was swept away by Kaner’s brutally honest and vivid storytelling. The events that Kissin lives through and the other characters experience are awful life-changing ones, and what I liked about Kaner’s writing style is that there’s no sugar-coating. Life sucks, and you have to keep going, and that’s exactly what Kissin has had to do.

As a veiga, a royally sanctioned killer of gods, Kissin has made a reputation for herself in that field. It’s a huge surprise to her to find herself face to face with a god in a tavern one day with a young girl as its companion. Her every instinct to kill the god is waylaid by the fact that the two share an unknown bond and the young girl, Inara, is asking Kissin of all people for help. When her plan A ends up in disaster, Kissin ends up more involved with Inara and Skediceth than she had planned. She sees a lot of herself in the girl and her friends are no help, convincing her that Kissin is the only one that can help her even if that means going back to a place she said she would never return to.

Kissin isn’t the only one heading back to the city against their own desire. On the road, the trio meet a strange man who instantly catches Kissin’s attention. Elogast claims to just be a baker, and while he moves like a warrior, he actually is a baker. Or he has been since the war ended and would have quite happily remained doing so until the King, his best friend, came to him with an explosive revelation. Once upon a time he was the Knight Commander in the King’s army and Ego has no choice to head back to the city where it all began, to face events he’s been hiding from ever since.

His attempt to fly under the radar fails miserably when things get messy on the road, and he joins up with Kissin, Inara and Skediceth. They may all be on the same side when it comes to getting to the city, however, when it comes to why they need to and what they’re doing when they get there, no one’s telling the truth.

I loved everything about Godkiller. Kaner has created an incredible world which explores the concept of gods and their symbiotic relationship with humans. Gods are powerful, however, without the worship of humans they have no power. In Godkiller, Kaner fully explores every angle of this relationship, and that is what makes this book so good. She doesn’t just cover the exploitation of humans by all-powerful gods and how it devastates people’s lives, while also delving into the idea of what happens when the gods that people depend on, that are deeply entwined in people’s lives are suddenly not there any more. For example, Ego meets a couple who are looking for a god to remove a blessing placed by a midwife god when the woman was a baby. Two women in her family have already died because of it.

In a world where believing in gods is a crime, people have a difficult choice to make and very few people to trust. Kaner weaves a story filled with secrets, and suspense where no one is innocent. Children like Inara have to grow up fast, and I found Inara’s journey throughout the novel to be believable. She starts as a terrified and ignorant young noble girl who complains about having to give up her luxurious cloak for a more practical – and smelly – travelling cloak.

All the characters in Godkiller have this level of realism, and it was wonderful to read a book with a disabled protagonist where their disability is not the main focus. Kissen lost a leg as a child and wears a prosthetic, and the only time her disability is mentioned is when it’s a practical issue or when it’s relevant. Kaner doesn’t waste words on making sure we know that Kissen is disabled and when she introduces Kissen’s two friends, we know that one uses a wheelchair and one is Deaf only because we’re reading Inara’s narrative who notices as a stranger would. Inara notices and describes their disabilities just as she does their hair colour, and she only knows that one of them is Deaf because she’s using sign language to communicate. There’s no big deal made about them being disabled, the same goes for LGBTQIA+ relationships; Kissens friends are both women and in a relationship and Kissen herself is openly bisexual. It was also extremely appreciated that trauma, especially childhood trauma, was treated respectfully.

Godkiller is a fantastic book with so many twists and turns, and it stuck with me so long after I finished it. Kaner’s debut is a delight and sets up wonderfully for the second book, offering some answers that only create more questions. It has everything and more (including fab disability representation!) that I want to see in a fantasy novel, and I highly recommend grabbing a copy of this book!

Sunbringer by Hannah Kaner
Age Group: Adult
Format: Fiction
Genres and Categories: Action, Adventure, Dark Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Theological Fantasy, Bisexual Characters, Black Characters, Brown Characters, Lesbian Characters, Mental Health Representation, Sapphic Characters, Transgender Characters, British Authors, Deity Characters, Diverse Representation, Knight Characters, Pirate Characters, Royalty Characters, Villain Characters, Found Family, Hearing impairment, Mental Health, Mobility Aids, Neurodivergent, Physical Disabilities, Trauma, Religious War, Various Magic
Series: Fallen Gods #2
My Rating:
Published on: 15th February 2024
Pages: 384
Disability Representation: Deaf, Missing Limb, Phantom limb pain, Prosthetics, PTSD, Trauma, neurodivergent, selective mutism, autism, and Wheelchair User.
Buy this Book! Amazon UK / Amazon US / Barnes & Noble / Blackwells / Forbidden Planet / Bookshop.org US / Bookshop.org UK / Waterstones
Add to Goodreads

War is coming, godkiller.

The gods are stirring, whispering of war.

Godkiller Kissen sacrificed herself to save her friends. But gods cannot be destroyed so easily – and neither can godkillers.

Young noble Inara and her little god of white lies, Skedi, seek answers to the nature of their bond. But secrets they uncover could determine the outcome of the war.

Meanwhile, Elogast has been charged with destroying King Arren, the man he once called friend, who has now entered into an unholy pact with the most dangerous of them all.

The kingdom is on the brink of destruction. What will they each sacrifice to save it?

Content Warnings:

Following the explosive events in to Godkiller, Hannah Kaner continued the story in Sunbringer. After killing the fire god Hseth responsible for the deaths of her family and her disabilities, Kissen expected to die. Instead, she is saved by the sea god Osidien, who informs her that her actions were in vain; Hseth is being brought back much quicker than expected by her followers, and with it, they’re bringing war. Far from home, Kissen must travel across the kingdom to return to her family before war is brought to their doorstep.

Meanwhile, her companions Elogast, Inara and the god of white lies, Skediceth, believe the godkiller dead. In mourning, Elo tries to do right by Kissen’s memory, as does Inara by finding Kissen’s sisters to tell them of her sacrifice. Leaving Inara with them, Elo leaves on a quest of his own to stop King Arran. Despite Eno’s attempt to keep Inara safe, she ends up in danger as she helps one of Kissen’s sisters with an important mission. 

This is a much slower-paced book than its predecessor, especially with each of the main characters split up on individual story arcs. The lack of interaction between Kissen, Eno, Inara and Skedi made this book a bit less interesting for me, however, I can’t deny that their individual situations led to fantastic character growth. Kaner truly dug deep into her characters, pushing them to their limits. 

The character’s separate stories allowed for some wonderful new characters to be introduced, hilarious interactions and gave more page time to Kissen’s sisters Tetho and who are both disabled. As with Godkiller, Kaner’s disability representation is brilliant and I particularly liked how she incorporated ableist attitudes toward the Deaf community in Tetho’s storyline. 

Although some of Sunbringer was a bit of a slog, Kaner is particularly skilled at setting up an epic conclusion. The ending of Sunbringer blew me away, with the previous events in the book tying together well. The powerful ending made the wait for the next book torturous!

Faithbreaker by Hannah Kaner
Age Group: Adult
Format: Fiction
Genres and Categories: Action, Adventure, Dark Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Portal Fantasy, Theological Fantasy, Bisexual Characters, Brown Characters, Gay Characters, Lesbian Characters, Mental Health Representation, Non-Binary Characters, Queer Characters, Sapphic Characters, British Authors, Deity Characters, Diverse Representation, Knight Characters, Magic Users, Pirate Characters, Royalty Characters, Hearing impairment, Mental Health, Mobility Aids, Neurodivergent, Physical Disabilities, Trauma, Various Magic
Series: Fallen Gods #3
My Rating:
Published on: 13th March 2025
Pages: 416
Disability Representation: Deaf, Missing Limb, Missing digits, Prosthetics, PTSD, Trauma, neurodivergent, selective mutism, and Wheelchair User.
Buy this Book! Amazon UK / Amazon US / Barnes & Noble / Blackwells / Forbidden Planet / Bookshop.org US / Bookshop.org UK / Waterstones
Add to Goodreads

In the epic finale to the #1 internationally bestselling Fallen Gods trilogy that started with Godkiller, the fate of Middren hangs in the balance as mighty gods and mortal heroes clash in a final battle for supremacy.

War has come. The fire god Hseth is leading an unstoppable army south, consuming everything in her path. Middren's only hope of survival is to unify allies and old foes against a common enemy.

Elo navigates an uneasy alliance with Arren; his friend, his enemy, and his king. Now they each must decide how much they're willing to sacrifice to turn the tides of war.

Meanwhile, Inara joins her mother on their ship, the Silverswift, to seek aid. Still grappling with her powers, Inara must reconcile who she is and where she belongs, while Skediceth has to question if their bond will be enough to keep them safe.

Kissen has no allegiance to the old ways of Middren. But, as she tries to find her family, she is forced to question what, and whose, future she is fighting for.

In Faithbreaker, Hannah Kaner delivers a powerful conclusion to the Fallen Gods trilogy, masterfully weaving together love and sacrifice, loyalty and betrayal, and the true meaning of faith.

This book was provided for free by NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book!

Content Warnings:

Faithbreaker by Hannah Kaner is the final book in the Fallen Gods trilogy. The end of Sunbringer was explosive as Kissen returned with news from the elemental gods about Hseth’s return. Her dire news comes with a warning;  the only way to beat the fire god is with King Arran’s aid. The news comes just as Lessa Craier’s coup against the king was about to be successful. Previously believed dead in the fire that decimated her property, Inara’s mother was the last person that Kissen expected to find. 

Tensions are running high as the rebels and the King put on a good show of working together, as desperate plans are made to try to save the world from Hseth. To do so, our heroes must part ways again, with Elogast making the tough decision to work alongside Arran and Kissen, crossing the seas with Lessa’s pirate crew to reunite with her sisters. By doing so, she continues to protect Inara, who is coming to terms with her mother’s return and the news that her father was a god.

As with the previous books, journeys are an important part of the final book in this trilogy, both physical and emotional. Faithbreaker is a culmination of the trials the characters have faced in the previous books. Elo is reunited with the King he was betrayed by, choosing to work with him for the good of the people on his own terms, this time. The bonds Kissen has formed with her companions give the godkiller strength as she reunites with her family. Likewise, Inara is no longer the lost little orphan with a secret bond to a god.

It is always scary to read the last book in a series that has meant so much to you, especially when you know the author doesn’t pack their punches. The Fallen Gods trilogy is dark, magnificent in the joys and vulnerabilities of humanity. Life is complicated, and in Faithbreaker, Kaner doesn’t shy from that fact, choosing to embrace and celebrate it.

There is one relationship in particular that emphasised this, one that, to start with, I couldn’t understand. As the events of Faithbreaker played out, I began to understand why Kaner included it; feelings are messy. Life is imperfect, and when the stakes are impossibly high, and death is a distinct possibility, there is a choice between hanging on to old wounds or healing them.

The end of Faithbreaker was action-packed and did the whole trilogy justice. It is a tear-jerker, as to be expected, and while it had me screaming, it was also beautiful and poignant. I hope that the Fallen Gods universe is one that Kaner will return to one day, but I’m also looking to see what’s next for her!

Thanks for reading my book review for the Fallen Gods trilogy by Hannah Kaner!

Don’t forget to check out the rest of my reviews if you’re looking for some more book recommendations 🙂 You can also now sign up for my newsletter to get an email each month with a list of my new reviews!

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