TITLE: We are the Origin (Wrath of the Gods Book 1)
AUTHOR: C.M. Lockhart
GENRE: Science-fantasy
WHERE TO PURCHASE:
Direct from Author: https://shop.writteninmelanin.com/
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I loved that this story blended elements of fantasy with science fiction. The world has a futuristic sci-fi feel mixed with old-world, low-tech “fragments.” The Goddess Freya and her four lovers created the world. Each god oversees a domain within the world, and their children have the same attributes and qualities. The gods are real, a type of immortal, and interact with certain people in their world. Their vessels—the people they give a part of their soul and powers to—visit them in the god realm.
The main character, Brandi, is a top Shadow—an assassin for the queen. She wields the power of all the gods, and especially the goddess Freya. When assigned to send a friend from her childhood to the gods, she leaves the Shadows to protect Sarah. The other Shadows hunt them both, and Brandi gathers a team of friends, also vessels of the various gods, to help her. In the course of the story, the villain is revealed as a time god, who is bent on destroying the realm. The book ends with Brandi and the other vessels of the gods tasked with stopping him. I’m interested enough to be looking for the next book in the series.
My biggest problem with the book is the author tried to write in omniscient point of view, and didn’t quite accomplish it. I prefer when it’s clearly delineated which character’s perspective I’m experiencing the story in. This author at least made it clear when she jumped heads, so I wasn’t confused whose head I was in. Normally, at the first head-hop, I shut the book and stop reading. The story was engaging enough, and the jumping clear enough, I continued reading.