Well-written novella that held my interest through the end. I am definitely look forward to more from this author and hope to more fully understand the characters and the world surrounding them.

Written by Stephen Aryan, this novel follows two warriors, one who is called upon to deal with difficult tasks plaguing the country, and one who has hidden within his own mind to recover from past trauma.

This is a novella, and while written, I just wasn’t interested in it. I honestly wanted it to be a short story, 20 pages or so, which would have forced the author to revel things at a better pace.

If you love swords, and knights, and darkness, and adventure, this is the novella for you!

Again, I just wasn’t super interested…

Of Gods and Men is a very good introduction to the fantasy world Stephen Aryan has created. In this novella, we are introduced to Vargus, one of the main characters of the novels.

I enjoyed the novella — Vargus is an interesting protagonist, and through the mystery that is at the core of the story we learn a fair bit about him: who he is (albeit, with a fair bit of mystery remaining in place), what his motivations are, and what his relationship is to Lanny. To begin with, I was a little confused by certain things — who was who, for example, wasn’t immediately apparent, but I quickly oriented myself.

Aryan’s writing is very good, and I never felt overwhelmed by world-building (of which there’s actually not very much), and the characters are realistic and well-drawn — even peripheral characters didn’t feel two-dimensional.

I’m really interested in learning more about Lanny’s and Vargus’s pasts — there is a fair amount of information presented, but the remaining mysteries are quite tantalizing. I assume this will be addressed in the novels, so I have even more incentive to read those now (the whole trilogy is available now). I enjoyed the way Aryan wrote the two characters, and how they interacted.

It’s tricky to write any more without spoiling the plot and small revelations that come out over the course of their mission. Needless to say, I enjoyed reading Of Gods and Men. As a quick introduction to Aryan’s writing and fantasy world, this is excellent. Definitely recommended for fans of the series, and for those who’d like a tightly-plotted shorter introduction.