Sunbringer picks up right where Godkiller left off and keeps rolling. The entire book covers the events of only one or two weeks, and it helps to keep the pace moving along. The stakes are higher than in Godkiller, and we get a ton of reveals and new information throughout the story.

There is an additional point of view that we get in Sunbringer, but Kissen’s continues to be my favorite. Without giving any spoilers for this or Godkiller, I do wish that we got more from certain perspectives and that the main characters got to have more interactions with each other. There’s a ton of character development that happens on page without making this a simple filler book in the series.

The tone of the book just feels different from Godkiller, and I can’t put my finger on exactly why. That being said, if you didn’t love the first one, this isn’t a copy and paste and would be worth giving a read. If you did love Godkiller, I think there’s enough of the characters to love to also continue this one. I believe this will be a trilogy, and I will absolutely read the final installment.

The sequel to Godkiller is just as good as the first! The characters and world-building are wonderfully done and the plot twists feel fresh and exciting. I enjoyed it immensely.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperVoyager for providing me with this ARC.

Godkiller, the predecessor to Sunbringer, was a five star read for me and one of my favorite books of 2023. So I was absolutely desperate to get my hands on the follow-up, Sunbringer, especially because Godkiller ended on a cliffhanger. Thankfully, readers don't have long to wait and find out what happened to all of the characters after Godkiller’s cliffhanger ending in the very beginning of the book through rotating character perspectives.

Sunbringer is incredibly fast-paced for about the first ten percent of the novel. While the book starts off fast, it slows to a meandering march towards an unclear goal. This is a novel where much of the page space is dedicated to characters discussing the next course of action, a single character doing the opposite of what was agreed upon, and everyone else dealing with the consequences of that action. This happens over and over again in the novel. It feels like nothing is ever really happening until the last 70 percent of the book and suddenly so much is happening that the contrast is overwhelming.

The ending of Sunbringer, with its tightly-written and constant action felt more like Godkiller, which didn’t have a single wasted moment. I was surprised by how slow the rest of the novel felt and it actually took me a surprising amount of time to read the entirety of it. But I wasn’t only shocked by the slower pace, but by the content of the novel, which felt like the author had played a reverse uno card. In Godkiller, most of the main cast were against the gods, or at least severely opinionated that their involvement in the affairs of mortals meant nothing but trouble. In Sunbringer, suddenly everyone in the cast is working with gods, doing their bidding, and trying to save them from extinction.

"In a land that had banned worship of gods, the king was filling their spaces."

Personally, I really loved to see Sunbringer move in this direction because the gods are by far my favorite part of this series. We never really got to see what life was like before the outlaw of the worship of gods, so it was interesting to have a window into what that world would have looked like. Though I liked the characters turning to the gods and trying to aid them in saving their world, I don’t feel there was quite a big enough catalyst for the change in everyone’s opinion on them. This was especially true of Kissen, who I feel did not take much encouragement at all to see the reasoning of the gods beseeching her for help and to take up their plan of action, despite her entire occupation as a veiga, or godkiller, and her strong personal beliefs.

Similarly, decisions with heavy impact and emotional weight were also undone almost immediately, sometimes mere pages after the original event happened. This gave me a bit of a whiplash, but I wasn’t too upset about these moments getting resolved so quickly, as I love the characters and don’t want anything irrevocably bad to happen to them. So while I was actually relieved not to have to live in suspense after these heart wrenching instances, I recognize that resolving them so quickly left something to be desired from a writing standpoint.

"'I only want to protect you, Ina,' said Elo gently.
'I didn't ask for your protection. I asked you for vengeance.'"

In Godkiller, Kissen and Skedi were my favorite characters, but in Sunbringer, I came to really appreciate reading from another character’s perspective—Inara’s. Her decisions, though rash, made the most sense to me out of all of the characters, as they were really in line with an angry young woman who wants vengeance. I really enjoyed this determined young woman coming into her own and making her own decisions, even when they aren’t the right ones.  I was also very excited about a plot twist that I didn’t see coming and how it will affect Inara’s growth in the next book in the series. And though I wasn't the biggest fan of reading from Elogast's perspective in Sunbringer, simply because war planning is not my favorite thing to read about, I actually really liked his character growth and thought it was one of the better arcs in the novel.

Ultimately, Sunbringer felt like a bridge for the next book in the series, rather than its own whole, self-contained story. I feel like the events of the novel could have been edited down and tacked onto the end of Godkiller or the beginning of a second book in a duology for a much faster, tighter plot that was more in line with Godkiller’s writing. Despite being skeptical that this series really needed to be a trilogy, I truly love the characters and the unique world-building, so I am still very excited to see how it all ends and will be reading the next book in the series on day one.

Just like with Godkiller, I was blown away by the STUNNING cover art. I mean this is next-level art. These are books you will want to buy just to show them off in your house. PLEASE PLEASE keep this artist!!

Now, onto the actual book itself. I really enjoyed the premise of this series. I mean, what's cooler than a world that has a kingdom that shuns gods and has a Godkiller who hunts them down for a living???? SIGN ME UP!!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE morally grey characters, and therefore Kissen is FOR ME.

I will say, though, that I think Sunbringer needed just a bit more work. to be a 5 star read for me. The book's pacing felt a bit off/choppy and it felt like it jumped around too much. That might just be a ME problem, but it was not an issue that I ran into with book #1. I was also pretty bummed that it seemed to be missing the "heart" that Godkiller conveyed so well. It honestly reminded me a lot of Iron Flame (the sequel to Fourth Wing) in how it seemed to feel extremely rushed. I know that reading these days has sort of become "fast fashion" and publishers are pumping out book as quickly as possible, but I feel that it's doing a disservice to the reading community and we honestly would rather wait a few extra months for a better-written book rather than just getting the next book sooner. Also, I had my expectations set SKY HIGH for this book due to Godkiller being a perfect read for me (I gave it 5 stars), so I know that has colored my review of this book.

Despite some of the (minor) issues I addressed above, I still would not hesitate recommending this book AT ALL and I absolutely WILL be purchasing a hard copy version of Sunbringer to put next to my copy of Godkiller. Great series, great representation, great cover. Kaner did a fantastic job once again. :)

Easy 4/5 stars. A-!

I was happy to see that Sunbringer picks up right where Godkiller leaves off. The plot was much slower than I expected. I found myself not really wanting to pick up the book. I did like that there was a lot of character development. I wish we'd had more time with the characters together as a crew though. The ending was good but I don't think I'll be continuing on with the series. Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

thank you net gally for the arc. this book was just an ok read for me.it was super intenst,violent, didnt understand a lot if it

Sunbringer by Hannah Kaner was a fantastic sequel to an already amazing debut. I enjoyed every single page of this fantastic fantasy novel This book did not suffer from the sophomore slump and the plot was interesting enough to keep me reading. I cannot wait for everyone else to enjoy this sequel.

Godkiller was one of my favorites reads of 2023 and I was SO excited to see Sunbringer show up on NetGalley! The second book picks up right where the first left off and follows the points of view of Kissen, Elogast, Inara, Skediceth, and Arren as they deal with the aftermath caused by Godkiller’s final confrontation with Hseth.

This series is populated with such interesting characters and it was the main reason I was looking forward to reading Sunbringer. This book gives a lot more page time to Yatho and Telle, a choice I am wholeheartedly behind.

I did find it hard to stay engaged with the story because of the slower pacing. I was also disappointed in how long it took all of the characters to meet up again. But even with the slower pacing, it was never boring. The politics and plotting were very well written, and this book has a lot of great setup for what is sure to be a very exciting book 3.

The world of the Fallen Gods series is so rich and creative, and I cannot wait for the next installment.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

Absolutely loved this sequel. Hannah Kaner is an incredible storyteller! Will buy the hardcover when it comes out.

A great sequel to the first in the series. I always feel like fantasy book sequels, or the especially the middle book in a trilogy, doesn't hold up as well to the rest of the series, but I still really enjoyed this book! The only thing (SPOLIERS) is that I didn't like how the reunion was left until the very very end of the book, and also felt very underwhelming. Not enough to take away a star though, but definitely enough for me to mention it in my review. Otherwise, I loved it.

Disclaimer: I received a digital ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

4.25⭐️

A world full of small forgotten gods, tucked away in rose bushes, under canals and in the satchels of children, of power-starved gods who dwell in men’s hearts, and old, wild gods who help and harm in equal measure. The nature of these beings in the Fallen Gods world, who live and die by the love and fear of those who’ve created them, is wildly fascinating and enjoyable to explore. The reverse of that, the lengths humanity will go for faith, whether for or against the gods, is also very well displayed. As in Godkiller, Hannah Kaner’s strengths remain best displayed in her world-building and her character’s depth and narrative. I think other stories in this world would be very easy to continue once this story concludes.

Similarly, to touch on the second strength, our main characters, Kissen, Elo, Inara, and Skedi, remain on very clear narrative journeys, remain likable yet complex, and further develop the intricacies of their relationships to each other. Inara truly shines in this book, delving into what it means to be in control of her own future, her own power, but not losing her humanity along the way, and not to be dramatic, but I would both kill and die for Skedi. I think Kissen is a little relegated to the sidelines, the only POV where the story dragged a bit, but I still had *faith* that her arc would land and believe ultimately that it did. The character development of these four has been excellently shown. Side characters like Kissen’s sisters, Yatho and Telle, as well as Arren and Canovan are more involved this time around to great effect, and new characters like Naia (a transwoman assisted by a god to transition was a cool addition) and the archivists really served to add powerful new perspectives on the world.

I think where Kaner struggles a bit, as I noted in Godkiller as well, is with I guess what I’d call “action description.” Occasionally, during a fight scene or during the depiction of a character /doing/ something, I found the writing confusing and hard to follow. It may be sentence structure, or simply the writing style, but I’d be hung up on a sentence, wondering, wait, what are they doing? It didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the story, but I did find it a distraction to my reading experience, and I’d be curious if anyone else felt this way. I also thought this book had a slower start than Godkiller, the story dragging in a few places, especially in Kissen’s POV, as mentioned, and in Elo’s narrative as a whole. That being said, I do think Kaner is developing her craft and I’m SUPER excited to see how it further grows in the next book.

Overall, would *highly* recommend this book, and series so far. This book hasn’t even release and I can’t wait for the sequel.

I loved book one but this one just couldn’t hold my attention. I was so painfully bored I DNF’d at 40%

Thank you for the opportunity to read.

Ugh just as fantastic as book 1! I loved every minute of this and can not wait to own a physical copy!

I was so excited to get approved for this arc! I absolutely loved Godkiller and was very eager to start Sunbringer. This book was a little bit of a slower pace than the first but I feel like it was packed with lots of character development. I wish we got more of the main characters together during this book. Can’t wait for the next book!

I'm a bit conflicted about how I feel about this book. The characters were endearing, the representation was great, and I still enjoyed reading the story, but the plot was really slow. I think it suffers from middle-book syndrome. I think it sets up the rest of the series really well, and it has great reveals at the end. But for most of the book, the main characters were separated and slowly gathering information on their own, without very many action points along the way. But even though it was a slower book, I am very excited to see what happens next in this series!

Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Voyager for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I loved Godkiller and could not wait to start the second book, Sunbringer. This one got off to a slow start for me but once the pieces were in place, it really picked up and I could not put it down.

There were some surprises that I anticipated, and some that I really did not see coming that make me really excited to see how the characters handle them in the next book. I really love this world, and being able to spend more time in it. The characters are so well done and continue to grow and change and face the consequences of their actions from the first book.

This is the highly anticipated sequel to Go0dkiller. While I feel that Godkiller put me into the action immediately Sunbringer wasn't as in your face from the beginning. I really did end up enjoying it. While the pacing was significantly slower, in my opinion, I trusted Hannah Kaner to deliver so while it was hard for me at times, due to my adhd to pay attention I still ended up thoroughly enjoying the second installment. I really can't wait for the third book to release...I really can't wait to see what happens with Kisen and the gang.

“She didn’t like seeing those colours. They were messy. They were too much.”

“Sunbringer,” by Hannah Kaner

I liked this book. Some parts were a little drawn out but overall, it was really good. I liked the disability aspect especially because I have not seen that in a Greek myth retelling type of book. There is a main character that has a wheelchair and sign language isn’t allowed, I liked the moral dilemma with the hate of disabilities. Most of the characters I thought were interesting and I was rooting for them. 4 out of 5 stars, cannot wait to read more.

-Magic
-Multi POV
-Sign Language
-Disabilities
-Greek Gods/Myths

Thank you for the ARC.

This book wasn’t as amazing as the first, no book truly is, but I still loved the crazy plot twist with Inara. Plus the change in character for Kissen and how his priorities changed when the truth came out. All super interesting with how the plot was heading towards the end of the book.

Sunbringer is a fantastic follow up to Godkiller, which took me by surprise when I read it last year (in a very good way!). Though this sequel doesn't quite have the same charm as the first book, that's mostly because the story is expanding and the stakes are getting higher. We're not on a "simple" journey anymore, we're trying to avoid a war! It's always tough when beloved characters are separated from each other because readers lose that fun dynamic of seeing them interact. Even so, the characters are still very gripping on their own (I especially love Inara and Skedi). I have to applaud Kaner again for streamlining so much story into relatively few pages. Another author could have easily made this into a 600 page tome. But Kaner is expert with her words and her pacing. I'm very much looking forward to the next installment!