Review: Revolt (Godsknife #1) by Timothy C. Ward

An apocalyptic battle for godhood in the rift between Iowa and the Abyss...

A fleet of enlarged praying mantises have invaded Des Moines, Iowa. Swarms of cicadas are turning survivors into winged soldiers. Orchestrating the war zone is a priestess of Order, who's pursuing godhood, and the nation of followers who’ll get her there.

Caroline's new friendship parts the veil between reality and myth, as a recruiter of Order needs her to hide him from capture. In their escape, the boss she’s loved like a father reveals his elevator into the Abyss.

In this new world, Caroline finds a usurped god and an angry ghost eager to make her their gateway back to power. What if the person her friends will need is heartbeats away from becoming the real threat?

Check after the jump for my review of Revolt.

Genre: Part Sci/Fi / Fantasy / Horror

In Revolt we are introduced to opposing forces of Chaos, Order and Maker. Chaos and Order are in constant strife, whilst Makists are virtually in hiding. That's all about to change. There is a war coming and it's going to be a battle for survival. Order has plans afoot and it's going to be a challenge to see if they can be stopped. Is Caroline going to the Makist's saviour in the face of the frightening forces about to be unleash? Caroline who is plunged into this world by the arrival of an Order recruiter. Will she be ready for the changes about to take place.

Giant praying mantises might just be the thing of nightmares. Timothy C. Ward has written a novel where genetically mutated insects created by the Priestess of Order are part of her plan for godhood. What better way to get the other gods attention then with giant insects! Ward excels at the more grotesque elements of storytelling. His writing made my stomach churn a couple of times. Especially when describing insects attacks on humans and the ceremony to become part of Order.  If you have a squirmish stomach don't read the praying mantis parts whilst eating lunch as I did.

I did find it difficult to feel the connection between characters. Sometimes when characters were interacting with each other, such as Caroline and Anthon, it felt a bit laborious. I really wanted to like them, but I didn't feel there was a connection between them. Given their storyline I wanted to care more how their storylines progressed.  I never really grasped if there was meant to be a more than friends connection between them. I felt it was implied there was an attraction between them, but I never really believed it. I also felt that the supposed "baddies" were more compelling characters. I was more interested in their story and what they were doing. My saying "baddies", I'm not 100% sure who the good guys are yet.

While I felt some of the characterisations could be improved on, there's enough within the story to hold my interest. Horror writing is definitely where I felt the fit in the market is for Ward. It was the descriptive aspects when an attack for underway that held my interest and kept this book rating at at 3. This was a good first in series and set the scene up for a future series.

I received a free copy of this book from the author in return for an honest review.