A Gamble of Gods

Mitriel Faywood is one of Mark Lawrence's beta readers and the person behind his unofficial website www.thatthornguy.com. We've been Facebook friends for years and I followed her adventures as she tried to get her SFF debut published. When that didn't work out, she elected to self-publish A Gamble of Gods. After the book garnered a number of positive reviews, I offered to read and review it myself and brought it with me to Colombia a few weeks back.

 
Expectations can be tricky and mine misled me to a certain extent. Given who she is and who she works with, I was expecting a much darker novel, if not grimdark per se. I wasn't exactly prepared for the rollicking, genre-bending adventure that Faywood's debut turned out to be. It's a fun romp, no question. But the style and tone preclude any sense of gravitas that certain scenes required to truly have an emotional impact on the reader. Still, if you are looking for a light and entertaining read, A Gamble of Gods will not disappoint.

Here's the blurb:

Kristian del Rosso has led a quiet life, burying himself in research and teaching at the University of St Mark. The arrival of a mysterious killer with supernatural abilities and the bloody massacre of a group of Kristian's students changes all that. Kristian’s grief and a need for answers drives him to set out after their murderer, prepared to face the man but unprepared for what awaits him at the source of it all.

Conor Drew lives for the thrill of adventure and to explore the delights of as many beautiful women as one man can in a lifetime. Between dangerous jobs for the wealthy aristocracy and powerful figures in the underworld of the Nineteen Kingdoms, he's seen more than most. And yet it isn't until his greatest friend and biggest enemy both find him on the same day that his true odyssey begins.

Selena Soto is a woman lost in her own world. She struggles to fit into her existence, to find meaning and purpose—even progress at work eludes her. Meeting the right man might be a good first step, or perhaps just defining what it is she really wants from life. Little does she realise that only her own fears keep her from a destiny that's greater than she could imagine.

The trio will soon learn that only by working as a team can they solve the puzzle that has drawn them together.

It's hard to judge just how good or bad the worldbuilding is because, like Mark Lawrence, the author plays her cards very close to her chest. And given that this is her debut and the opening chapter of a series, it's not like Mitriel Faywood could go all out. We do learn a little about gates linking planets/worlds/dimensions and orders of adepts who can travel between them to protect or take advantage of them. There are more than a few hints that promise bigger and better things to come, hints that seem to indicate that this universe resounds with more depth than meets the eye in this novel. Yet they are only that, hints. Time will tell if that's the case or not. It feels as though Faywood is laying the groundwork for a more multilayered tale, but it's obvious that she tried to go for a more self-contained story in A Gamble of Gods. Whether or not she's done enough to pique readers' curiosity and make them want to invest in a sequel remains to be seen. Personally, given that worldbuilding has always been one of my favorite aspects of any SFF title, I would have liked to learn more about the various worlds and these gates and the secret brotherhoods who pull the strings behind the scenes. But that's just me.

The characterization works particularly well in the first half of the book. There is a good balance between the first-person perspectives of all three protagonists. Kristian's POV was fine, but Conor's is a little too over the top for my taste. Think Lawrence's Prince Jalan from the Red Queen's War trilogy with Salvatore's Drizzt Do'Urden fighting skills. That makes him an immensely fun to read character, but sort of a cardboard cutout, one-dimensional kind of protagonist. Selena suffers from mental health issues and she's the most well-realized character of the trio. Faywood's portrayal of Selena's crippling anxiety was well-done and you can't help but feel for the poor girl. Laro, the antagonist, has more depth to him than expected, which was nice. But even though he's a well nigh unstoppable killing machine, our heroes never really seem to be in any danger of dying. No member of the supporting cast truly shines in this book. Again, it feels as though the author is simply introducing most of the people who'll have a role to play in the series. However, James Montgomery, Kristian's mentor, seems to be extremely similar to Lawrence's Dr. Taproot. Hopefully that's just an Eater egg, or else the similarity could sabotage whatever the author has planned for the man.

I mentioned that the characterization works well in the first half of the book. That is, until the three protagonists are finally brought together. From here on out, things take a definite turn for the worse. As I already mentioned, Mitriel Faywood's debut is light and entertaining and she does go for an often humorous narrative, especially with Conor's POV. Trouble is, once Kristian, Conor, and Selena join forces, the author tries to go all out and she falls short several times along the way. The bantering and the jokes are all well and good, but A Gamble of Gods is a speculative fiction novel, not a Friends episode. Not everyone can be as funny and witty as Joe Abercrombie or Scott Lynch. When it works, the dialogue can be reminiscent of a conversation between Chandler, Joey, and Monica. But when it doesn't, it can be as cringe-worthy as some of Brandon Sanderson's lame attempts at humor. I think that Faywood needs to try to reel herself in, so to speak. Trying too hard is not only eye-rolling at times, but such a lighthearted tone also makes it difficult for more poignant sequences to have a veritable emotional impact. There is also a problem with romance. There is a very fine line between romantic and corny, and unfortunately the romance between two of the protagonists falls on the corny side. There is only so much kissing and hugging one can take, and let's just say that Faywood took it way beyond my breaking point. It also took over the story in a way that overshadowed everything else, and not necessarily in a good way. To say that the romantic aspect was overdone would be a gross understatement. And yet, your mileage will vary in that regard. Having perused some of the online reviews before writing my own, it's evident that not everyone had a problem with it. So you'll have to see for yourself.

I found the novel perfectly paced until about the halfway point. Once the three protagonists are brought together and the romance kicks in, it really slows the rhythm of the tale. It also brings the storylines into a more straightforward and less interesting path, that of finding a cure for the king's blindness. The endgame wasn't particularly intriguing, because for me the plot had already reached its high notes in the first portion of the book. I remained curious to know how it would end, but there is no grand finale that will knock your socks off. Am I intrigued enough to read the second installment when it comes out? Sure. Faywood does enough good things to keep me interested, and her ideas and concept did pique my curiosity. Now, if she can just find a way to balance the humor and the romance with the actual plot, there might be something special here.

The final verdict: 7/10

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