Sunbringer continues straight after the events of Godkiller. While the basic plot of Godkiller is highlighted in this book, if it's been a while since you read the first book, I recommend a reread before going in.

Otherwise, it feels wonderful to be back with these characters, following the same feel and pace as the first book, with a dramatic revelation at the end keeping you gripped for the third book in the trilogy!

I feel like we discovered so much more about the characters as individuals through this book, probably from the main characters not spending much time together through the timeline of Sunbringer.

I also enjoyed the extra POV found within Sunbringer, and I really loved spending more time with Kissen's family, discovering more of their traits, personalities, and relationships.

Sunbringer was a wonderful continuation to the story and world of Godkiller.

Sunbringer starts off strong and picking up right after the epic events in Godkiller. I love the flawed character Kissen who’s their own person and takes no prisoners. We get multiple POVs and this works well but I found myself wanting to go back to Kissen. The story unfolds through the different characters and builds into a crescendo, so I can see why we didn’t get as much of Kissen as I would have liked. The Gods involved are all grand and powerful to read and obviously some are more likeable than others. I do enjoy this world and these characters who are trying their best. I think this is a good second book and the dramatic ending is great. Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK for an E-ARC. This is a voluntary review of my own thoughts.

While Godkiller set out presenting the gods as bad, worship being stamped out at all costs, Sunbringer shows a much murkier world view. Not all gods are created equal, and some just want to be left to be remembered in peace. Arren, who staunchly advocated the banishment of gods, now bears the marks of a god in plain sight.

Of course, we all fell in love with Skediceth in the first book, proving that gods aren’t inherently evil. Often selfish, for sure. The god of white lies does his best to help, and we learn a little of his history as Inara sneaks into the archives of Lesscia for answers. I enjoyed finding out more about other small gods, those that still linger in places where they have done no harm.

Kissen has to save the world while dealing with a broken prosthetic and ongoing phantom limb syndrome. But she still powers through the pain to be a hero.

One of the things I liked most about Godkiller was the found family aspect, so I was a little disappointed that the characters were split up for most of the book. Elo and Inara think Kissen is dead and Elo is trying to protect Inara by distancing her from his mission to bring down Arren. Even Skediceth becomes a tad more distanced from Inara. However Inara is taken in by Kissen’s family, who have much more of a role to play.

Essentially, while the world they live in is harsh, the characters themselves are good and compassionate people at heart. They may have bad days, and make bad decisions, but this is far from grimdark. It feels like when they’re together, things can be made right.

What Kissen is told to do by Aan will make things interesting. It’s definitely not a straight forward good versus evil story and I’ll be intrigued to see what happens at the end!

ᴡʜʏ ᴅᴏᴇꜱ ɪᴛ ᴀʟᴡᴀʏꜱ ᴄᴏᴍᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜɪꜱ? ꜱʜᴇ ꜱᴀɪᴅ. ‘ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴘᴏᴡᴇʀ ᴄʜᴀɴɢᴇꜱ, ᴀɴᴅ ᴋɴᴏᴡʟᴇᴅɢᴇ ʙᴜʀɴꜱ?’

Review: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Tropes
- multiple characters pov
- political intrigue
- queer rep
- disability rep
- diverse characters
- found family
- accidental child acquisition

Spoilers for book one!!!

As a huge fan of the first book, I was so happy to have received an e-arc of book two! Thank you HarperVoyager!

Sunbringer immediately starts off where Godkiller ended, and drops you right into the action. While Elo, Inara and Skedi grapple with oncoming threat of King Arren, Kissen discovers a far larger plot with terrible consequences for all of Middren.

This book does an amazing job of problematising war and its consequences. While the first book introduces us to the war and Arren’s actions of destroying gods, this book highlights how the aftermath of war is never easy nor glamorous. The remains of the gods that weren’t fully killed as high reminders that faith is something hard to destroy. I loved how much it addresses how you can’t just force people to give up their beliefs, and it also shows that some gods weren’t the monstrous creatures that Kissen sees.

Elo’s arc was particularly compelling. There’s was a tragic beauty in his commitment to returning to his fighting role, and I loved exploring the horror and reality of war through him. He isn’t afraid of making hard decisions, but you can clearly see how he struggles with the never ending cycle of death and suffering. He’s also incredibly conflicted between his old loyalty to Arren and his desire for justice, which really comes through in this book.

I deeply felt Inara’s anger and need for vengeance. She’s grown so much in such a short time, and her maturity comes with a keen sense of loss. I felt so proud yet so sad whilst reading because Ina plays such an important role in this book, and goes through a lot, she’s so young too. Her relationship with Skedi was a powerful message of love, and connection. Skedi grew on me tremendously. We see a lot more of his dilemma between his god nature and his love for Inara. I was so impressed by his depth, and really loved his development.

I’m fully in love with Kissen. The absolute reluctance she feels about being the main character is so refreshing, and her nonchalant attitude towards any god or king was amazing. I don’t think she’s aware of the lasting impact she has on people; Elo, Ina and Skedi were always thinking about her because people like her are rare. Kissen is honest and straightforward, and in a complex plot like this, it’s incredibly rare to have someone who isn’t interested in winning.

I could write an essay on everything I loved about this book, but the final thing I want to point out, was this beautifully written motif of the power of documenting history. Kaner does an amazing job of showing how easily people can destroy information about the past, just because it doesn’t fit with their own narrative. Arren wishes to remove all image and mention of the gods, but these gods have shaped the very history of his country. I think this is such an important message, as misinterpreting the past can be incredibly damaging and dangerous.

The layers of this book were beautifully done, and the emergency of it was so powerful. I’m incredibly excited to read what happens next, as I’m fully invested in this series!

Book Review 📚
Sunbringer by Hannah Kaner - 4.5 ⭐

I won't go into a sequel without reminding myself of the first, so naturally I went and read the first book again before coming back to Sunbringer.

I loved book 1 and I thought it wasn't going to be possible to make book 2 any better. Kaner proved me wrong. Book 2 was phenomenal in comparison to book 1. Although there was still some amazing character developments and world building, the plot for Sunbringer really grabbed my attention. I thoroughly enjoyed it and devoured it in 3 days.

I love the different aspects in this book, it's not just one theme throughout. There's always a mixture of emotions and you find yourself asking questions in all the right places. It was a brilliant read and I'd happily read it all over again just for the thrill and excitement of it all.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC - this is an HONEST review from my own personal opinion.

A short view back to the past: less than a year ago, I gave "Godkiller" a rating of 3 stars because of what to me felt like an unnecessary romantic plotline - sue me, I don't think the characters climaxing right before the story does should be the industry norm.

However, to my core, I'm a completionist, meaning despite that mediocre rating, I fully intended to read the sequel too. Fortunately, "Sunbringer" worked much better for me, in part because the characters in said romantic plotline were separated for much of the book, and honestly, it was for the better for both Kissen and Elogast - especially in the case of the former, whose character development was one of my favorite parts of the book.

Another highlight was the expansion of the worldbuilding - both Lesscia and Talicia were a delight to explore, along with their respective gods. The characters who filled out these cities were also remarkably diverse in race, sexuality, and physical faculties, and luckily, at no point did it feel to me like this diversity was forced or superficial - Kaner has done a wonderful job of depicting her disabled characters, in the face of Kissen, Telle and Yatho. On the flip side, parts of Inara's story felt a bit off, particularly her relationship with Skediceth, the constant swinging between mistrust and devotion just didn't sit right with me.

This one minor gripe aside, I did enjoy "Sunbringer" more than I thought I would, and I can't wait for the third installment in the "Fallen Gods" series.

Thank you to HarperCollins and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC to this book in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately this second book didn't work for me. I thought the first book had potential and left me guessing as it left off in a massive cliffhanger and I was excited to get stuck into the second book straight away once I received the ARC - sadly I ended up being really disappointing.

This book was just so slow - for the first 75% or so nothing really happened other than huge amounts of talking. While I thought Kissen was unlikeable in book one and that was part of her charm, I found myself rooting for the other characters; sadly this was all ruined in book two where I found all of them problematic and boring. Especially Inara who worked really well for me as an interesting protagonist initially fell completely flat to me - it just didn't make sense that through the couple dramatic experiences she had in book one she would ever become this bad ass heroine, immediately able to master her power and say all the right things and all at the right time. It just made me dislike her and get bored of her.

It's a shame because this series had all the potential to be great but it fell flat and instead was just boring to me. The world building was still enjoyable but the characters and plot truly suffered. That being said it did pick up slightly in the last 80-100 pages so I am not completely convinced that I won't continue the series, maybe once book three comes out I will give it further consideration.

>> Review also posted on Goodreads

4.5 stars, bumped up to 5 for netgalley

I actually spent the entire book unsure if this was a trilogy or a duology, though in hindsight I probably could have just googled it.

Really happy with this sequel, we got some more worldbuilding and lots of plot arcs that expanded upon Godkiller, as well as a solid number of reveals and twists. This was an advance copy with some editing that still needed doing, but the writing style still shone through and I just had a great time reading this.

I’m really happy we got more god content and I loved Inara’s arc as well, though I would really like to see more of the general population’s interactions with and thoughts on day-to-day gods. I loved Kissen’s adventures in this though I am BIG MAD that her and Elo got no interaction in this book and really wish that they had all been reunited a bit sooner, but I’m sure we’ll get loads in Book 3.

The book also has some commentary on the control, erasure, and manipulation of information, history and truth, and the inhibition of freedom of speech and how a population can become self-policing. I think this is a really topical discussion to be having when we consider current book banning, social media censorship, and knowledge destruction such as Israel’s bombings of Palestine’s national libraries and archives.

I will say though that I think the pacing issues from Book One that many people criticise are definitely still present in Sunbringer. I felt that a lot of the time towards the middle of the book was spent with not a lot happening and I did not feel as drawn in as I did with Godkiller. As I was reading a digital copy too, the map was much harder to access and I found myself getting a bit confused at times with the place names and their political situations.

REVIEW WITH SPOILERS!!!!

It took me a while, and I was struggling with the review because I had so many mixed feelings after I finished Sunbringer.
I loved many things in the book, and struggled with some in equal measure.
Let me start with the things that I loved :
The gods—their description, magic, even their presence felt so nice and strong, and you can feel how they are woven into people's lives and the wonderful give and take dynamic between them.
Inara's character was fascinating for me to follow and how everything that went through piled up, and I loved seeing her dark side. It reminded me a bit of Anakin Skywalker as a character and that statement, “Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” And to be honest, I wished she stuck to her decision to separate from Skedi because we haven't seen her without him, and I was curious what path she will choose and what she'll do.
Furthermore, there were plenty of moments that were so strong that got you holding your breath without realizing it, and the final moment of the battle between Arren and Elo was one of them!
And that leads me to the things that I struggled with :
The pacing felt a bit odd and was longer in places where it wasn't necessary and shorter when you wanted to learn more. And while plenty of groundwork happened, the first part of the book left you with the feeling that not much was happening.
After how Godkiller ended for Elo I think my expectations pulled a trick on me and, to be honest, I expected Elo to be the one that was going to struggle and turn to his darker side 😆🙈 But that is a ME issue because I really wanted to see the always perfect in any aspect Elo change into morally gray😈
Kissen was my favorite thing in Godkiller but unfortunately in Sunbringer I just couldn't feel her character the same way and as if she didn't have much the opportunity and spotlight.
In the romance aspect or more like the hint where things are heading, my heart was crushed because the chemistry between Kissen and Elo is absolutely spectacular and since their moment together, I was shipping them hard❤️ But I have the hunch that Lessa will be her love interest in book 3….and I'm praying that I'm wrong because it feels strange to me given her love and relationship with Inara❤️
As a general feeling I couldn't put it down despite my Jekyll-Hyde attitude and after that remarkable action in the end I can't wait to read where the story will lead us in book 3.

Thank you for giving me this wonderful ARC in exchange for an honest review❤️
Reviews to social media and other places will be posted near release date.Links will be added to this review.

"Sunbringer" by Hannah Kaner immerses readers in a gripping tale where Inara faces perilous depths to save her companions from the fire god, Hseth. Her survival hinges on trusting Osidisen, the sea god. The intricate plot unfolds as Inara grapples with being a godkiller torn between honor and the destruction of deities, including the deceptive god Skedi. Elo's rebellion adds another layer to the narrative, with a former friend turned king making a dark pact. Kaner weaves a compelling story filled with divine complexities, rebellion, and the burning consequences of unholy alliances."

This book was amazing! I loved every moment of reading it. Once I got back into the story I was hooked.
The world building from this author is absolutely amazing and so richly detailed.
I loved seeing the characters develop throughout this book and enjoyed that it was more focused on other characters whilst still referencing the main character from the first. I really felt Inara is coming into here own In this book which was good to see. Whilst we did get parts from Kissen I did miss her story being the main focus. I’m hoping to have more from her in the next book.
The story does feel like it has a slower pace in this one but that is only because of the epic ending which I did not see coming. I absolutely need the next book now!
I enjoyed all the twists and turns that were spread throughout this beautifully compelling story.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for an eARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Subringer by Hannah Kramer begins right where it left off in Godkiller, with Kissen speaking with the Sea God Ossidien and Inara, Skedi and Elo in the opposite end of the Land thinking Kissen is dead.

There was a significant amount of character development and the World that Hannah has created is interesting. There was many more Gods and a lot of politics built with rebels, tyrants and the worshippers of the God's were frightening.

I felt that the main characters spent a long time divided and that I was waiting for them to come together. Though there were a lot of important events happening which will be integral to the overall story, I just didn't find myself as interested. I just wanted the crew back together.

The ending was pretty epic and all the reveals that came with it left you reeling for book three.

If you enjoy animal/god companions, rebellion, politics, gods then you will really enjoy this sequel. Thank you to the publishers and netgalley for the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.

For some reason (the reason is probably that there are only two books listed on Goodreads) I thought that this would be a duology and so I spent a significant portion of this book waiting for the plot to thicken instead of appreciating the character development.

And what amazing character development we got! I loved Inara's arc but I think that Kissen's growth was just a tiny bit more impactful and telling of how strong she really is.

I very much liked that the story progressed in three places at once with the characters scattered across Middren and Talicia, because I think that helped a lot with developing the characters individually while showing how fiercely loyal they are to each other.

I'm still not fully decided on what to make of Skediceth, but I do appreciate how well he is developed as a morally grey character with conflicting motivations.

What we sadly didn't get to see enough of was more world building. Yes, we met more gods, but what I'd be interested in knowing is what the people of Middren truly think of which gods. As it is, they are to scared to speak up either way, and that makes it hard for me as a reader to decide which outcome I want for this whole conflict.

There were some twists towards the end that I truly didn't see coming at all, and I'm very excited for the series finale!!

4/5 stars.

I was a bit conflicted diving into this because the first one hadn't blown me away. But I persisted because there were elements to the world building I really liked. That still holds true with the sequel, the parts I enjoyed is about the various gods. The pace was slow in the beginning but the ending was worth the wait. Overall a good read for those who enjoy unique world building fantasy.

Special thanks to HarperCollins UK and Netgalley for providing me an advance copy of the ebook in exchange for an honest review.

Sunbringer is the breath-taking, heart- racing sequel to Godskiller which was one of my favourites from last year. I don't want to put any spoilers in this review, in case you haven't had the opportunity to read the first book, so I'll stick to the reasons why I loved this.
Sunbringer continues where Godskiller left off. We have a really unique and compelling world in which Gods exist, thriving on the love and idolatry of their followers. However, many have fallen out of favour after the Gods war. This is one of my favourite aspects of these books. I loved the range of Gods, old, new, evil and good and those in-between. Their world and their desires get bigger and wilder.
The characters in this series are truly unforgettable. Kissen is a truly brilliant MC. Completely and wonderfully badass in the very best way! Elo is wracked with guilt and a strong desire to try and do the best. Inara, the wonderful child who has lost her mother and is the home to a shrineless God. She and Skedi go through some brilliant character development in this book and change the most from who they were in the first.
I did find the first half of the book dragged in places, but the second half more than made up for that. I truly enjoyed this book and I'm eager to read the third instalment.
A must for all fantasy lovers. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for providing an arc in return for an honest review. .

I have tried to write this review multiple times, but since I’ve finished the book that I’ve felt conflicted in what I think about it.
The best definition I can give to the plot is…. Uneven and foggy. The action picks up immediately where we left in Godkiller and the narrative continues to be presented in multiple POV.
However, I felt that for most of the book nothing really happens and if it does, the pace changes so much that is hard to visualise the overall effect of what happened to the story.
I never felt completely hooked as I was in Godkiller.
There was a lot of build up to a separation between two of the characters and when eventually does, it’s only for a page or two. I also really missed more Kissen in this book and I felt her arch was….rather sloppy. I already had a feeling regarding the nature of Inara and was excited when I read it, but was not sure if the build-up to it was done in the best way possible. I can’t really put my finger on why and where.
Maybe I had other hopes for the direction of the book. I don’t know.
I do think that the world building and the magic system is so beautiful and well-constructed and the author’s writing is still phenomenal.
The ending definitively makes me eager to read book three.

Thanks to Harper Collins and NetGalley for the arc of Sunbringer by Hannah Kaner in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Having read/devoured and adored Godkiller, my hopes were high for Sunbringer and Kaner does not disappoint. Whilst this second book of The Fallen Gods Trilogy feels slower in pace, it fleshes out the political and social aspects of this world to bring greater depth, more layers and transitions to the overarching plot. It definitely does not suffer from second book syndrome!

For the greater part of this second book key characters are separated, which gives Inara more of a chance to shine and grow, whereas the Godkiller was more focused on Kissen and Elogast. Once again Skediceth is present and my love for this character continues to grow, I had my concerns but, still totally adorable!

The book picks up following Kissen’s dramatic and literal fall to the gods at the end of the last book, the group are mourning her loss deeply and trying to come to terms with events and next steps.

Kaner uses this stage to effectively illustrate their distinct motivations and directions from each PoV in an effective and impactful manner, from Inara’s growth and discovery of the true nature of her powers to Elogast’s devastation and guilt, broken by events in the first book and his determination to now kill his friend, Arren the king. Skedi is also given more direction and focus as he is split between his desire and need to be worshipped, but also the risk of losing his connection to Inara.

Please don’t expect a happy ending, this is the second book in the trilogy and without question provides an impactful and captivating dark middle chapter that will leave you on the edge for book three.

Wow, amazing! I absolutely loved Godkiller, and Sunbringer didn't disappoint.
The story continues from where book 1 finishes, and we catch up with Kissen, Elogast, and Inara. It's another multiple POV as the main characters are split up from each other.
There's a lot going on. It's a fast-paced, atmospheric fantasy, full of magic, mayhem, gods, and demons. With twists and turns aplenty, and lots of action to keep you on the edge of your seat
I'm looking forward to book 3.
Thank you, NetGalley and publishers, for the ARC.

The first book was captivating, the world building and character development was incredible, and it felt like it would be hard to match.

Book 2 lives up mostly to book 1. We see the characters, who we've grown to love, divided and their journeys of growth and love for eachother mature. We move from Blenraden to Lesscia and we meet the gods of old there who reveal the most so far! Grace sets up the perfect ending for book 2 of the trilogy, and the twist and turns (and the more slow-going action) will all feel worth the wait.

This was an ARC, do I'll try not to give too much away.

I struggled with the first book and and I did struggle with this a little as well, but despite this feeling more like a bridge between the events of book one and what's going to come in book three, I found myself enjoying this book a little more than I did with book one.

I can't lie and say that Kaner hasn't created a really interesting fantasy world and political system. Her main characters are interesting and the development - especially when you look at how the characters were at the beginning of book one - was impeccable. Inara, especially. She really grew on me in this book. I didn't see as much of Kissen as I would have liked, because she was my favourite coming out of book one but I did like the journey she went on. Elogast, I just have a massive soft spot for. The characters really are done so well.

Even the villains in this series are great, from the humans to the gods.

Like I said, I did struggle to get through this. I just never felt entirely hooked. With a lot of fantasy books, I can't physically bring myself to put the book down to let myself sleep, but with this, it felt like the opposite, but I'm not going to blame this book entirely for that since it's the holiday period and I've been busier and more tired than normal.

A little slower than book one but I felt like it set up the events for book three really nicely and I can't wait to get my hands on it. One of the downsides of reading ARCs is even though I get the story earlier, I feel like I need to wait even longer for the story to continue.