Godsgrave by Jay Kristoff Series: The Nevernight Chronicle #2
Published by Harper Voyager UK on September 7th 2017
Genres: Fantasy
Pages: 419
Source: Publisher
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A ruthless young assassin continues her journey for revenge in this new epic fantasy from New York Times bestselling author Jay Kristoff.
Mia Corvere has found her place among the Blades of Our Lady of Blessed Murder, but many in the Red Church hierarchy think she’s far from earned it. Plying her bloody trade in a backwater of the Republic, she’s no closer to ending the men who destroyed her familia; in fact, she’s told directly that Consul Scaeva is off limits. But after a deadly confrontation with an old enemy, Mia suspicions about the Red Church’s true motives begin to grow.
When it’s announced that Scaeva will be making a rare public appearance at the conclusion of the grand games in Godsgrave, Mia defies the Church and sells herself to a gladiatorial collegium for a chance to finally end him. Upon the sands of the arena, Mia finds new allies, bitter rivals, and more questions about her strange affinity for the shadows. But as conspiracies unfold within the collegium walls, and the body count rises, Mia will be forced to choose between love and revenge, and uncover a secret that could change the very face of her world.
Set in the world of Nevernight, which Publishers Weekly called “absorbing in its complexity and bold in its bloodiness,” Godsgrave will continue to thrill and satisfy fantasy fans everywhere.
Godsgrave is the much-anticipated sequel to Jay Kristoff’s Nevernight – one of my favourite books of 2016. I had loved the brutal world of the Red Church and of the wider world of Itreya, the twists, the lies and the deceit. I looked forward to getting back into it all.
It took me a while to read this second book, though. I’m not sure what it was that didn’t particularly grip me, but rather than the assassins and their scheming, this second book is entirely taken up by Mia becoming a slave in one of the Gladiatorial Collegii. Her thirst for revenge leads her to even more dreadful acts, and while the twists and turns were still there, the arena fighting and political scheming just didn’t grip me this time.
Mia has come a long way since her days as a Red Church acolyte – she’s still driven by revenge for her familia’s murder, but she’s gradually discovering that things may not be as they seem. We get some interesting hints as to the nature of darkin and their passengers, and also some very steamy sex scenes. The tension is high through the second half of the book, and the final battle is just as epic as I hoped it would be.
While Jay Kristoff remains one of my favourite fantasy authors, this book wasn’t quite up there with his other work. Still, the ending was nail-biting and there’s a dreadful cliffhanger, gentlefriends. Shame there’s such a long wait for the third instalment!
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