Paternus: Wrath of Gods by Dyrk Ashton

“She holds a hand for Myrddin to climb over the rubble first. ‘Proceed, mighty wizard.’
‘Absolutely not,’ Myrddin protests. ‘Ladies first.’
Mrs. Mirskaya shoulders past him and clambers up the pile of rock. Myrddin follows, pleased at his cleverness, because now he has a nice view of her broad, skirted backside.”

Blurb

On the run from an ancient evil and his army of terrors straight out of myths from around the world, Fi and Zeke aid Peter in his globe-trotting quest to seek out the remaining Firstborn, uncover the enemy’s plans, and gather the Warriors of Old for what may become the final battle in the world’s oldest war. Along the way, Fi and Zeke discover that they, too, have strengths of their own–though they come at a cost neither may wish to bear.

Personal notes

I’ve got an ARC from Dyrk Ashton in exchange of an honest review. Thanks Dyrk!

I accepted the ARC even before I’ve read Rise of Gods, which wasn’t exactly a wise decision on my part. I mean, if you didn’t even read the first book, and it turns out not so good, it sucks to say no to read the second one. Which might happen. And although I liked Rise of Gods and gave a final 4 star ratings to it, it was really a 3.5 star read and was a bit of a disappointment to me despite the hype. Find out the details in my review. Anyway, I was a bit wary when I started to read Wrath of Gods, not knowing what I should expect. Probably helped that my expectations weren’t as high this time, or the fact that writing is something you have to improve with every book, if you want to do your stuff right. During this 1,5 years since I read indie books, I’ve learned that somehow disappointing first books can be followed by even better seconds. If the author is open to criticism and suggestions and uses them for his/her advantage.

Song of the Book

I decided to add a new feature to my reviews from now on: I’ll try to pair up my readings with music. I’ve been thinking about this for a while now, but I guess Wrath of Gods gives the perfect opportunity for me to start it 🙂 Because the most obvious choice for this book (without any further comment) is:

Review

I’m sure you’ve ridden a roller coaster at least once in your life. You know that feeling when you sit in the car, it lurches as it gains speed, starting its descent. Before you have time to enjoy the ride it suddenly drops, gaining even more speed, leaving you breathless. As you race along gripping your seat, or the handrail, or anything you can hold on to at the moment, there are curves, and sudden changes of path, your world even turns upside down once or twice. Then there are momentary relieves, when the car is still, you have a chance to catch your breath, before the car plunges down once again. By the end of the ride your adrenaline level is high, you are gasping for air, you are looking for your stomach which you left somewhere up on a peek but enjoyed it damn too much to care. You still hear the wind singing in your ears, the tell-tale rattle of the car as it goes on its way, and you think: let’s do this again!

Now, this is exactly how it feels like reading Wrath of Gods. It’s a hell of a roller coaster ride, one which you can’t get enough of. The events are picked up right at where they were left at the end of Rise of Gods. If you don’t remember everything that happened in that book, don’t you worry, Mr Ashton was kind enough to provide a short summary for you. Unless in Rise of Gods, in this book we only follow two groups of characters, which makes things much easier. I also had less problem to adjusting to the present tense, which can be quite annoying at first, but after a few pages I completely forgot about it and just let the flow carry me on. We also get a lot less info dumps, or they are offered in a better way which actually makes it bearable. Although in some cases the info dump totally break the pace of a fight scene making it longer than necessary. A lengthy description of a weapon during a fight might not be the best idea.

In Wrath of Gods the stakes are getting higher, and if you thought it’s impossible to dig up even more mythological creatures, then think again. Dyrk Ashton has some more of them up in his sleeves and not afraid to use them. And play with your emotions too while he is at it. With books like this where a lot happens in a short period of time and have a huge cast of characters one of the problems can be the lack of character building. Or more like the lack of place/time for character building. Most of the mythological creatures are well fleshed out, they all have distinct personalities and traits and big ass weapons too. I don’t think you’ve seen everything until you’ve encountered a huge sneak with equally huge swords strapped on him. Or a tiny elder women with a cane, who can beat the shit out of you if she chooses. You still have to appreciate that Ashton doesn’t use the worn-out cliché that are the greek and roman gods. Sure, they are represented, see Asterion the Bull, who happened to be the Minotaur once, but their greek identity is not the primal ones. Instead we get egyptian, hindu, norwegian and other ones. It’s quite refreshing.  My personal favorite is Myrddin, who brings some humor and laughter in the grim mood. The only thing I have to say about this is: ass shaking. Seriously.

Fi and Zeke also get their moments, but I still feel that them and Peter are the less developed characters compared to some of the others. I like Fi’s fierceness and strong personality and it was interesting to see as she comes in terms with her heritage. And I’m looking forward to see how she copes with the current situation in the next book. Zeke… find it hard to come to terms with him. It feels like that he is mostly just along for the  ride, giving away his knowledge. But then, some of the most interesting scenes belonged to him. I have a feeling he is going to play a more important role in the endgame. We’ll see.

Wrath of Gods is a hell of a ride, which won’t leave you bored, and most probably will break your heart. Fast paced, brutal, gripping and it’s full of surprises. I haven’t enjoyed an urban fantasy this much for a while now. We get some answers for questions left open in Rise of Gods, but we also end up with more questions. And I honestly don’t know how the hell they’ll get out of this mess. Guess that makes the waiting for book 3 even more frustrating. Hurry up Mr Ashton and give it to me already!