Not Gods But Monsters

Realm of Tah’afajien #1

by Joshua Banker

Set in the fictional realm of Tah'afajien, Not Gods But Monsters tells the story of Jehn Brumal, a teenager who is forced from her home when a private military force destroys the village of Vertegarte. Having lived a sheltered life, Jehn doesn’t know who they are, or why they bring automaton soldiers, but she discovers that they are after her mentor, Marianus O’mas.

When she is eventually reunited with O’mas, a former spymaster and retired officer of the Verenigen military, the pair set off to meet his former associates from the war: gun-for-hire Zoe Agilis, strongman Zed Muntanya, scholar Flynn Earrele, archer Callie Evans and nihilistic assassin Kyote Kurttsen.

O'mas fears that industrialist Zane Grymore is stockpiling weapons for a potential coup. Even more troubling is Grymore’s recent obsession with imbued ores, rare stones that have magical properties, and the Byrael, a pantheon of mystical deities said to have created mankind.

Jehn, O’mas and their allies are directed to an ancient ruin known as the Stairwell of the Byrael, where, it is said, man can commune with the gods. The truth they discover within the aeons-old structure reveals that Grymore’s actions have the potential to destroy the world.

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction

706 pages, Paperback

Published September 3, 2016

About the author

Author of Not Gods But Monsters and The Fifth Era of Man, Joshua Banker was born in Greece in 1973. He grew up in the San Francisco area before moving to Chattanooga where he attended the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and received a BFA in Graphic Design. After moving to Charlotte, NC, he ran an independent entertainment review website from 1999-2006. Now living in Greenville, NC, Josh is a writer, painter and illustrator, loves all things H.P. Lovecraft, is married and has two cats and a dog.

Reviews

[Glen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this book in a goodreads drawing.

Some businessman is trying to revive eldritch gods, always a bad idea. A girl and her friends have to stop him.

Not bad, but nothing really stuck with me.

[Anthonia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful book that i enjoyed reading. This book contains sci-fi and fantasy combined. The characters are established through out the book and it has action in the book as well. A must read for any and all book lovers everywhere.

[Harlyn Bryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not Gods But Monsters by Joshua Banker was a really good sci-fi/fantasy read! It follows a teenager, Jehn, from a fictional realm who teams up with others who are trying to prevent a businessman from releasing fallen gods and destroying civilization. It reads like a mixture of greek mythology and future ideologies and as the reader you feel like you are part of the action and are side by side with the characters.

This novel is very well written with great characterization but it is a bit on the long side with a lot of different twists and turns, however, it was very easy for me to follow. There are a few grammatical errors that could use some resolution but nothing at all jarring to the reader.

For more information on the author please check out his website. Banker not only is a talented writer but also a talented artist as he is behind the artwork of his novels!

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won this a while back in a Goodreads giveaway. This is the first thing I've read by the author.

I loved this book and I think I'll be buying the restof the series, although I'm not sure where else the author could possibly take this.the majority of the book is more like a soy novel than a fantasy (don't get me wrong it is fantasy or Sci fi but it's not just that). The flow and pacing of the story are great and I did find it hard to put the book own (many times I kept reading until I fell asleep). I loved the characters but was a little disappointed that they obviously had a lot of history that I wasn't part of (I hope one of the other books is a prequel).

[Ian Yarington · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is totally why I enter the giveaways, this book is exactly the sort of book that I love. I love fantasy and sci-fi and I love the mixing of the two genres. I enjoy Jehn as a main character and the world building is excellent, it has a lot of elements from both sides of the genre spectrum and they incorporate well. I can't think of anything it's missing and I'm glad I won it.

[Heidi Brown - Floyd · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book is very well written. Characters are very believable. I was very confused about the plot and it took me awhile to finish reading the book. I did finish this book. I felt it was a very long book and lost me through out the pages.

[Lavender]

Placeholder

I won this book via Goodreads Giveaways.

[KarnagesMistress]

I received this book for free through Goodreads Giveaways. It is a Kindle book.

[Clipinchick]

I received this book for free from the author/publisher in response for an honest review of the book. I have not had the opportunity to read this book at this time. I will add my review of this book once I have read the book. Thank k you for allowing me the optometrist review your work. I look forward to reading this book.