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Sins of the Fathers #2
Mad God's Muse: Sins of the Fathers Book Two
The fate of the world rests on his shoulders. Will he crumble?
Ahmed’s faith is strong, and so is his sword-arm, but as for details, those were for his fallen master. Now, he must somehow rise to the task of leading his men and, by Ilaweh's grace, thwart the Dead God's apocalyptic prophecy.
But how can he command hardened veterans of war, men with much blood on their hands, when he has accomplished so little in his young life?
If Ahmed can earn their respect, there might still be time to do as his master had hoped--ally with the sorcerers of Nihlos. They are dangerously unpredictable and capricious, perhaps even mad, but their power is undeniable.
Ahmed will need that power. For he knows something even his master never their ultimate destination is the true heart of darkness. An ancient city of evil and death that none survive.
Don't miss Book 2 in this Epic Fantasy Adventure that will keep you on the edge of your seat reading.
Also Available on Audible, performed by Ralph Lister.
Ahmed’s faith is strong, and so is his sword-arm, but as for details, those were for his fallen master. Now, he must somehow rise to the task of leading his men and, by Ilaweh's grace, thwart the Dead God's apocalyptic prophecy.
But how can he command hardened veterans of war, men with much blood on their hands, when he has accomplished so little in his young life?
If Ahmed can earn their respect, there might still be time to do as his master had hoped--ally with the sorcerers of Nihlos. They are dangerously unpredictable and capricious, perhaps even mad, but their power is undeniable.
Ahmed will need that power. For he knows something even his master never their ultimate destination is the true heart of darkness. An ancient city of evil and death that none survive.
Don't miss Book 2 in this Epic Fantasy Adventure that will keep you on the edge of your seat reading.
Also Available on Audible, performed by Ralph Lister.
- GenresFantasy
364 pages, Paperback
Published July 23, 2019
About the author
Matthew P. Gilbert
15 books25 followersMatt Gilbert, in addition to being a fiction author, is a professional video game developer; a veteran; a columnist for his local newspaper; and the father of three wild boys and two wild girls. He was born and raised in Woodbury, GA, and has been on watch for zombies ever since.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
February 13, 2020
Here we have the middle of a grand tale with a wide scope that encompasses strange new cultures, lots of history, and a deep mythology that leaves the truth largely open to interpretation.
As always, Ralph Lister gives a phenomenal audio performance. His robust voice is perfect for this type of fantasy, in much the same vein as Roy Dotrice and Michael Kramer. His one failing, which he shares with Roy Dotrice's later work, is that he lacks the range to produce voices that sound young. Pretty much everyone in the book sounds middle-aged or older. Elsewise, however, his voices are nigh on perfect. His vocal inflections are fantastic, and his tempo shift throughout, while being on the subtle side, almost perfectly convey the tension of any given scene.
Now, as is my wont, I will largely forego any discussion of the plot. There are plenty of reviews already that give summaries of the plot.
As with the first book, the writing here is fantastic. The prose flows beautifully, is error-free, and gives just the right amount of focus of the details.
We finally explore the major characters a little more deeply, and I can now point to one or two characters that I genuinely like and can root for. Unfortunately, they are on opposite sides of the conflict!
While he's clearly doing some bad things, I strongly identify with Aiule and his reasons for doing the things he does. The man has been through hell, and I completely understand why he's making the choices he is.
And the other is Ahmed. He's woefully underprepared for what he's facing. He's basically going on faith that he's not going to go wandering off a cliff in pursuit of his god's directives. But for all that, he goes after his destiny with courage and fortitude.
As with the previous book, I have some (largely the same) issues.
The main one being completely a matter of taste. After so many fantasy epics that focus so strongly on the royal politics of various realms, I find myself utterly burned out on the trope. Between the Meites, the noble houses, the subplots involving the founders, and to an extent even the plots involving the Xanthians, I would say that something near 80% of the novel's conflict revolves around the politics of the nobility/royalty. And while if it's done in a new and unique way (such as in Phil Tucker's Chronicles of the Black Gate) it can hold my interest, here I really struggled to pay attention and get through it.
I still couldn't look past the modernisms. Not only am I not generally fond of advanced sciences (such as anatomy; medical science, including hypodermics, anesthetics, advanced surgery, etc; chemistry; etc.) in fantasy stories, particularly when they exist in a society deemed "primitive" or "barbaric," but for me the larger issue is the modern turns of phrase present in this book. Every time I hear one it throws me right out of the story. And yes, most modern curse words fall into the same general category for me. I just can't force myself to believe that a medieval society would use those words in the same way we do. Especially when I'm hearing a term like "bullsh*t," which appears to have been coined in the early 20th century, but certainly, based on etymology, could not have been in use before the 17th century.
Lastly, the length of the chapters was a struggle for me.
In general, I'm not fond of books that change POV within a chapter. And even less so books where the average chapter is more than 45 minutes long. My attention generally starts to wane after about the 30 minute mark. And although there are a few exceptions, most of the chapters in this book are in the 50 minutes to 1.5 hours range.
And finally, the ending.
The end actually comes together extraordinarily well. While this one is a touch more predictable than the first, I still enjoyed where it went and how it got there. Naturally, as the middle of a trilogy, the ending is largely setting up the next book, but it brought several more plot lines to a satisfactory close while leaving me curious as to how this is all going to play out.
As always, Ralph Lister gives a phenomenal audio performance. His robust voice is perfect for this type of fantasy, in much the same vein as Roy Dotrice and Michael Kramer. His one failing, which he shares with Roy Dotrice's later work, is that he lacks the range to produce voices that sound young. Pretty much everyone in the book sounds middle-aged or older. Elsewise, however, his voices are nigh on perfect. His vocal inflections are fantastic, and his tempo shift throughout, while being on the subtle side, almost perfectly convey the tension of any given scene.
Now, as is my wont, I will largely forego any discussion of the plot. There are plenty of reviews already that give summaries of the plot.
As with the first book, the writing here is fantastic. The prose flows beautifully, is error-free, and gives just the right amount of focus of the details.
We finally explore the major characters a little more deeply, and I can now point to one or two characters that I genuinely like and can root for. Unfortunately, they are on opposite sides of the conflict!
While he's clearly doing some bad things, I strongly identify with Aiule and his reasons for doing the things he does. The man has been through hell, and I completely understand why he's making the choices he is.
And the other is Ahmed. He's woefully underprepared for what he's facing. He's basically going on faith that he's not going to go wandering off a cliff in pursuit of his god's directives. But for all that, he goes after his destiny with courage and fortitude.
As with the previous book, I have some (largely the same) issues.
The main one being completely a matter of taste. After so many fantasy epics that focus so strongly on the royal politics of various realms, I find myself utterly burned out on the trope. Between the Meites, the noble houses, the subplots involving the founders, and to an extent even the plots involving the Xanthians, I would say that something near 80% of the novel's conflict revolves around the politics of the nobility/royalty. And while if it's done in a new and unique way (such as in Phil Tucker's Chronicles of the Black Gate) it can hold my interest, here I really struggled to pay attention and get through it.
I still couldn't look past the modernisms. Not only am I not generally fond of advanced sciences (such as anatomy; medical science, including hypodermics, anesthetics, advanced surgery, etc; chemistry; etc.) in fantasy stories, particularly when they exist in a society deemed "primitive" or "barbaric," but for me the larger issue is the modern turns of phrase present in this book. Every time I hear one it throws me right out of the story. And yes, most modern curse words fall into the same general category for me. I just can't force myself to believe that a medieval society would use those words in the same way we do. Especially when I'm hearing a term like "bullsh*t," which appears to have been coined in the early 20th century, but certainly, based on etymology, could not have been in use before the 17th century.
Lastly, the length of the chapters was a struggle for me.
In general, I'm not fond of books that change POV within a chapter. And even less so books where the average chapter is more than 45 minutes long. My attention generally starts to wane after about the 30 minute mark. And although there are a few exceptions, most of the chapters in this book are in the 50 minutes to 1.5 hours range.
And finally, the ending.
The end actually comes together extraordinarily well. While this one is a touch more predictable than the first, I still enjoyed where it went and how it got there. Naturally, as the middle of a trilogy, the ending is largely setting up the next book, but it brought several more plot lines to a satisfactory close while leaving me curious as to how this is all going to play out.
June 21, 2025
I have submitted this review after listening to the audiobook of this title within the series set box.
Too many secrets, too many murders, too many coincidences. Yes, perhaps the dead God was guiding his followers' paths, but it seems too contrived.
Too many secrets, too many murders, too many coincidences. Yes, perhaps the dead God was guiding his followers' paths, but it seems too contrived.
October 14, 2019
Big letdown from the first. Large cast seemed to grow larger and there seemed to be a overall lack of focus. The author is a slow starter but this book is drags throughout. Probably also to do with my lack of interest in gore fest and fights with little substance. Also it’s a very “masculine” novel, and the main point of views now shared by Ahmed and Ayul (butchering names sry) instead of Kariana and other major female characters in the first book makes the sexism extremely jarring. Lacking incentive to read the third now.
September 24, 2019
The first book in the series was awesome. This second book is quite disappointing. There are two many instances where there's dialogue between characters but the author consistently tells who's speaking. You hear of people that actually seem like new people only to find out they've had several conversations you missed. The book also doesn't pick up in any way from the first book. Of this second book was to give background, the author did a piss poor job.
Want to Read
August 7, 2016I received this book for free through Goodreads Giveaways. It is autographed.
August 8, 2016
Interesting world and dark story. I won it in a contest and I look forward to reading more by this author!
November 10, 2019
A good continuation from book one. We still get adventure, fighting, strong faithful warriors, treachery, selflessness, death, comradery, twists and turns.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews