Blog Tour: Shadow of a Dead God

Hello everyone and happy Monday! How are you? Today I am back with a review, and I can’t believe it, honestly! This is such a slow going period with my reading that every time I get to write a review is like a surprise! But it is not only a review because I am taking part in the amazing blog tour hosted by Storytellers On Tour!

I really wanted to read this book, so I had to take part in this blog tour, and I am so glad to have done so! Even if this one took me more time than I was expecting, it is by not mean its fault, and I enjoyed my time with it! And what’s even better than a review is a giveaway! Keep reading until the end to know more!!!! (Or be a bad person, and skip down to the end of the post! ;P )

Title: Shadow of a Dead God
Series: Mennik Thorn #1
Author: Patrick Samphire
Genre: Fantasy
Published: May 27th, 2020
Age Group: Adult
Pages: 460

A dead god. A brutal murder. A second-rate mage.

It was only supposed to be one little job – a simple curse-breaking for Mennik Thorn to pay back a favor to his oldest friend. But then it all blew up in his face. Now he’s been framed for a murder he didn’t commit.
So how is a second-rate mage, broke, traumatized, and with a habit of annoying the wrong people supposed to prove his innocence when everyone believes he’s guilty?
Mennik has no choice if he wants to get out of this: he is going to have to throw himself into the corrupt world of the city’s high mages, a world he fled years ago. Faced by supernatural beasts, the mage-killing Ash Guard, and a ruthless, unknown adversary, it’s going to take every trick Mennik can summon just to keep him and his friend alive.
But a new, dark power is rising in Agatos, and all that stands in its way is one damaged mage…

I knew that I would have liked it as soon as I read the first page. The story is told in first-person POV and we get to meet our MC, Thorn Mennik, mage for hire, for who he is right here and there.

Ah, the glamorous life of a mage for hire.

And the best thing about this book is, you may have guessed, him. It is not really him as a character, and this is not to say that he is a bad MC, not at all, but his strongest feature is his storytelling ability. I loved him as a narrator. He is self-deprecating, but not in a sad or depressing way, he is ironic and he has a, peculiar, sense of humor that I loved from the beginning. I really think that this is, alone, a very good reason to read this book.
The story is not one full of funny or fluffy moment, but his voice, his way of telling it, make the things bearable and, from time to time, funny. I have to say that I had quite a good time reading it because it was just so amusing! (Ok, not always, we have some gruesome murders and our characters are being framed for them, so… yep, not the funniest story out there, right? But he manages to amuse you, that’s for sure!).

Another great thing about this book is the magical system. The raw magic from which the mages draw their powers is the metaphysical rotting of the Gods. I found it extremely fascinating and original. And even if the mages themselves didn’t know a lot other than that the author managed to do a great job with that!

And then there is Sereh. I loved her. On one hand, it is a shame that she is an eleven years old girl, because this limits, in a way, her potential. Because she is great, and I would have loved to see more of her, but you have to keep in mind that, in the end, she is a little girl. I think that a bit older would have been more interesting, but this is just a detail because she is amazing. She is scaring. And I loved her!

If I have to find something not so good, I’ll go with the “social” part. In every book whit this kind of characters ( a mage who is in dire need of money, and a thief or sort of, in this particular case) or stories we have a kind of social theme because it is always rich vs poor, with all the different ramifications of that, but usually it is a more subtle thing. You can see it (because it is there to see, it is not concealed at all) but you can choose if using that as a starting point for reflection, or you can choose to ignore it, or better, to not give it many thoughts, and going on with the reading. But here you can’t ignore it, because it is said out loud and more than once. So if I have to point my finger at something, is this constant reminder, that sometimes it seemed almost whiny to me. I don’t know if I am making sense, but I really hope you get my point.

But, all things considered, this was a minor thing, and I had a great time with this reading. It was interesting, fast-paced and with good characters. To be honest, they were good, but not amazing. But you can’t always have that. And they are enjoyable. And I hope to meet them again, so I would call it a success!
The last thing, about my rating. It should have been 3.75 hearts (or stars) but since this is the first of a series, I have chosen to be a tad optimistic with the rating!

Book’s Links:

Amazon: http://mybook.to/ShadowGod
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53346109-shadow-of-a-dead-god

Author Information:

Patrick Samphire started writing when he was fourteen years old and thought it would be a good way of getting out of English lessons. It didn’t work, but he kept on writing anyway.

He has lived in Zambia, Guyana, Austria and England. He has been charged at by a buffalo and, once, when he sat on a camel, he cried. He was only a kid. Don’t make this weird.

Patrick has worked as a teacher, an editor and publisher of physics journals, a marketing minion, and a pen pusher (real job!). Now, when he’s not writing, he designs websites and book covers. He has a PhD in theoretical physics, which means that all the unlikely science in his books is actually true. Well, most of it. Well, some of it. Maybe.

Patrick now lives in Wales, U.K. with his wife, the awesome writer Stephanie Burgis, their two sons, and their cat, Pebbles. Right now, in Wales, it is almost certainly raining.

He has published almost twenty short stories and novellas in magazines and anthologies, including Realms of Fantasy, Interzone, Strange Horizons, and The Year’s Best Fantasy, as well as one fantasy novel for adults, SHADOW OF A DEAD GOD, and two novels for children, SECRETS OF THE DRAGON TOMB and THE EMPEROR OF MARS.

Author’s Links:

Website:https://patricksamphire.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/patricksamphire
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/patricksamphire
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/patricksamphire
Newsletter: https://patricksamphire.com/newsletter

Storytellers On Tour
https://storytellersontour.online
Shadow Of A Dead God Blog Tour
July 5th – July 11th