• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
FanFiAddict

FanFiAddict

A gaggle of nerds talking about Fantasy, Science Fiction, and everything in-between. They also occasionally write reviews about said books. 2x Stabby Award-Nominated and home to the Stabby Award-Winning TBRCon.

  • Home
  • About
    • Reviewers
    • Review Policy
    • Contact
  • Blog
    • Guest Posts
    • Lists
    • Neurodivergence in Fiction
    • Why You Should Read…
  • Reviews
    • Children’s / Middle Grade Books
    • Comics/Graphic Novels
    • Fantasy
      • Alt History
      • Coming of Age
      • Debut
      • Epic Fantasy
      • Fairy Tales
      • Grimdark
      • Heroic Fantasy
      • LitRPG
      • Paranormal Fantasy
      • Romantic Fantasy
      • Steampunk
      • Superheroes
      • Sword and Sorcery
      • Urban Fantasy
    • Historical Fiction
    • Horror
      • Debut
      • Demons
      • Ghosts
      • Gothic
      • Lovecraftian
      • Monsters
      • Occult
      • Psychological
      • Vampires
      • Werewolves
      • Witches
      • Zombies
    • Science Fiction
      • Aliens
      • Artificial Intelligence
      • Alt History
      • Cyberpunk
      • Debut
      • Dystopian
      • Hard SciFi
      • Mechs/Robots
      • Military SF
      • Space Opera
      • Steampunk
      • Time Travel
    • Thriller
  • Interviews
    • Book Tube
    • Authorly Writing Advice
  • SFF Addicts Podcast
    • SFF Addicts Clips
    • SFF Addicts (Episode Archive)
  • TBRCon
    • TBRCon2022
    • TBRCon2023

Review: Gunmetal Gods (Gunmetal Gods #1) by Zamil Akhtar

August 17, 2021 by Justin Leave a Comment

Rating: 8.0/10

Synopsis

They took his daughter, so Micah comes to take their kingdom. Fifty thousand gun-toting paladins march behind him, all baptized in angel blood, thirsty to burn unbelievers.

Only the janissaries can stand against them. Their living legend, Kevah, once beheaded a magus amid a hail of ice daggers. But ever since his wife disappeared, he spends his days in a haze of hashish and poetry.

To save the kingdom, Kevah must conquer his grief and become the legend he once was. But Micah writes his own legend in blood, and his righteous conquest will stop at nothing.

When the gods choose sides, a legend will be etched upon the stars.

Review

I first noticed this book a while back when I spotted the cover on Twitter. Who can blame me, right? It’s astounding and really sets up the tone of the whole book. Gunmetal Gods is pretty dark and fairly bleak at that. But, it works. This is a tale of grief, revenge, ambition, religious zealotry, and rage. It’s a military fantasy based on Middle Eastern history, especially that of the Ottoman Empire and the Crusades, with a distinctly Lovecraftian twist.

I rested and ate and drank. I prayed and gave thanks to the Archangel. Then I cleaned my sword of bloodstains to make space for more.

The worldbuilding is easily the most impressive aspect of Gunmetal Gods. The scope and breadth of the world that Akhtar has built continued to impress me as layer upon layer was woven into the narrative. The story focuses on two countries, empires in their own rights, with vastly differing cultures and the exploration of those differences played out through the two opposing main character’s points of view. The Middle Eastern inspiration was evident from the start, with one culture clearly representing Middle Eastern culture, such as the Ottoman Empire and Islam, with the other, that of the Crucian Empire, representing Western society and Christianity. The whole conflict itself is reminiscent of the Crusades, with the Crucians waging a holy war on the city of Kostany, the site of the holiest place in the Crucian religion, but which has been under the control of the Sirmian Empire and the seat of Sirm’s ruling Shah. Adding on to that are the fantastic elements, such as the magi, the djinn who give them their magic, and yes, the gods themselves.

At the heart of this particular conflict are our two MCs, Micah the Metal and Kevah, and the story is driven by their opposing narratives. Micah is an Imperator from the Holy Empire of Crucis and a zealot of the Archangels. He leads his army with a holy purpose, to retake the holy city of Kostany from the worshippers of Lat. Kevah, on the other hand, is ten years separated from his days of warring. A washed-up, middle aged former slave and eventual war hero who wants to live the rest of his days in peace. See, Kevah was once the most respected man in Sirm, having the honor of being the only man in remembrance to kill a magus, but all that ended when his wife disappeared ten years prior. His legend is precisely what pulls him back into conflict, however, with the Shah asking him to do the impossible for a second time and hunt down and kill a rogue magus. This is where the story begins, but our MCs are soon carried away by the breakneck speed of the plot, which at times might be a tad too fast. Don’t get me wrong, there’s never a dull moment, but I’d have liked for there to be a few lulls in the pace to catch my breath.

The truth: plotters and planners ruled the world, and to win, I’d have to do things I hated. Until now, I’d been living wrong. I’d been clinging to peace, when war was eternal. It was the inevitable, and you either won or watched everyone you love choke on blood.

What I really love about Gunmetal Gods is the fact that it is in turns extremely easy or unbelievably difficult to root for either character. Throughout the book, I wavered between feelings of total sympathy and those of disgust. Both Micah and Kevah experience the worst kind of grief imaginable and experience setbacks and personal tragedies aplenty and they way in which they express that grief is often through rage and brutal violence. Both sides believe they are in the right, with Crucis believing the capture and cleansing of Kostany is anointed by the Archangels themselves and the Latian’s believing their hundreds of years of holding Kostany as enough justification to continue. Akhtar excels at showing war as it truly is, a grey area in which there is no clear hero, but often many, many victims.

I really enjoyed my time with Gunmetal Gods and I can’t wait to get lost in its sequel. From the beginning, I was swept away by the incredible worldbuilding and sweeping narrative. The real-world inspiration grounded the story and leant a lot of credibility to it, but the inventiveness in the worldbuilding was the real star for me. A decidedly dark and bleak tale, Gunmetal Gods nevertheless had me on the edge of my seat with its blistering pace, but I wish there was a little more time to sit quietly with the characters. Micah and Kevah are true leading men and watching their stories unfold was both exciting and heartbreaking in turn. Akhtar told them with an unflinchingly honest look at the realities of war and what loss and grief will do to a person.

“We’re all good men until we’re pushed to the edge. Then you either die a good man, or the good man in you dies.”


Filed Under: Dark Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Fantasy, Reviews, Self Published Tagged With: Self Published, Zamil Akhtar

About Justin

Justin is a lover of all things SFF and has been an avid reader since he was three. He is attempting to build the world’s largest private library (not really, but ask his wife and she might agree). Justin is always excited to gush over his favorite reads, which more often than not are also his latest reads. His likes trend toward sweeping epics, with complex characters and even more complex plots. Until recently he was totally against romance, but certain books have shown him that it can be done well. He currently has a love/hate relationship with grimdark.

Other Reviews You Might Like

Team Review: The Given Day by Dennis Lehane ft. Krystle Matar & C.M. Caplan

Tread of Angels by Rebecca Roanhorse

Review: Blindspace (Book #2 of The Common) by Jeremy Szal

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Sponsored By

Use Discount Code FANFI For 5% Off!

Follow FanFi!

Sign up for updates and get FREE stories from Michael R. Fletcher and Richard Ford!

What Would You Like To See?(Required)
Please select the type of content you want to receive from FanFi Addict. You can even mix and match if you want!

FFA Recommends

Get This Book
Get This Book
Get This Book
Get This Book

Recent Reviews

Recent Comments

  1. James on Review: Gardens of the Moon (Malazan Book of the Fallen #1) by Steven EriksonMarch 25, 2023
  2. Adrian M. Gibson on Author Roundtable: Indie Marketing (with Kian N. Ardalan, Ryan Cahill, Aparna Verma & Gourav Mohanty)March 23, 2023
  3. zidane on Review: A Fractured Infinity by Nathan TavaresMarch 14, 2023
  4. Gary Weston on Bender’s Top 10 Fights in Fantasy BooksMarch 14, 2023
  5. David S on My Top 15 Favorite Male Anime Protagonists (So Far)March 13, 2023

Archive

Copyright © 2023 · Powered by ModFarm Sites · Log In