Once in a blue moon you feel exhilarated and excited when you end a book, that’s what happened when I ended Gutter Prayer.
Reading this book was like living in a dark, complex and sometime frightening universe and forgetting about the real world around you.
I was a bit wary of the hype and I didn’t know what to expect. This book surpassed any expectations and it a great reading experience.
There were elements that reminded me of Tim Powers, Barbara Hambly and Lovecraft but the mix of epic fantasy, horror, and steampunk is fresh and original.
The world building is amazing, creating an entire universe with its rule and its pantheon.
The city, Guerdon, is one of the main characters with its history and its life, a fascinating character that evolve and I’m sure there will be more changes in the future.
The cast of characters was great, they were well written, tri-dimensional and you cannot help rooting for them.
My favourite were Cari, so frail and strong at the same time, and Spar, strong and so human in his sufferance.
The plot is exciting and enthralling, once you start you don’t want to stop reading and when you wake up from your reading trance you discover that you’re at 20% in a very short time.
There’s only one negative aspect: the book is so long and full of details and subplot that sometimes it slows down the pace or it seems that you’re being supplied too many details.
A wonderful reading experience and I hope I will be able to read the second instalment soon.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to Little, Brown Book Group UK (Orbit) and Netgalley for this ARC