God of Manna by Daeus Lamb
God of Manna by Daeus Lamb
This little novella was quite unique, fascinating, and very well written. However, at the end I didn’t enjoy it quite as much as I thought I may in the beginning.
As I already mentioned, this book was very well written with poetic phrasing and wonderful descriptions of a land ruled by the God of Manna and his loyal high priests. This land is split into two areas; the outsiders who live outside the wall in a desolate wasteland and the insiders who live inside the wall with plentiful food, crops and gorgeously tended plants and flowers. It was almost a dystopian setting but also somewhat mythological which made for an interesting and complex world.
The concept of the novella dealt with complex themes of morality and ‘what truly lasts’. Again this added to the uniqueness of the novella and Lamb’s writing style.
Although I liked all of these aspects, I did find myself confused at times. In the beginning, we are introduced to an outsider character where the scenes are a bit more mythological. Very quickly, we are introduced to Mortristan who is dealing with his father’s death and what he can do to help his people and the outsiders. Along the way we are introduced to some mysterious and almost god-like characters, but yet the God of Manna rules all, so what does this mean for Mortristan? And that is where I got fully lost. I was confused as to who some of the characters truly were and what was the full point of Mortristan’s rebellion and actions. Also, I was expecting to find out more about the first main character’s early life and was disappointed when we never circled back to him and the wind that took him away.
Overall, a enjoyable book in its writing style and uniqueness, but other readers may end up enjoying it more for its complexity and subtlety which required a bit more heavy thinking than I was expecting.
*I received a free copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.*
Synopsis: The hideous God of Manna has taken away the soul of Mortristan’s father. Now, it is Mortristan’s doom to find what his father never could: something worth living for. But when Mortristan is forced to hunt an intruder in the God of Manna’s paradise-city, he learns just how enslaved he is. As bad as life is with the God of Manna, it’s impossible to live without him. Can Mortristan really sacrifice everything he has to find just one thing that’s lasting?