By Kameron Hurley, Night Shade Books, $14.99, 288 pages
In a desolate world where black market organ sales are a man source of income and magicians use bugs to work their magic, peace is the only thing that hasn’t been achieved. Nyx is the main character in Kameron Hurley’s novel God’s War. She’s a former government assassin who does anything to stay alive, including selling her womb to the highest bidder, cutting off heads for cash, and serving a brutal prison term. On this ravaged futuristic world, ethnicity determines social standing and people are lucky if they can avoid contamination from the biological weapons used daily the centuries old holy war raging over the border. Nyx gathers together a group of rag-tag mercenaries to carry out one last assassination – one that may finally end the war. Hurley has created a world and characters that are both fascinatingly alien and familiar. The unique plot is not revealed all at once, but rather keeps the reader in suspense from page to page. It is really unlike any sci-fi/fantasy book available. Let’s hope another adventure is soon on the way.
Reviewed by Kathryn Franklin