When Shadows Fall ( The Small Gods #1) by Bruce Blake

When Shadows Fall
( The Small Gods #1)
by Bruce Blake

Synopsis From Goodreads:

A hundred hundred seasons have turned since the Goddess banished the Small Gods to the sky, leaving the land to mankind alone.

For Prince Teryk, life behind the castle walls is boring and uneventful until he stumbles upon an arcane scroll in a long-forgotten chamber. The parchment speaks of Small Gods, the fall of man, and the kingdom's savior—the firstborn child of the rightful king. It's his opportunity to prove himself to his father, the king, and assure his place in history. All he needs to do is find the man from across the sea—a man who can't possibly exist—and save mankind.

But ancient magic has been put in motion by a mysterious cult determined to see the Small Gods reborn. Powerful forces clash, uncaring for the lives of mortals in their struggle to prevent the return of the banished ones, or aid in their rebirth.

Named in a prophecy or not, what chance does a cocky prince who barely understands the task laid before him stand in a battle with the gods?

My Review

5/5

I received a copy of this for my honest review

Before the review I'd like to say I really like this cover! 

This story was written from many point of views but they changed in a way that there was no trouble following it. 

We are first introduced to a pair of priest/priestess twins who are experiencing the wrath of the Goddess and they have different ideas about wether to pass a warning to future generations or not. 

We meet Horace a crude sailor who is traveling the seas when he ends up overboard and washed up on shore. He meets an interesting individual who seems to want to help him out but Horace can’t help to wonder what he’d want in return. Seeing a sailing companion brings out the worst in Horace and towards the end has him running into an interesting character. 

The Twins Princess Danya and Prince Teryk we meet them as the Princess convinces her brother to go on an adventure in which the come upon a hidden place and a magic scroll. They keep the scroll a secret but decide at one point to tell Trenan ( Teryk’s sword trainer and the one who keeps an eye on the twins) That does not bode well and the King ends up finding out. Teryk is pretty sure the scroll is talking about his fate and he partakes on an adventure that doesn’t go as planned and leaves Trenan and Danya searching for him. 

Teryk he seems to have good intentions and he really wants to uphold his destiny but they poor kid just makes some rather poor choices and at times acts too big for his ability. Especially when you find that Trenan hasn’t been training him to be as expert as a sword fighter as Teryk things he is. 

I love Danya’s free spirit and her love of adventure. She tells things like it is and has a soft spot for her brother she’s very loyal to him. 

When I first read about Thorn he was trying to talk a bird into letting him fly over the veil with him. When he does convince one into taking him over the green veil it seems his ability to talk to them becomes void and he gets himself into some trouble. He comes back towards the end of the story in which (to me) he becomes more interesting of a character and I’m wondering how he is going to play more in this story. 

There is also a servant to the Goddess named Ailyssa she is to give birth to girls for the Goddess yet she has given birth to boys. How far will Ailyssa go to conceive a girl for the Goddess? 

I got completely engrossed in this story. The characters all had their own little side stories and I am excited to keep reading and see how they come together. It has plenty of action, magic, mystery and humor. The ending was a wonderful cliffhanger! When I finished I was confused and more interested in what is going to happen in the rest of the series. I keep thinking about it and trying to piece possible ways these characters might come together or affect each other. 

Fantasy, action, humor, mystery, and some crude language