Garden-of-Stars

Some books have a very slow first 50-100 pages, after which the pace picks up to the point where it makes one relieved to have kept reading. With "Lost Gods", the entire book had that sluggish and description-saturated writing that make the process of reading feel like something being doing through force rather than enjoyment. Which is a shame, considering the book has potential, but will also appeal to some readers.

The only conclusion I can make with any certainty is that this book isn't for me. From the beginning it felt like a cross between fantasy, mythology, and horror, leaning more towards a latter in a way that just isn't part of my personal tastes. It was hard to connect with Chet, or any of the characters really, because the lengthy exposition and slow pacing of the story took up much of the energy in order to just focus on what was happening. The trope of going down to the underworld is a common one and didn't do much to impress me, though the ideas of gods being forgotten and existing in the world beyond was quite an interesting one, particularly because of the way the story mixes a variety of mythologies into one.

Despite that the only impression I had of the book was that it was quite dull, and a little uncomfortable in its details and writing style at times. For some people this will be appealing, but I'm certainly not Brom's target audience. My lack of experience with his work is another disadvantage, as I didn't know what to expect when picking this up. It'll be either a hit or a miss depending on personal taste. For me it missed the mark and won't be sticking in the memory for long.