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Hawk & Fisher #3
Bogobójca
Kolejny tom przygód Strażników Przystani. Kapitan Hawk i Fisher zostają przydzieleni do prób schwytania zabójcy bóstw. Zginęły już trzy bóstwa, wzmagają się zamieszki uliczne, a do sprawy wciąż wtrąca się golem kierowany przez nieżyjącego czarodzieja. Dopiero gdy strażnicy trafiają na ślad tajnej organizacji zwanej Klubem Ognia Piekielnego, łamigłówka powoli zaczyna się układać w logiczną całość.
207 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1991
5 people are currently reading
469 people want to read
About the author
Simon R. Green
312 books3,211 followersSimon Richard Green is a British science fiction and fantasy-author. He holds a degree in Modern English and American Literature from the University of Leicester. His first publication was in 1979.
His Deathstalker series is partly a parody of the usual space-opera of the 1950s, told with sovereign disregard of the rules of probability, while being at the same time extremely bloodthirsty.
Excerpted from Wikipedia.
His Deathstalker series is partly a parody of the usual space-opera of the 1950s, told with sovereign disregard of the rules of probability, while being at the same time extremely bloodthirsty.
Excerpted from Wikipedia.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
September 13, 2017
The third 'Hawk and Fisher' novel is the sort of thing it feels hard to review fairly: because it's good enough for it to be frustrating that it isn't better. It's hard not to be harsh on it for its flaws - slightness, shallowness, lack of care and polish, and so on - and hard to make clear amid that just how many virtues it has - it's enjoyable, sometimes funny, clever, surprisingly complex (and different!) in its characterisations, genuinely well-written in its set-pieces, at times quite tense, and overall a great deal of fun.
As with its predecessors, The God Killer is an odd whodunnit-in-fantasyland genre mash-up, in which Our Heroes, the cynical but good-hearted married cops, Hawk and Fisher, investigate a murder in Waterdeep-with-the-serial-numbers-filed-off. This time, it's the little matter of the mysterious murders of three gods (well... beings...) in the city's mind-and-reality-bending Street of Gods, and as a result they have to co-operate with the dedicated 'God Squad' cops - a famous swordsman-adventurer, an embittered druid, and a socially-maladroit wizard. Oh, and there's also some business with a self-replicating sorceror, a brutally sadistic serial killer and a quite literal Hellfire Club.
It's great fun, and an intriguing, if not quite enthralling, little puzzle, which Green unfolds for us with an old-fashioned storyteller's dexterity. It perhaps lacks the core brilliant idea of the original Hawk and Fisher, but in all other respects this third installment is a considerable technical improvement on its predecessors. It may actually be a better starting point - although there are throwaway mentions of things related to the earlier cases, you don't really need to have read them to enjoy this, and this only very peripherally 'spoils' the earlier two (and then only if you pay attention and have a good memory for details).
So it's a shame that it's not better. This is a very slight novel, both in thematic and in literal weight: less a through-written novel, it almost feels, than a string of great set-pieces that the author has reluctantly attached with hurried scene-changes and infodumps. The plot works, but for the novel to really hit home as hard as it could the author would need to have spent much more time fleshing out the details and allowing the tension and misdirection to build. It's frustrating, because in different ways both this novel and his more substantial Blue Moon Rising show Green's potential as a serious fantasy novelist, yet he seems to have chosen the path of least resistance, churning out novel after novel of fluffy bagatelle that wouldn't be objectionable in the least if he weren't clearly capable of something more.
[That said, I've not yet read the sequels to Blue Moon, which I assume will lean in more to his strengths in characterisation and semi-horror].
What we're left with is a novel that's unlikely to show up on many to-read lists - "like Pratchett but not as good" or "a weird Forgotten Realms novel written by someone who doesn't know how Forgotten Realms works" aren't descriptions that throw a book to the top of the must-read pile for most people. And that's perfectly right: there's not much reason why, more than twenty years later, people would remember this book.
And yet that's also a shame. Because there's an important place for unimportant books. There's a steady stream of enjoyable-but-not-great fantasy churned out by the publishers, and a whole flood of it disgorged by the self-publishing sector, and a lot of readers who enjoy it. And the thing is: I'm pretty sure that The God Killer, for all its flaws, is better than a lot of those books. At the very least... it's more unusual! (in a sort of paradoxically cliché fashion).
So if you're looking for an Important Classic, stay away. But if you're a fan of fantasy, and perhaps a fan of murder mysteries or police procedurals as well, and you're looking for a quick read that's only a couple of hundred pages that's at once comfortingly familiar and pleasantly unexpected, you could honestly do a lot worse than pick up The God Killer.
Fuller (or at least more meandering) review over here.
As with its predecessors, The God Killer is an odd whodunnit-in-fantasyland genre mash-up, in which Our Heroes, the cynical but good-hearted married cops, Hawk and Fisher, investigate a murder in Waterdeep-with-the-serial-numbers-filed-off. This time, it's the little matter of the mysterious murders of three gods (well... beings...) in the city's mind-and-reality-bending Street of Gods, and as a result they have to co-operate with the dedicated 'God Squad' cops - a famous swordsman-adventurer, an embittered druid, and a socially-maladroit wizard. Oh, and there's also some business with a self-replicating sorceror, a brutally sadistic serial killer and a quite literal Hellfire Club.
It's great fun, and an intriguing, if not quite enthralling, little puzzle, which Green unfolds for us with an old-fashioned storyteller's dexterity. It perhaps lacks the core brilliant idea of the original Hawk and Fisher, but in all other respects this third installment is a considerable technical improvement on its predecessors. It may actually be a better starting point - although there are throwaway mentions of things related to the earlier cases, you don't really need to have read them to enjoy this, and this only very peripherally 'spoils' the earlier two (and then only if you pay attention and have a good memory for details).
So it's a shame that it's not better. This is a very slight novel, both in thematic and in literal weight: less a through-written novel, it almost feels, than a string of great set-pieces that the author has reluctantly attached with hurried scene-changes and infodumps. The plot works, but for the novel to really hit home as hard as it could the author would need to have spent much more time fleshing out the details and allowing the tension and misdirection to build. It's frustrating, because in different ways both this novel and his more substantial Blue Moon Rising show Green's potential as a serious fantasy novelist, yet he seems to have chosen the path of least resistance, churning out novel after novel of fluffy bagatelle that wouldn't be objectionable in the least if he weren't clearly capable of something more.
[That said, I've not yet read the sequels to Blue Moon, which I assume will lean in more to his strengths in characterisation and semi-horror].
What we're left with is a novel that's unlikely to show up on many to-read lists - "like Pratchett but not as good" or "a weird Forgotten Realms novel written by someone who doesn't know how Forgotten Realms works" aren't descriptions that throw a book to the top of the must-read pile for most people. And that's perfectly right: there's not much reason why, more than twenty years later, people would remember this book.
And yet that's also a shame. Because there's an important place for unimportant books. There's a steady stream of enjoyable-but-not-great fantasy churned out by the publishers, and a whole flood of it disgorged by the self-publishing sector, and a lot of readers who enjoy it. And the thing is: I'm pretty sure that The God Killer, for all its flaws, is better than a lot of those books. At the very least... it's more unusual! (in a sort of paradoxically cliché fashion).
So if you're looking for an Important Classic, stay away. But if you're a fan of fantasy, and perhaps a fan of murder mysteries or police procedurals as well, and you're looking for a quick read that's only a couple of hundred pages that's at once comfortingly familiar and pleasantly unexpected, you could honestly do a lot worse than pick up The God Killer.
Fuller (or at least more meandering) review over here.
June 4, 2024
"No one encounters the Darkness and comes away unscathed"
"They walked on a while in silence. In the Street of Gods the time of day fluctuated from place to place, so that they walked sometimes in daylight and sometimes in moonlight. Once it snowed briefly, and rained frogs, and the stars in the sky outshone the sun. Gargoyles wept blood, and statues stirred on their pedestals. Once, Hawk looked down a side alley and saw a skeleton, held together by copper wire, beating its skull against a stone wall over and over again, and for a time a flock of burning birds followed their party down the Street, singing shrilly..."
Simon R. Green's The God Killer is the third in his Hawk and Fisher series. It again shows the two City Guards of Haven solving a mystical crime, this time on the Street of Gods which is an imaginative creation where the laws of nature don't really apply including the existence of bizarre weather patterns. As in Green's first two novels, Hawk wields his axe and Fisher her sword as they go from place to place interviewing suspects and resolving violence along the way. They are a tough duo, and refuse to compromise. The mystery which the couple have to solve in Green's third offering deals with the murder of some of the various "gods" in the sundry religious institutions. God in the overall novel is not monotheistic, although each individual church considers it so. Interestingly enough at one point in the novel, Hawk states that he is a Christian.
All in all, this is quite an interesting novel with its fantasy aspect coupled with the murder mystery that requires the investigation of the two heroes. In my opinion, it is entertaining, and expertly written with well developed characters. On the other hand, it is not a novel that teaches anything in the way of wisdom, life, or principals. It is simply a fun story, and should be read as such. For anyone that enjoys mysteries combined with fantasy, you can't go wrong with this series.
"They walked on a while in silence. In the Street of Gods the time of day fluctuated from place to place, so that they walked sometimes in daylight and sometimes in moonlight. Once it snowed briefly, and rained frogs, and the stars in the sky outshone the sun. Gargoyles wept blood, and statues stirred on their pedestals. Once, Hawk looked down a side alley and saw a skeleton, held together by copper wire, beating its skull against a stone wall over and over again, and for a time a flock of burning birds followed their party down the Street, singing shrilly..."
Simon R. Green's The God Killer is the third in his Hawk and Fisher series. It again shows the two City Guards of Haven solving a mystical crime, this time on the Street of Gods which is an imaginative creation where the laws of nature don't really apply including the existence of bizarre weather patterns. As in Green's first two novels, Hawk wields his axe and Fisher her sword as they go from place to place interviewing suspects and resolving violence along the way. They are a tough duo, and refuse to compromise. The mystery which the couple have to solve in Green's third offering deals with the murder of some of the various "gods" in the sundry religious institutions. God in the overall novel is not monotheistic, although each individual church considers it so. Interestingly enough at one point in the novel, Hawk states that he is a Christian.
All in all, this is quite an interesting novel with its fantasy aspect coupled with the murder mystery that requires the investigation of the two heroes. In my opinion, it is entertaining, and expertly written with well developed characters. On the other hand, it is not a novel that teaches anything in the way of wisdom, life, or principals. It is simply a fun story, and should be read as such. For anyone that enjoys mysteries combined with fantasy, you can't go wrong with this series.
May 12, 2014
This book took a little while for me to get into it, but it won me over by the end. This is a heroic fantasy version of a police procedural, a fantasy buddy cop novel starring Hawk and Fisher. This time out the duo is assigned to the God Division to investigate the murders of three gods on The Street of the Gods. The writing early on is fairly plain and can wander into the cliche, it begins to pick up its own rhythm and character by end. The fantasy portion of the book is handled well, the mystery less so, as there isn't so much a seeding of clues as there is a sudden "aha" moment where the characters suddenly realize the answer. That being said, I didn't really mind so much as plot is just a skeleton to hang the meat of the story on, and there are some neat little touches by the end that I enjoyed, particularly the connection between the wizard Tomb and the dying god Le Bel Inconnu. A fun, quick read, not earth shattering by any means, but a decent enough effort.
January 8, 2021
Una novela muy disfrutable que se lee de una sentada. Muchas veces no importa tanto el valor literario de un libro como la diversión que proporciona. En este caso, uno no puede evitar caer por el encanto de los personajes, el ambiente y la mezcla de géneros (pues se trata de un procedimental donde un pareja de investigadores se encarga de resolver una serie de asesinatos, en un escenario de espada y brujería).
La única pega que le puedo pone es que es pretendidamente ligera, como si fuera la transcripción de una partida de rol inspirada. Quizás con un poco más de cariño podría haber quedado una trama más satisfactoria, menos teledirigida desde el principio y menos evidente.
Me hice este tercer volumen de ‘Las aventuras de Hawk y Fisher” cuando Timun Mas saldó su catálogo en su momento y ahora me parece una pena no haber podido rescatar más. En mi corazón, esto tendría que haber sido adaptado para televisión en los ochenta, con Kurt Russell y una Goldie Hawn de metro ochenta como protagonistas.
La única pega que le puedo pone es que es pretendidamente ligera, como si fuera la transcripción de una partida de rol inspirada. Quizás con un poco más de cariño podría haber quedado una trama más satisfactoria, menos teledirigida desde el principio y menos evidente.
Me hice este tercer volumen de ‘Las aventuras de Hawk y Fisher” cuando Timun Mas saldó su catálogo en su momento y ahora me parece una pena no haber podido rescatar más. En mi corazón, esto tendría que haber sido adaptado para televisión en los ochenta, con Kurt Russell y una Goldie Hawn de metro ochenta como protagonistas.
September 9, 2021
Between a 4 and a 5 for me this one, builds nicely on the previous two novels, and returns to a more whodunnit sort of book, but has a good amount of action as well as mystery here, pulling the best parts of the prior two stories, and is also predominantly set in the Street of Gods, my favourite part of the setting so far.
It builds on the Street of Gods well, without ruining any of the mystery or weirdness of it, and indeed we get a good closer look at some of the Beings present, and how varied and different they are.
More new characters here, with some mention of ones we already new, again generally pretty well rounded, and lead to some good interactions with Hawk & Fisher, who are in good form again here.
It was somewhat harder to pick the whodunnit here, but was explained well by the end, and can see how it all ties together.
All round a good story, and a good finish to the first omnibus of the Hawk & Fisher novels.
It builds on the Street of Gods well, without ruining any of the mystery or weirdness of it, and indeed we get a good closer look at some of the Beings present, and how varied and different they are.
More new characters here, with some mention of ones we already new, again generally pretty well rounded, and lead to some good interactions with Hawk & Fisher, who are in good form again here.
It was somewhat harder to pick the whodunnit here, but was explained well by the end, and can see how it all ties together.
All round a good story, and a good finish to the first omnibus of the Hawk & Fisher novels.
November 11, 2023
Hawk and Fisher area a married team of city guardsmen in the city of Haven. The guard acts as a modern police force armed with swords and magic and charged with keeping the peace in Haven, which is a city based in a fantasy world. They have been sent to the Street of Gods to help the guardsmen there (called the god squad). It seems three beings of power have recently been murdered and the other gods and priests are getting nervous.
How do you kill a god like being, in their place of power, surrounded by their faithful, and leave no clues? This is what Hawk and Fisher have to figure out and quickly. Like all good detectives they need to visit the scenes of the crimes and try to determine how the murders were done but also try and discover the motive of the killer.
The book is fairly fast paced. There's a few interesting twists but when enough clues have been revealed the reader shouldn't be surprised by the reveal.
How do you kill a god like being, in their place of power, surrounded by their faithful, and leave no clues? This is what Hawk and Fisher have to figure out and quickly. Like all good detectives they need to visit the scenes of the crimes and try to determine how the murders were done but also try and discover the motive of the killer.
The book is fairly fast paced. There's a few interesting twists but when enough clues have been revealed the reader shouldn't be surprised by the reveal.
April 3, 2021
The bad first. The descriptions of Hawk and Fisher are pretty much cut and pasted from the earlier novels. The exposition is lengthy and the dialogue can feel repetitive at times. However, I bloody loved the rest of it. It’s exciting, funny and pushes the two leads in slightly new directions. Also, I only did a cursory skim through Google but I think there might be a case to be made for Mr Green being a forerunner for the “New Weird” movement that seemed to be all the rage about 20 years back. The Eldritch horror is a little lacking, nor is the prose a particularly non-Euclidean shade of purple, but Haven and its denizens would fit nicely in among the inhabitants of China Mieville’s Bas-Lag. Hmmm... I wonder if anyone’s written a fanfic about the Captains chasing down the Weaver or Jack Half-a-prayer...
October 27, 2018
¡Cómo disfruté este libro!
Va a ser difícil volver a leer sobre el Haven común después de haber estado en la Calle de los Dioses ;)
Me gustó todo: Hawk y Fisher, como siempre, geniales en su cinismo y aparente brutalidad (me da gracia que la gente en general piense que es al azar, cuando son tan medidos en realidad). La Brigada de los Dioses, todos tipos interesantes llenos de secretos. La Calle de los Dioses y sus personajes... bueno... espectacular. No quería salir de ahí nunca. Me hubiera encantado que todos los demás libros transcurran ahí.
El caso está bien armado, es original e interesante. Si bien me di cuenta enseguida de uno de los culpables, todo lo demás y el giro final me sorprendieron mucho. Lo recomiendo un montón :D
Va a ser difícil volver a leer sobre el Haven común después de haber estado en la Calle de los Dioses ;)
Me gustó todo: Hawk y Fisher, como siempre, geniales en su cinismo y aparente brutalidad (me da gracia que la gente en general piense que es al azar, cuando son tan medidos en realidad). La Brigada de los Dioses, todos tipos interesantes llenos de secretos. La Calle de los Dioses y sus personajes... bueno... espectacular. No quería salir de ahí nunca. Me hubiera encantado que todos los demás libros transcurran ahí.
El caso está bien armado, es original e interesante. Si bien me di cuenta enseguida de uno de los culpables, todo lo demás y el giro final me sorprendieron mucho. Lo recomiendo un montón :D
March 27, 2025
The city of Haven has a street where all the temples of all the gods are. The street is probably the strangest in the city. And somebody has been killing gods.
Since that would cause significant unrest, it falls to Capts. Hawk & Fisher to solve the murders and stop the murderer.
As a murder mystery, it's not bad, with interesting suspects of a variety of types. And the mystery is treated fairly, with all the necessary information given to the reader. The climax of the mystery is a bit abrupt and unsignaled, though.
Entertaining enough, but nothing really special.
Since that would cause significant unrest, it falls to Capts. Hawk & Fisher to solve the murders and stop the murderer.
As a murder mystery, it's not bad, with interesting suspects of a variety of types. And the mystery is treated fairly, with all the necessary information given to the reader. The climax of the mystery is a bit abrupt and unsignaled, though.
Entertaining enough, but nothing really special.
September 18, 2019
This was good for what it was. Another in the crime/detective fantasy series written in the late 80s / early 90s. The characters don’t really grow or change much, but they do kick some ass, and that, as always, is commendable.
Only three or four of these left to go. Not sure where the author will choose to go next.
Only three or four of these left to go. Not sure where the author will choose to go next.
January 31, 2017
А, тук вече си говорим! :) Великолепна фантазия, огромен пантеон от всякакви извратени божества (или Същества...), неизвестен до последния момент Богоубиец... Много добре! :) започна да става интересно... :)
June 8, 2019
Fantasy detektivka na pohodové bazénové odpoledne. Manželé dostanou shůry prioritní úkol v Uličce Bohů. Vyšetřit vraždu 3 božích bytostí. Jak jinak to samozřejmě souvisí s případem, na kterém zrovna dělali. A máme tu klasickou hledanou vraha v netradičním prostředí. Taková jednohubka k opalování.
November 14, 2017
LOVE Hawk and Fisher!!
March 31, 2019
It's like nightside in haven oO
August 3, 2019
Pomerne prijemne citanie, i ked stale plati, ze odhadnut vraha sa da najneskor pri konci druhej tretiny knihy...
January 26, 2023
Foi o da EllaMevil.
Perfeito, explendido, maravilhoso.
Conseguiu construir ainda mlhor que na primeira versão, tocante e emocionante... aguarod por mais!
Perfeito, explendido, maravilhoso.
Conseguiu construir ainda mlhor que na primeira versão, tocante e emocionante... aguarod por mais!
January 4, 2022
The God Killer is another fun fantasy romp from Simon R Green. If you're a fan of his work, you'll know exactly what to expect here. Fast action, fun one-liners and a wonderfully realised world full of horrible people just waiting for their uppance to come.
While the formula might be tried and tested, that doesn't make the book less surprising or fun. The Street of Gods is a fantastic place to set a story, and the author has filled it with a tremendous variety of characters and institutions. I could read a hundred stories set here and never get tired. Hawk and Fisher are back to their best, and the new characters he throws in each are fully formed and interesting in their own right.
I didn't see the ending coming, and it was a thoroughly enjoyable read from start to finish - a perfectly sized bite of fantasy mayhem that I'd recommend everyone to read.
While the formula might be tried and tested, that doesn't make the book less surprising or fun. The Street of Gods is a fantastic place to set a story, and the author has filled it with a tremendous variety of characters and institutions. I could read a hundred stories set here and never get tired. Hawk and Fisher are back to their best, and the new characters he throws in each are fully formed and interesting in their own right.
I didn't see the ending coming, and it was a thoroughly enjoyable read from start to finish - a perfectly sized bite of fantasy mayhem that I'd recommend everyone to read.
December 3, 2015
3.5 stars.
5 star rating system is really insufficient for rating all the books. So I just add a decimal point from now one in my ratings. And I don't rate books in different genres on the same scale. There are books for children that are 5 star in my opinion, but that doesn't mean I think they are equal to a scientific 5 star book.
Enough about the rating system.
The God Killer was a typical sequel of this series, nothing really special. Not as fun as the previous one. There were some mystery involved, not as much as the first one.
And I'm sure the universe is the same as the Nightside series.
I recommend it if you liked the previous books.
5 star rating system is really insufficient for rating all the books. So I just add a decimal point from now one in my ratings. And I don't rate books in different genres on the same scale. There are books for children that are 5 star in my opinion, but that doesn't mean I think they are equal to a scientific 5 star book.
Enough about the rating system.
The God Killer was a typical sequel of this series, nothing really special. Not as fun as the previous one. There were some mystery involved, not as much as the first one.
And I'm sure the universe is the same as the Nightside series.
I recommend it if you liked the previous books.
February 25, 2009
A killer is on the loose and it is up to Hawk and Fisher to figure out the murderer. The victims: Gods, on The Street of Gods. Now they must find the murderer before a war among the Gods breaks out.
Another great book in the series that only fuels my belief that they are the Prince and Princess from Blue Moon Rising.
Another great book in the series that only fuels my belief that they are the Prince and Princess from Blue Moon Rising.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 2, 2012
первые две книги читались с трудом, русский перевод чем-то подсознательно бесил. с третьей перешла на английский - и вся серия неожиданно заиграла новыми красками.
Из The God Killer вышел бы неплохой фильм: мужественные герои, интересный антураж - одна из самых загадочных улиц Хэйвена, Улица Богов, непостижимые существа, убийства, расследования, и парочка тайн)
Из The God Killer вышел бы неплохой фильм: мужественные герои, интересный антураж - одна из самых загадочных улиц Хэйвена, Улица Богов, непостижимые существа, убийства, расследования, и парочка тайн)
June 4, 2014
This was a well written action story. Don't expect emotional angst--they're always snarky when things get tense. Don't expect amazing world building--aside from some creative magical beings it's a very standard medieval world. But if you want fun and a murder mystery with some decent plot twists then you'd enjoy this book. Think Lethal Weapon minus the depression and plus magic bad guys.
December 14, 2015
This one was very good. I always love when Simon Green takes us to the Street of the Gods. The beings in the Nightside always seem a bit darker and more powerful than in Hawk & Fisher, but i still love it. While i did kinda see the ending coming there was a good bit of twisting to it. Reading this book really makes me miss The Nightside Series.
December 8, 2011
Solid swords & sorecery adventure. Hawk and Fisher must discover a mysterious God Killer. The story is gritty, fast paced and surprisingly tragic. If you like "The Nightside' you will like this book as well.
July 9, 2009
I liked it a bit less well than the first one.
April 7, 2014
Reread in 2014.
Man, do I love these books. Some of my favorites sword and sorcery books.
Man, do I love these books. Some of my favorites sword and sorcery books.
July 16, 2015
Good combination of mystery and sword-and-sorcery fantasy. I really like these Hawk & Fisher books - they're well done.
November 21, 2015
My favorite Hawk & Fisher yet. :)
May 11, 2016
3.5 stars. I expected a bigger plot twist but it was well written, aside from the description of hawk and fisher, which were pretty much copied and pasted from the previous book.
August 25, 2016
Good read a page Turner
August 11, 2011
Another good story about Hawk and Fisher.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews