Godwalker

by Greg Stolze

Democracy isn't just a good idea - it's the foundation of the universe all the way down. Ignorance is no excuse for the cops and creeps and exterminators whose desires shaped the world. Knowledge is a little power, a dangerous thing, to the cross-dressers and risk-takers who understand enough to damage the world more to their liking. They all collude and collide on a driverless ride, each trying to be the one to break the secret heart of the world. But only one can claim the prize of being the cosmos' corrupt ward boss. Only one can be the Godwalker.

Genres: Urban Fantasy, Fantasy, Horror, Fiction, Role Playing Games, Gaming

195 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Greg Stolze (born 1970) is an American novelist and writer, whose work has mainly focused on properties derived from role-playing games.

Stolze has contributed to numerous role-playing game books for White Wolf Game Studio and Atlas Games, including Demon: the Fallen. Some of Stolze's recent work has been self-published using the "ransom method", whereby the game is only released when enough potential buyers have contributed enough money to reach a threshold set by the author.

Together with John Tynes he created and wrote the role-playing game Unknown Armies, published by Atlas Games. He has also co-written the free game NEMESIS, which uses the One-Roll Engine presented in Godlike and the so called Madness Meter derived from Unknown Armies.

Reviews

[Kevin Veale · Rating 3 out of 5]

Godwalker is set within the same storytelling context as the Unknown Armies roleplaying-game, but I think it'd be entirely readable for people who've never encountered it before.

It feels to me like a Coen Brothers film, like No Country For Old Men, in some ways: a disparate set of people wind up on collision courses, some of them for reasons they barely understand, and then the audience gets carried along with all of the trains as they work inexorably closer to each other...

But where the Coen Brothers deal (mostly) with normal people in extraordinary and/or criminal circumstances - frequently of their own making - Godwalker adds in characters with access to supernatural powers and the occult... who might still be out of their depth when confronted with armed criminal goons who mistakenly believe they have something worth stealing.

The magic of Godwalker is grim and fearsome, but also very imaginative: it means you can do powerful things, but the cost is that you consume your life in the service of arcane rules, like barely being able to spend money and thus choosing to live as if destitute regardless of how much money you have, or endlessly paranoid that someone is going to come for you and steal the special beer stein that is the heart of your powers.

Magic, madness and obsession go hand in hand, and there are predators out there.

Godwalker is a tale of attempts to reunite parents with children accidentally swapped at birth, of crooked and honest cops, assassins, curses, demonic possession, and attempts to fundamentally change the world through personal ascension. A minor problem - among many others stirred up by the plot - is that ascension threatens an entity known only as The Freak. Attracting its attention is the kind of event plotted on actuarial tables, and universally agreed to be a bad move...

Greg Stolze is unflinching when it comes to presenting a broad number of flawed, human characters who feel very real, and delving into the moments of petty ugliness that happen even for mostly sympathetic people.

Godwalker isn't classical urban fantasy, since it's set among the lonely roads, motels and diners of Kansas and middle-america rather than the cities. I'd recommend it for those looking for refreshing and atypical urban/modern supernatural fare: there are no vampires or werewolves here, just people - no matter how twisted they've been by the decisions they've made - and it's their choices that are as important as their powers.

However, it's probably not for the squeamish - another point that reminds me of the Coen Brothers.

[Malcolm · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a pretty good first draft.

This is the Unknown Armies novel, a piece of fiction set in the universe of Greg Stolze's roleplaying game Unknown Armies. And UA is kind of a niche game to begin with and I think that is a lot of what holds this piece back.

The plot is pretty ok. A divorced couple meets back up unexpectedly to find their missing child who was switched at birth with a stranger's child twenty one years ago. Their child was conceived for mystically significant purposes and a cadre of occult forces are converging on them.

Unlike D&D, Unknown Armies does not have a huge following or long history of fiction. This means the narrative often digresses to explain game mechanics and concepts in a way that is very intrusive and inorganic. I can see why Stolze chose to do this. Unknown Armies has a very complex mythology and magic system and these notes would help the uninitiated understand what's going on but maybe an Unknown Armies novel doesn't have to be for the uninitiated.

In terms of representing UA, Godwalker does very well. The themes of the game are firmly established here. Magick requires sacrifice and the more power you want the bigger the sacrifice you have to offer. And by the end of this short novel incredible sacrifices are made and incredible powers are used. Obsession is a theme of the game, every character has one. We see, in the powerful avatar known as the Freak, the results of this obsession. The Freak drank acid to gain more power in the past, leaving its voice harsh and raspy. The Freak has chain links throughout their body, even run around their ribs. This is the price of power and any rational person would wonder, "Is it worth it?" Indeed, one of the Freak's encounters ends with their victim calling them pathetic and pointing out what their pursuit of power has led to.

Ultimately, it's a really good first draft but it could have used some cleaning up and polishing. The book is a fantastic introduction to the themes and mythology of Unknown Armies but falls short of being well executed fiction.

[Mikael Cerbing · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had not read the RPG before I read this book (but after reading it I think I will), so in the beginning it was quite confusing. I had some for-knowledge due to listening on a podcast about the world of unknowed armies and I think that helped a lot. To go in dry with this book would probably be quite hard. And that is the thing with quite a few books based on RPGs. You can help this in to ways I think. The better way is to spoon feed the reader like most authors do with all fantastic litterature, you show the world a little bit at a time. The other way is to make an info-dump in the beginning of the story, this is a quite on the nose for the reader, but it can work if you want to cut down on the page-count and get straight into the action.

This book was a 2 to 3 star book for quite some time. Stolze need to work some on his dialogue skills, as I found it a bit hard to follow who said what some times. And then that it took a while before I started to understand quite a few fundamentals of the world building. But in the end I quite liked this book. And I REALLY liked the magic system. Now I hope I can find more books based in this world, if anyone know any good one, please tell me.

[John Willson · Rating 5 out of 5]

So, magic is real, see? Magic, destiny, powers, curses, it's all there. But accessing it and using it requires acts much weirder than spells, séances or sacrifices. Think weirder. Nope, not weird enough, keep going. Weirder. WEIRDER. I'm not saying perverted or gross. And there's a logic to it, once you see it. It's just... nothing you would have guessed. You know, it's almost easier to forget the whole thing and get a good job. Money is its own form of magic power, isn't it?

But let's say you're not the high-earner type. Now. How far would you go to gain power? If you were born into the secret community of weirdos, and you have this grand destiny upon you, no matter how badly you just want a normal life... what would you do?

Whatever eventually happens, you know it's gonna get weird first.

Urban-fantasy adjacent, I guess. I'd rather call it speculative theosophical fiction. If you like broad and original world-building, solid characters, and sharp prose, this book's for you.

[Riddle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Feels good to finish a book once started, for once.

Okay, since the Unknown Armies are my hyperfix for the last half a year, it was indeed an insane trip, an occult underground stand-off filmed by Guy Ritchie with a few likable and relatable characters to boot.
Despite the whole sexuality and gender roles topic handled for drama here, I see how some things have aged badly over 30 years, and can perfectly understand why they were patched in UA 3rd Edition. Also Leslie is neither Kate's nor Ralph's son, he's mine, period.

[Gulnar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Greg Stolze is a genius and a madman, who blend effortlessly that taste of urban decay of the suburbs of america with the exotic atmosphere of occult magic. It's not urban fantasy in its common meaning, but something different, more well merged, complex and natural than it. It's not a perfect book - there are some confusing points, for example - but it's certainly a fantastic book that anyone interested in its themes or even in just reading a surprising, well-thought story should read.

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stole is a pretty good moment-to-moment writer and does action reasonable well. And I still think that Unknown Armies is a top tier fictional universe.

But Godwalker just sadly does not really live up to its potential. It needed to be longer and deeper, or shorter and weirder.

It’s fine; competent enough and it gets some points for its association with UA. I wanted more, though

[cristian m · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun urban fantasy/horror romp. Reads easily and quickly, due to its snappy writing and fast pace.
The pace is a bit too fast in the beginning and then gets bogged down a bit during the mid 2nd act.
Great world building and gripping hook

[Matthew Heslin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fiction from the Unknown Armies universe. Weird horror, good for gaming enthusiasts familiar with the setting or for people wishing to learn about it.

[VANGLUSS · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid entry into one of my favorite settings filled with gunplay, heartbreak, and postmodern magick galore.

[Linas]

Unexpectedly, it turned out to be extremely boring to the point I couldn't finish it.

[Maja Kvendseth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book because Greg Stolze (the author) is the man behind my favourite role-playing game, "Unknown Armies". The setting of the book is the same as the game - a world of post-modern magic - and although I don't think you need to have read the game material to enjoy the story (most things you need to know are explained as part of the narrative), I do think it helps with the layers.

The story centres around four people, but had chapters devoted to the viewpoints of a whole group of secondary characters. This helps the story progress much like a Cohen brothers movie (other readers made the comparison before me and I agree) - every person in the book have their own motivations and their own version of events, and the resulting confusion becomes readily apparent pretty early.

The main foursome is divorcees Frank and Kate Mundy, with their son Leslie, looking for their real son, Joe. Joe and Leslie were switched at birth and the reason Joe is so important to find, is that he is destined to become a Godwalker. What a Godwalker is, is someone who embodies a stereotype enough to become the ultimate symbol of that stereotype, thus gaining magical power. It sounds nuts, but is actually really cool (and dark) once you get it explained in the story. Joe is supposed to have been trained to become the Mystic Hermaphrodite, which is a stereotype forged in constant duality and who is acutely aware of the flow of the supernatural through that duality. In his stead, Leslie has been trained, but isn't nearly powerful enough to become Godwalker.

Among the secondary characters are a small town Sheriff, agents of The New Inquisition (read the book), the actual present Godwalker of the Mystic Hermaphrodite, and a few others.

Based on the storyline I would have given the book more than three stars. The reason I give only three is that I think some of the characters are less than well written - nothing really drives you to care for many of them - and that the story is typically male dominated, which I'm a little tired of. But that's just personal taste. I also wonder how much you might be missing if you haven't played the game or read the source material, because I have and even I struggled to follow some of the metaphysical stuff. Then again, since I have read the source material, I might have been too hung up on catergorizing the different supernatural effects on the book instead of just taking them as is. Who knows?

[Troy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Godwalker is set in the universe of the Unknown Armies role-playing game. It's a world of "postmodern magick" where symbology and belief are the fuel of the universe. The book chronicles the attempt of someone trying to depose a "Godwalker," someone who embodies a universal archetype. The book is pretty gritty, where magick has a cost, and bullets are more useful than fireballs.

While I enjoyed the book enough to give it 4 stars, it was not as well-written as a Tim Powers novel. The pacing was a little off, and the voice of the book was not as snappy as I would have liked.

That said, it is a good book with actions having powerful and often negative consequences. The characters are unique, to say the least, and they are well characterized. If you like modern paranormal fantasy which dives into conspiracy theory and explores the meanings of words and how they underpin the universe, this is the book for you.

[Charles · Rating 2 out of 5]

I want to preface this with the fact that I love Unknown Armies, and have also enjoyed other game books written by Stolze. But this book just didn't work, overall.

The writing was choppy, and clearly Stolze is more comfortable in RPG books and short fiction than in novels. The sex scene was...awkward and really could have been handled better by a fade to black. Finally, the trans issues were...well, he tried, I believe, but it didn't click (and the plot kind of relies on some of these issues)

The good, though. The characters all had distinct and interesting voices, especially the Freak. They generally acted plausibly, and the plot was fairly gripping. And of course, it's inspired me to run a CSI style game in a dark urban fantasy setting like UA or WoD.

[Barac Wiley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is technically licensed fiction - the setting and concepts are introduced in Stolze's bravura tabletop roleplaying game Unknown Armies. But Stolze is really a very good writer, and this is his own stuff he's working with. So the result is a tight, heartbreaking novel that's a bit like a Coen Brothers movie infused with (poisonously addictive) magic. Until fairly recently it wasn't that easy to get ahold of as it was never picked up by a publisher and only sold through Stolze's CafePress site. But fortunately, it is now available as an ebook through sources like DriveThruFiction and Amazon, quite inexpensively. Well worth the asking price and highly recommended.

[brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a novel based in the world of the Unknown Armies tabletop roleplaying game, one of the best rpgs ever. But this book could certain be read and enjoyed by someone who has never played the game. It stands perfectly fine on its own as a weird, creepy tale of modern magic and horror. All in all I think it's a damn fine piece of storytelling. Check it out.

[Alex Lampros · Rating 4 out of 5]

Greg Stolze's midwestern realism is always a lot of fun, but this novel will appeal mostly to the fans of the Unknown Armies RPG on which it is based. I continue to hope he'll do something with a broader appeal but he seems to have stopped writing.

[John Blacklaws · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short, sweet story set in the setting of the excellent RPG, Unknown Armies. Excellently written, well paced with believable (even when you don't like them, it's for believable reasons) that touch on the cornerstones of UA: Responsibility, Choices and Consequences. Also magic.

[Mike]

Currently reading, but get the feeling this is apparently tied to the Unknown Armies setting... which means I feel like I'm missing out a bit on what's going on during the set-up.