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Pathfinder Tales
Godsrain: A Pathfinder Novel
The first Pathfinder novel in years promises a world-changing tale of epic scale set amidst the War of Immortals!Gods are not meant to die. They're supposed to be immortal, too powerful to be struck down or wither to dust like the people of Golarion. It has been more than a century since Aroden, god of humanity, met his mysterious doom, and his death ushered in a new era of uncertain prophecy and turmoil—the Age of Lost Omens. Now another god has died, his death broadcast across the skies in a metaphysical projection of his murder reverberating over any world on which he was worshipped. And from his rent corpse falls the Godsrain, a torrent of the god's blood and divine essence. Those touched by this rain are blessed—some would say cursed—with a god-spark that imbues upon them mythic power.
Four veteran adventurers—the barbarian Amiri, the wizard Ezren, the cleric Kyra, and her wife, the elven rogue Merisiel—witness this calamity, and with their newfound mythic power find themselves on the trail of fell forces looking to capitalize on the chaos. Using their unique skills, nascent god-sparks, and even the firsthand blessings of one of Golarion's most potent deities, they must race against time and fate to prevent the greatest threat to Golarion and beyond from escaping an impenetrable prison. From fan-favorite author Liane Merciel (Hellknight, Nightglass, War of Immortals) comes a truly iconic adventure of high fantasy set in the award-winning world of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. Follow the heroes from the desert bazaars of Osirion to the heart of the permanent hurricane known as the Eye of Abendego, as they come to terms with their own mortality, the tenuous powers of the immortal gods, and the new world that unfolds before them in the wake of the Godsrain.
Four veteran adventurers—the barbarian Amiri, the wizard Ezren, the cleric Kyra, and her wife, the elven rogue Merisiel—witness this calamity, and with their newfound mythic power find themselves on the trail of fell forces looking to capitalize on the chaos. Using their unique skills, nascent god-sparks, and even the firsthand blessings of one of Golarion's most potent deities, they must race against time and fate to prevent the greatest threat to Golarion and beyond from escaping an impenetrable prison. From fan-favorite author Liane Merciel (Hellknight, Nightglass, War of Immortals) comes a truly iconic adventure of high fantasy set in the award-winning world of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. Follow the heroes from the desert bazaars of Osirion to the heart of the permanent hurricane known as the Eye of Abendego, as they come to terms with their own mortality, the tenuous powers of the immortal gods, and the new world that unfolds before them in the wake of the Godsrain.
352 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 5, 2024
27 people are currently reading
83 people want to read
About the author
Liane Merciel
40 books114 followersLiane Merciel's novels include Pathfinder Tales: Hellknight and Nightglass, Dragon Age: Last Flight, and The River Kings' Road. She has written for game companies including Pathfinder, Dungeons & Dragons, and Warhammer's Black Library. She lives and works in Philadelphia.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
November 14, 2024
A Godsrain Review - Really good Pathfinder Fiction
TLDR: It's quite good. If you're invested in the lore, and fantasy books are your jam, pick this up. While I would say this is a fairly standard fantasy novel, where it excels is being a PATHFINDER novel.
Godsrain, a Pathfinder Novel, tells the story of the Iconic Cleric, Rogue, Wizard, and Barbarian, as they embark on a divine quest to save the world, in the wake of the Godsrain, the downpour of magical blood and metal that occurred after the death of Gorum. But you could have gotten that from the back cover of the book. Now let me tell you why I like it.
Like I alluded to, the strength of this book isn't its setting exactly, but in how much this feels like the world that the Pathfinder adventures take place in. This novel feels like it was written with character sheets for the iconics on hand, and the "feel" of playing Pathfinder in mind. This is maybe my favorite aspect of the book, but also the hardest to articulate. To give some minor examples as spoilers, in the first chapter a character is noted to be moving with effortless grace for their bulk. I don’t know about you, but that rang true for every time I've rolled a knowledge check and my DM is trying to communicate that an enemy has high DEX and STR. Later, we see the elderly wizard struggling to climb some steps sized for giants, and they are wordlessly assisted by the Barbarian. No particular attention is drawn to this moment, but I remember thinking "Hey now, was that the Aid action?" The entire book is like this, ranging from "Was that the follow-the-expert skill action to stealth?" or "Was that us, the characters, breezing past an easy hazard?" or "Is this the party gaining access to an Uncommon spell?". I'm sure everyone reading this is familiar with allocating characters' tasks based on who has the highest bonus in that skill, or the appropriate save, and this book is just dripping with that sort of delegation that just feels so much like playing the game.
I cannot praise Liane Merciel enough for this aspect of the novel. When looking up her writing credits, I was shocked to not see any writing credits for Adventure Paths, because this book read exactly how an AP is remembered. EDIT: never mind she has written for Season of Ghosts, I just misread during my research. Based on that alone I think I’ll have to run that adventure, or convince one of my GMs to run it, if this is the level of quality we can expect.
Another aspect of the book that shines is the Characters. As expected, we follow a cast of the four Iconics. Everyone gets the chance to shine, with a real emphasis on how they view each other compared to how they view themselves. This also feeds into the plot in ways I won’t get into here, Amri the Barbarian really shines in this role, and the relationship between the married couple Kyra and Merisel plays into this heavily. If you are a fan of these Iconic characters, maybe after encountering them in one of the Owlcat games, I think you will find a lot to love here.
Finally, I can't really dig through the lore without massive spoilers, but the lore here is good. It's accurate to what we know, and builds on it in interesting ways. Nothing groundbreaking, but I appreciate their work here. Lots of little bits for the lorehunters to chew on, which is always appreciated.
To restate, TLDR: It's quite good. If you're invested in the lore, and fantasy books are your jam, pick this up. If you want to see how well the RPG experience can be captured in novel form, pick this one up. You'll find lore to chew on and characters to love, with only a small few things that diminished the experience.
- Mathota
TLDR: It's quite good. If you're invested in the lore, and fantasy books are your jam, pick this up. While I would say this is a fairly standard fantasy novel, where it excels is being a PATHFINDER novel.
Godsrain, a Pathfinder Novel, tells the story of the Iconic Cleric, Rogue, Wizard, and Barbarian, as they embark on a divine quest to save the world, in the wake of the Godsrain, the downpour of magical blood and metal that occurred after the death of Gorum. But you could have gotten that from the back cover of the book. Now let me tell you why I like it.
Like I alluded to, the strength of this book isn't its setting exactly, but in how much this feels like the world that the Pathfinder adventures take place in. This novel feels like it was written with character sheets for the iconics on hand, and the "feel" of playing Pathfinder in mind. This is maybe my favorite aspect of the book, but also the hardest to articulate. To give some minor examples as spoilers, in the first chapter a character is noted to be moving with effortless grace for their bulk. I don’t know about you, but that rang true for every time I've rolled a knowledge check and my DM is trying to communicate that an enemy has high DEX and STR. Later, we see the elderly wizard struggling to climb some steps sized for giants, and they are wordlessly assisted by the Barbarian. No particular attention is drawn to this moment, but I remember thinking "Hey now, was that the Aid action?" The entire book is like this, ranging from "Was that the follow-the-expert skill action to stealth?" or "Was that us, the characters, breezing past an easy hazard?" or "Is this the party gaining access to an Uncommon spell?". I'm sure everyone reading this is familiar with allocating characters' tasks based on who has the highest bonus in that skill, or the appropriate save, and this book is just dripping with that sort of delegation that just feels so much like playing the game.
I cannot praise Liane Merciel enough for this aspect of the novel. When looking up her writing credits, I was shocked to not see any writing credits for Adventure Paths, because this book read exactly how an AP is remembered. EDIT: never mind she has written for Season of Ghosts, I just misread during my research. Based on that alone I think I’ll have to run that adventure, or convince one of my GMs to run it, if this is the level of quality we can expect.
Another aspect of the book that shines is the Characters. As expected, we follow a cast of the four Iconics. Everyone gets the chance to shine, with a real emphasis on how they view each other compared to how they view themselves. This also feeds into the plot in ways I won’t get into here, Amri the Barbarian really shines in this role, and the relationship between the married couple Kyra and Merisel plays into this heavily. If you are a fan of these Iconic characters, maybe after encountering them in one of the Owlcat games, I think you will find a lot to love here.
Finally, I can't really dig through the lore without massive spoilers, but the lore here is good. It's accurate to what we know, and builds on it in interesting ways. Nothing groundbreaking, but I appreciate their work here. Lots of little bits for the lorehunters to chew on, which is always appreciated.
To restate, TLDR: It's quite good. If you're invested in the lore, and fantasy books are your jam, pick this up. If you want to see how well the RPG experience can be captured in novel form, pick this one up. You'll find lore to chew on and characters to love, with only a small few things that diminished the experience.
- Mathota
November 21, 2024
I love the world of Golarion, and a god dying is a favorite trope of mine, so I was keeping up with the weekly reveals leading up to this and knew I was going to love this.
Merciel, however, knocked this out of the park with her writing. There were so many passages that hit hard, especially concerning religion, relationships, and a hero's quest. The descriptions of Gorum dying are powerful and exceeded my expectations. Each of our main four characters has a full character arc that felt satisfying by the end. The plot is fast moving and I never wanted to put this down.
I can't say I would recommend this for those completely unfamiliar with Pathfinder lore, unless you are familiar with fantasy tropes and you're okay with not having all of the lore spelled out for you. I knew enough based on playing in campaigns over the last few years, and was able to google whatever terms I didn't recognize.
Merciel, however, knocked this out of the park with her writing. There were so many passages that hit hard, especially concerning religion, relationships, and a hero's quest. The descriptions of Gorum dying are powerful and exceeded my expectations. Each of our main four characters has a full character arc that felt satisfying by the end. The plot is fast moving and I never wanted to put this down.
I can't say I would recommend this for those completely unfamiliar with Pathfinder lore, unless you are familiar with fantasy tropes and you're okay with not having all of the lore spelled out for you. I knew enough based on playing in campaigns over the last few years, and was able to google whatever terms I didn't recognize.
September 16, 2025
I feel like this book was so long, but so little actually happened. The characters we one dimensional. The concept was intriguing and gave me some ideas for a campaign, but overall, I didn't enjoy the story all that much.
December 15, 2024
Ring Side Report-Book Review-Pathfinder: Godsrain
Author- Liane Merciel
Book- ~$24.99 here https://paizo.com/products/btq06j6k?Pathfinder-Godsrain
TL; DR- Solidly for the fans, maybe too much. 87%
Basics-Gods can’t die…except when they do! The god of war is murdered and it kicks off a series of events that might result in the death of them all! Can iconic Pathfinder characters stop the death of every god?
Characters– This book uses iconic pathfinder characters and follows them on a typical, world shattering adventure. This is the first book I’ve read featuring these characters. The iconics all feel like they should and are well written. The one issue I have is the book feels like it was written with only diehard Pathfinder fans as the audience. Readers who don’t know these characters from playing Pathfinder Society might be a bit lost. I enjoyed it, but some newer fans might be lost. 4.5/5
Setting– This book features a number of iconic Pathfinder Society locations, but has the same issues as the characters. This book is pretty world spanning as characters run from desert, to Pirate Cove, to Lost Island in an eternal hurricane. The places are well described, but are not as linked to a larger world or history as newer readers might need. It’s good but some readers might get lost if they don’t know these locations from the Pathfinder game. 4.5/5
Story-The story is good, but feels disjointed. The main event of the title is the death of a god, but then that is just kind of abandoned. I felt like that was important and might be the main threat in multiple novels after this one. The main story is more about the threat that a different god might have to all other gods. That’s intriguing, but a major event in the world happens, and then is just kind of abandoned. It’s a plot point, but not a major one. I felt like there was lost potential and that that main event was just abandoned. 4/5
Summary-This is a good book and a fun step back into the Pathfinder Tales. I want more books, so I’m glad this book exists. It’s not perfect; the novel might not have enough inroads for new readers to Pathfinder. Also, the title feels abandoned about a quarter of the way into the book. I want to know more about the Godsrain, but this book won’t tell you about it. If more novels focus on that and these characters, I’ll keep reading! 87%.
Author- Liane Merciel
Book- ~$24.99 here https://paizo.com/products/btq06j6k?Pathfinder-Godsrain
TL; DR- Solidly for the fans, maybe too much. 87%
Basics-Gods can’t die…except when they do! The god of war is murdered and it kicks off a series of events that might result in the death of them all! Can iconic Pathfinder characters stop the death of every god?
Characters– This book uses iconic pathfinder characters and follows them on a typical, world shattering adventure. This is the first book I’ve read featuring these characters. The iconics all feel like they should and are well written. The one issue I have is the book feels like it was written with only diehard Pathfinder fans as the audience. Readers who don’t know these characters from playing Pathfinder Society might be a bit lost. I enjoyed it, but some newer fans might be lost. 4.5/5
Setting– This book features a number of iconic Pathfinder Society locations, but has the same issues as the characters. This book is pretty world spanning as characters run from desert, to Pirate Cove, to Lost Island in an eternal hurricane. The places are well described, but are not as linked to a larger world or history as newer readers might need. It’s good but some readers might get lost if they don’t know these locations from the Pathfinder game. 4.5/5
Story-The story is good, but feels disjointed. The main event of the title is the death of a god, but then that is just kind of abandoned. I felt like that was important and might be the main threat in multiple novels after this one. The main story is more about the threat that a different god might have to all other gods. That’s intriguing, but a major event in the world happens, and then is just kind of abandoned. It’s a plot point, but not a major one. I felt like there was lost potential and that that main event was just abandoned. 4/5
Summary-This is a good book and a fun step back into the Pathfinder Tales. I want more books, so I’m glad this book exists. It’s not perfect; the novel might not have enough inroads for new readers to Pathfinder. Also, the title feels abandoned about a quarter of the way into the book. I want to know more about the Godsrain, but this book won’t tell you about it. If more novels focus on that and these characters, I’ll keep reading! 87%.
June 17, 2025
Part of my 2025 PopSugar Reading Challenge: Prompt: A book you got for free
I received this as an ARC at ALA 2024 but it accidentally got put away with some other materials. I was excited to read it because a) Pathfinder lore and b) it featured some of the Pathfinder MCs that I grew to love from the comic series (Kyra, Merisiel, and Ezren)and Amiri (who is the main/starter barbarian).
While I feel any fantasy reader could enjoy this adventure, Pathfinder fans are clearly the intended audience. Every page is laced with geographic or mythological references and also what can easily be pictured as RPG inspired skill checks or character abilities (Amiri's use of rage and Ezren's ability to concentrate on a spell both being integral to the storyline at key points). The characters are well-written, and it was fun to see another facet to already known characters, as well as significant development that the comics don't delve into. The plot was a fun spin on the popular "death of a god" RPG trope although the Godsrain title made me think there would be more of the story related to the Godsrain (though it was an important element). I almost feel that Godsgrave as a title would have been a more accurate reflection of the book. I really enjoyed this adventure, and I hope we can look forward to more from this author and especially these characters!
I received this as an ARC at ALA 2024 but it accidentally got put away with some other materials. I was excited to read it because a) Pathfinder lore and b) it featured some of the Pathfinder MCs that I grew to love from the comic series (Kyra, Merisiel, and Ezren)and Amiri (who is the main/starter barbarian).
While I feel any fantasy reader could enjoy this adventure, Pathfinder fans are clearly the intended audience. Every page is laced with geographic or mythological references and also what can easily be pictured as RPG inspired skill checks or character abilities (Amiri's use of rage and Ezren's ability to concentrate on a spell both being integral to the storyline at key points). The characters are well-written, and it was fun to see another facet to already known characters, as well as significant development that the comics don't delve into. The plot was a fun spin on the popular "death of a god" RPG trope although the Godsrain title made me think there would be more of the story related to the Godsrain (though it was an important element). I almost feel that Godsgrave as a title would have been a more accurate reflection of the book. I really enjoyed this adventure, and I hope we can look forward to more from this author and especially these characters!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 30, 2024
TL;DR: while lighter than most fantasy, it does not skimp on any ingredients and is worth the read.
I have read a few fantasy books in my time and I love Pathfinder so I picked this up on release day. My first impression was that this was going to be a light romp through the Inner Sea, building on characters I was casually familiar with. But as the chapters flew by, I began noticing a depth I quickly began to appreciate. Subtle things like word choices or a way a scene ties together got my gears turning like no Sanderson book has. Even the dynamics between the adventuring party first came off as simple only to build layers later; I think the author did this intentionally to lead readers like me into a really enjoyable narrative that has a lot more detail than what is simply lying on the covers.
Thank you Laine Merciel for the great read! Also really appreciate your lexicon.
I have read a few fantasy books in my time and I love Pathfinder so I picked this up on release day. My first impression was that this was going to be a light romp through the Inner Sea, building on characters I was casually familiar with. But as the chapters flew by, I began noticing a depth I quickly began to appreciate. Subtle things like word choices or a way a scene ties together got my gears turning like no Sanderson book has. Even the dynamics between the adventuring party first came off as simple only to build layers later; I think the author did this intentionally to lead readers like me into a really enjoyable narrative that has a lot more detail than what is simply lying on the covers.
Thank you Laine Merciel for the great read! Also really appreciate your lexicon.
December 27, 2024
This is a novel connected to Paizo inc's forthcoming War of the Immortals adventure patth for the remastered version of the second edition (designed to divorce utterly from the original Open Games Licence product so I'm not judging it as (nor expecting) great literature. It is excellent at what it does.
The action takes place at the time of the Godsrain (as the title suggests) after the death of one of the gods of Golarion. The iconic characters of pathfinder (including a couple of new ones) are brought together for a grand and (I found) very exciting adventure of world-shattering importance.
I won't include any spoilers but say simply that I have ordered the game as a result of reading this.
The action takes place at the time of the Godsrain (as the title suggests) after the death of one of the gods of Golarion. The iconic characters of pathfinder (including a couple of new ones) are brought together for a grand and (I found) very exciting adventure of world-shattering importance.
I won't include any spoilers but say simply that I have ordered the game as a result of reading this.
July 8, 2025
A lot of my love for this book will come from. My love of Pathfinder lore. Seeing the different places in the setting, interacting with the Divine in various ways, being able to pick out what spells or creatures or abilities were present without them being named explicitly, it was a lot of fun to read. The way the chapters swapped perspectives felt a lot like playing a Pathfinder game and having the GM split focus between different players to keep things balanced. In some ways the constraints of using Iconics rather than original characters might have hindered the story, but luckily Merciel picked many of my favourite iconics for this book and I loved spending time with them.
June 13, 2025
So, this was a solid adventure tale, very much in the vein of an actual adventure: 4 characters (Ezren, Kyra, Merciel, and Amiri) on a quest to seal Rovagug's prison which had weakened during the Godsrain. The fact that this was an adventure is very much appreciated; my challenge as a Gamemaster playing in the Pathfinder universe is imagining how the rules translate into the lives of the PCs, and this novel is a fantastic example of that.
Nifty.
But I really wanted the story of what made the Godsrain. This is not that story.
4 of 5 stars
Nifty.
But I really wanted the story of what made the Godsrain. This is not that story.
4 of 5 stars
February 13, 2025
A high stakes adventure with the return of a cast of Pathfinder icons. Would recommend diving right into the book, I got bogged down by reading the two prologue companion novellas but the story does a fantastic job of establishing the characters for new readers. Very nostalgic to follow Azren Kyra and Merisiel through another adventure.
September 8, 2025
It was so nice to go back to this fantasy universe. I was really elated that there is a new book for Pathfinder and as with the others, it’s a solid, enjoyable, high fantasy. Do you know what you’re getting into? Absolutely. Does that detract from the enjoyment? Not in the least.
March 10, 2025
Honestly a fantastic novel set in the Pathfinder setting. Gives lots of ideas for roleplaying in the future.
September 29, 2025
4.5 stars
November 3, 2025
The premise is very interesting, although I was expecting a lot more. Some chapters are very good (Ezren, Amiri), others are just badly written and can be skipped (most of Merisiel's unfortunately). The ending is quite solid, although the very last chapter winded it all down a bit too much for me. Some chapters are big lore dumps and break up the pacing too much. Overall I'd say pacing is the biggest issue I have with this book. The other one is the tone; on one hand there are visceral details of some encounters, like really disgustingly detailed descriptions of physical violence, on the other there are long immature and shallow descriptions of how characters feel. A lot of unneeded literalism, it's just not written very well. If you're looking for entertainment and high adventure - that's not it.
January 5, 2025
I’m a -huge- fan of Pathfinder fiction and the world of Golarion, and despite this book hitting a lot of the major narrative beats it falls a little flat.
The new Iconic characters feel shoehorned in, despite their character classes being central to the Godsrain and War of the Immortals storylines. The plot device is a little weak, but it was a lot of fun seeing old fan favorite characters continue to develop their relationships and powers. Some of the newly explored locations were also rewarding to see!
The new Iconic characters feel shoehorned in, despite their character classes being central to the Godsrain and War of the Immortals storylines. The plot device is a little weak, but it was a lot of fun seeing old fan favorite characters continue to develop their relationships and powers. Some of the newly explored locations were also rewarding to see!
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews