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The Many Travails of John Smith #6
Godswar: A Comedic Urban Fantasy
John Smith, supernatural mediator and private investigator, has come a long way since he first got kidnapped by vampires.
He has a girlfriend now and an ever-growing list of responsibilities. Even the supernatural species of San Diego seem to think he's someone to be reckoned with.
And then Bill, the asparagus Demigod of Nightmares, Terror, and Vindication, shows up in John's dream with ominous one of Bill's fellow immortals has been murdered.
How do you kill a demigod, especially in the heart of their own domain? And was that death an isolated incident, or the start of something even worse? John will have to find those answers quickly, because more than just San Diego's fate hangs in the balance.
When gods war, reality itself trembles. Now, one mortal mediator finds himself stuck in the middle of all that chaos, with no way out but through.
It might be time for a little bit of help from his friends.
He has a girlfriend now and an ever-growing list of responsibilities. Even the supernatural species of San Diego seem to think he's someone to be reckoned with.
And then Bill, the asparagus Demigod of Nightmares, Terror, and Vindication, shows up in John's dream with ominous one of Bill's fellow immortals has been murdered.
How do you kill a demigod, especially in the heart of their own domain? And was that death an isolated incident, or the start of something even worse? John will have to find those answers quickly, because more than just San Diego's fate hangs in the balance.
When gods war, reality itself trembles. Now, one mortal mediator finds himself stuck in the middle of all that chaos, with no way out but through.
It might be time for a little bit of help from his friends.
423 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 30, 2026
About the author
Chris Tullbane
21 books219 followersChris began as a gleam in someone’s eye, but birth and childhood were quick to follow. He’s been fortunate enough to live in Spain, Germany, and all over the United States of America, and is busy planning a tour of the distilleries of Scotland.
He currently lives in Nevada with his angelic wife and ever-expanding whisky collection and occasionally ventures outside to peer upwards, mutter to himself about ‘day stars’, and then scurry back into the house.
Chris is the author of multiple series; The Murder of Crows, The Storm Who Rides, The (Second) Life of Brian, and The Many Travails of John Smith. He frequently shares updates on his author website at https://christullbane.com.
He currently lives in Nevada with his angelic wife and ever-expanding whisky collection and occasionally ventures outside to peer upwards, mutter to himself about ‘day stars’, and then scurry back into the house.
Chris is the author of multiple series; The Murder of Crows, The Storm Who Rides, The (Second) Life of Brian, and The Many Travails of John Smith. He frequently shares updates on his author website at https://christullbane.com.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
May 2, 2026
Another hit from Chris Tullbane
All three of his series are great. Godswar is another star turn. Can't wait for the next one to come out.
All three of his series are great. Godswar is another star turn. Can't wait for the next one to come out.
April 30, 2026
Awesome Sequel
Big fan of the series, and this book didn't disappoint. It's hard not to spoil, so I'll just say I was relieved to see that a certain character survived.
Big fan of the series, and this book didn't disappoint. It's hard not to spoil, so I'll just say I was relieved to see that a certain character survived.
May 6, 2026
John is back and surrounded by apocalyptic troubles again
So many threads pulled together, along with a 10 month pregnant paramour, the next threat finds John's somewhat growing skills a bit lacking. Luckily, he has allies fun all walks of life and un-life to help him continue to almost grow up. This urban fantasy with beings and realms and politics has a great mixture of comedy and serious conflicts and is the best in the series so far.
So many threads pulled together, along with a 10 month pregnant paramour, the next threat finds John's somewhat growing skills a bit lacking. Luckily, he has allies fun all walks of life and un-life to help him continue to almost grow up. This urban fantasy with beings and realms and politics has a great mixture of comedy and serious conflicts and is the best in the series so far.
May 2, 2026
Very good book
This is a fine fantasy adventure novel. It is well written and edited. I especially like Claudia. I anxiously await the author's next novel.
This is a fine fantasy adventure novel. It is well written and edited. I especially like Claudia. I anxiously await the author's next novel.
Review of advance copy received from Author
Be careful, Mr. Smith. These are dangerous times.
(doorbell rings) "Hello fellow reader. Do you have a minute to talk about some of San Diego's demigods, including our lord and savior, Scott, the Demigod of Parking Violations? He who truly rules one of the most powerful aspects of our local community and is capable of putting all-powerful car boots onto very naughty Gods as well as many stapling annoying tickets on their person in order to freeze them in place? No, perhaps not your speed? Then might you be interested in learning more about Kyle, Demigod of Overly Emotive Messaging and Needless Histrionics? Trust me, in today's age of technology and social media, he's very important to us all! You'll never have to worry about using that eggplant emoji wrong again! (door starts closing) Um, we have pamphlets, too, if you'd like to take some! They're printed with discounts for a day at the Zoo!"
Potential apocalypse notwithstanding? Life was good.
Yes, indeed, thanks to all this unbridled frivolity you can probably tell that author Chris Tullbane has brought his aging laptop "back to life with a whirr of fans and possibly exhaust fumes" to present "Godswar". That's a title that is not only pretty darn accurate as titles tend to be, but should also immediately give you a clue about just how much the excrement will make physical contact with a hydro-electric powered oscillating air current distribution device this time around. And you just know that John will be right smack dab in the middle of the splatter zone throughout, particularly as he makes his way from dimension to dimension, losing his lunch as often as possible to ensure mankind's legacy can be traced for all of eternity through the stains and smells of his passing! Well, it's not quite that poetic, but you'll see!
…you have a talent for inciting others into near-homicidal rages on an almost daily basis.
For those keeping count, this is Tullbane's sixth installment of his hilarious and otherworldly series, namely, "The Many Travails of John Smith". For those of you who aren't in the know just yet, this series features your fan favorite and mine, who even on his best days can be best described as "a chubby, quasi-human hurtling headfirst towards a possible apocalypse and the big 3-oh." But this chapter fits in ever-so-perfectly with the growing list of characters, creatures, and dimensional intruders that we have gotten to know and fear throughout this journey, especially the epic of epics, namely, "The Italian Screwjob", which was way back in Episode 4! This time things aren't, well, quite as chonky book-wise but dang, this tale still packs a helluva punch!
I’m pretty sure I have very little to do with the world sucking.
It's hard to believe sometimes that we've advanced from those first pages where John found himself being attacked by crab hitmen that, at first, were mistaken for Comic-Con cosplayers. Now he's not only great pals with the people, sorry, the People that rescued him, namely, the local group of vampires, but he's even having a baby with the lovely Lady Anastasia Dumenyova, who spends a great deal of this book just waddling from one comfortable spot to another (she's 10-months pregnant, so cut her some slack, m'kay?). Yes, this whole pregnancy thing still seems quite frankly to be utterly impossible because (a) she is an all-powerful vampire whereas John is arguably human (+/-) and (b) she's a total babe and he's, well again, John. It makes for some great moments as folks are still just finding out about the situation and trying to accept this bizarre turn of events that will surely shake the supernatural world to its core!
I was so much luckier in life and love than I could have ever expected to be.
But not so fast because things are afoot (and aclaw and apaw, etc.)! Suddenly attacks around the globe have left the ruling class of vampires and their entire courts decimated and that's not even counting all the gods, demigods, and probably even hemigods that have been wiped out, even in their own realms of power! I mean, when Lord Beel-Kasan, Demigod of Nightmares, Terror, and Vindication - whose name alone should send you screaming into the streets - shows up in your bedroom AND starts calling you by your first name, again, you know things are utterly FUBAR'd ("if that wasn’t a bad sign, I didn’t know what would be."). Which means it's time to call in the cavalry and also several favors, even if by doing so you manage to piss off a whole slew of chupacabras, giant praying mantis bug people, and even the local werewolf Pack, who have much more important things to deal with which usually involve getting drunk and playing video games all night.
…it’s a mix of trans-dimensional shielding, temporal obstruction, and latent werewolf virus…
How John even manages to make it past the first few chapters and even still be alive AT ALL is in itself a HUGE question that has to be addressed! Which it is. Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's right. Fortunately for all us, Tullbane keeps all this rolling along at a pace you will definitely find reaches "unputdownable" levels (that's a real word, too!). As he is wont to do in ALL his series, he includes battle scenes that make "Avengers: Endgame" look like a nice afternoon in the park, waiting to see who gets to use the swingset next! And yes, we put a ton of the myriad of characters we either know very well or are just getting to know better (or at all) through the absolute wringer by the time the last heads roll to a stop. I'm not saying that necessarily means that person is dead or anything, but decapitation will definitely put a crimp in your day!
…there are few creatures who can survive for long without a head.
So again, this is just one of those "don't talk, just read it!" books for me. I like how Tullbane continues to keep the legacy and lore alive for so many of these extremely original characters, making sure each book fits in snugly with its neighbors! In this one, if I had to vote (I don't but let's do it anyway), I was really impressed to see how Valentina, John's ghost friend from the White Ladies, as well as the Rag Lady, Goddess of Lost and Forgotten things, that we met in "The Italian Screwjob", handled themselves. In the latter case, we get to see her powers in full action vs. her last appearance which was in large part focused on hiding from enemies within Queen Lucia's palace. Now, don't look at me like that: I did suggest a few books ago that everyone should start keeping notes!
There were no takebacks in breakups, comic-related arguments, or war.
And naturally, good ol' wacky Lord Beel-Kasan aka Bill the giant talking asparagus and his beloved mysterious orphan pal, Jee Sun, have an enormous role in this tale. So fear not San Diego, this is another great adventure with John, Ana, Kayla, and so many more. Well, honestly you probably should fear things a little bit, especially after all those YouTube videos started popping up, not to mention the sniper we have to stop during one of the intermissions in the main story. But you know: sometimes the walls in reality get awfully thin and big bad wolves can put a crimp in anyone's day, not just grandma. But if you love great humor, fantastic fantasy, and adventure that just grabs you by the naughty bits and screams "hell yeah!" in your face with anything BUT its inside voice, well, this is the place to go! See you soon true believers!
(doorbell rings) "Hello fellow reader. Do you have a minute to talk about some of San Diego's demigods, including our lord and savior, Scott, the Demigod of Parking Violations? He who truly rules one of the most powerful aspects of our local community and is capable of putting all-powerful car boots onto very naughty Gods as well as many stapling annoying tickets on their person in order to freeze them in place? No, perhaps not your speed? Then might you be interested in learning more about Kyle, Demigod of Overly Emotive Messaging and Needless Histrionics? Trust me, in today's age of technology and social media, he's very important to us all! You'll never have to worry about using that eggplant emoji wrong again! (door starts closing) Um, we have pamphlets, too, if you'd like to take some! They're printed with discounts for a day at the Zoo!"
Potential apocalypse notwithstanding? Life was good.
Yes, indeed, thanks to all this unbridled frivolity you can probably tell that author Chris Tullbane has brought his aging laptop "back to life with a whirr of fans and possibly exhaust fumes" to present "Godswar". That's a title that is not only pretty darn accurate as titles tend to be, but should also immediately give you a clue about just how much the excrement will make physical contact with a hydro-electric powered oscillating air current distribution device this time around. And you just know that John will be right smack dab in the middle of the splatter zone throughout, particularly as he makes his way from dimension to dimension, losing his lunch as often as possible to ensure mankind's legacy can be traced for all of eternity through the stains and smells of his passing! Well, it's not quite that poetic, but you'll see!
…you have a talent for inciting others into near-homicidal rages on an almost daily basis.
For those keeping count, this is Tullbane's sixth installment of his hilarious and otherworldly series, namely, "The Many Travails of John Smith". For those of you who aren't in the know just yet, this series features your fan favorite and mine, who even on his best days can be best described as "a chubby, quasi-human hurtling headfirst towards a possible apocalypse and the big 3-oh." But this chapter fits in ever-so-perfectly with the growing list of characters, creatures, and dimensional intruders that we have gotten to know and fear throughout this journey, especially the epic of epics, namely, "The Italian Screwjob", which was way back in Episode 4! This time things aren't, well, quite as chonky book-wise but dang, this tale still packs a helluva punch!
I’m pretty sure I have very little to do with the world sucking.
It's hard to believe sometimes that we've advanced from those first pages where John found himself being attacked by crab hitmen that, at first, were mistaken for Comic-Con cosplayers. Now he's not only great pals with the people, sorry, the People that rescued him, namely, the local group of vampires, but he's even having a baby with the lovely Lady Anastasia Dumenyova, who spends a great deal of this book just waddling from one comfortable spot to another (she's 10-months pregnant, so cut her some slack, m'kay?). Yes, this whole pregnancy thing still seems quite frankly to be utterly impossible because (a) she is an all-powerful vampire whereas John is arguably human (+/-) and (b) she's a total babe and he's, well again, John. It makes for some great moments as folks are still just finding out about the situation and trying to accept this bizarre turn of events that will surely shake the supernatural world to its core!
I was so much luckier in life and love than I could have ever expected to be.
But not so fast because things are afoot (and aclaw and apaw, etc.)! Suddenly attacks around the globe have left the ruling class of vampires and their entire courts decimated and that's not even counting all the gods, demigods, and probably even hemigods that have been wiped out, even in their own realms of power! I mean, when Lord Beel-Kasan, Demigod of Nightmares, Terror, and Vindication - whose name alone should send you screaming into the streets - shows up in your bedroom AND starts calling you by your first name, again, you know things are utterly FUBAR'd ("if that wasn’t a bad sign, I didn’t know what would be."). Which means it's time to call in the cavalry and also several favors, even if by doing so you manage to piss off a whole slew of chupacabras, giant praying mantis bug people, and even the local werewolf Pack, who have much more important things to deal with which usually involve getting drunk and playing video games all night.
…it’s a mix of trans-dimensional shielding, temporal obstruction, and latent werewolf virus…
How John even manages to make it past the first few chapters and even still be alive AT ALL is in itself a HUGE question that has to be addressed! Which it is. Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's right. Fortunately for all us, Tullbane keeps all this rolling along at a pace you will definitely find reaches "unputdownable" levels (that's a real word, too!). As he is wont to do in ALL his series, he includes battle scenes that make "Avengers: Endgame" look like a nice afternoon in the park, waiting to see who gets to use the swingset next! And yes, we put a ton of the myriad of characters we either know very well or are just getting to know better (or at all) through the absolute wringer by the time the last heads roll to a stop. I'm not saying that necessarily means that person is dead or anything, but decapitation will definitely put a crimp in your day!
…there are few creatures who can survive for long without a head.
So again, this is just one of those "don't talk, just read it!" books for me. I like how Tullbane continues to keep the legacy and lore alive for so many of these extremely original characters, making sure each book fits in snugly with its neighbors! In this one, if I had to vote (I don't but let's do it anyway), I was really impressed to see how Valentina, John's ghost friend from the White Ladies, as well as the Rag Lady, Goddess of Lost and Forgotten things, that we met in "The Italian Screwjob", handled themselves. In the latter case, we get to see her powers in full action vs. her last appearance which was in large part focused on hiding from enemies within Queen Lucia's palace. Now, don't look at me like that: I did suggest a few books ago that everyone should start keeping notes!
There were no takebacks in breakups, comic-related arguments, or war.
And naturally, good ol' wacky Lord Beel-Kasan aka Bill the giant talking asparagus and his beloved mysterious orphan pal, Jee Sun, have an enormous role in this tale. So fear not San Diego, this is another great adventure with John, Ana, Kayla, and so many more. Well, honestly you probably should fear things a little bit, especially after all those YouTube videos started popping up, not to mention the sniper we have to stop during one of the intermissions in the main story. But you know: sometimes the walls in reality get awfully thin and big bad wolves can put a crimp in anyone's day, not just grandma. But if you love great humor, fantastic fantasy, and adventure that just grabs you by the naughty bits and screams "hell yeah!" in your face with anything BUT its inside voice, well, this is the place to go! See you soon true believers!
Review of advance copy received from Author
Another fantastic entry to the John Smith universe. I love this series.
When you open up a Chris Tullbane book, one of the first things that jumps out at you is how easy it is to pick right back up where the last book left off. Even if you haven't read the series in a bit, you just get going. I guess because his works are so approachable and easy to jump into a digest. I love that.
This book starts off immediately where the previous left off. We get more world building, quickly reacquainted with the world and this one hits the ground running like nothing Tullbane has done before.
The story is tight. There isn't any running around or wasted effort here. The story starts with a bang and ends with one. We get answers to questions we've had since book 1 and we see John continue to grow.
I think some of my favorite parts are seeing Ana's love and patience with John and we see their emotional connections growing. I think this comes from the heart with this author and you can really tell he "gets it" with the family, the friends and the dependencies we humans have on one another.
If I had any complaint, its very minor. The only one I'd have is there is a scene where I just wanted the vampire to put the bad guy through brick wall. That just wouldn't have been a very John like thing to do, so I get it.
So all that said - 5/5. or Thumbs up. Whatever we do here. My only fear is this series eventually endings (as all things must)
When you open up a Chris Tullbane book, one of the first things that jumps out at you is how easy it is to pick right back up where the last book left off. Even if you haven't read the series in a bit, you just get going. I guess because his works are so approachable and easy to jump into a digest. I love that.
This book starts off immediately where the previous left off. We get more world building, quickly reacquainted with the world and this one hits the ground running like nothing Tullbane has done before.
The story is tight. There isn't any running around or wasted effort here. The story starts with a bang and ends with one. We get answers to questions we've had since book 1 and we see John continue to grow.
I think some of my favorite parts are seeing Ana's love and patience with John and we see their emotional connections growing. I think this comes from the heart with this author and you can really tell he "gets it" with the family, the friends and the dependencies we humans have on one another.
If I had any complaint, its very minor. The only one I'd have is there is a scene where I just wanted the vampire to put the bad guy through brick wall. That just wouldn't have been a very John like thing to do, so I get it.
So all that said - 5/5. or Thumbs up. Whatever we do here. My only fear is this series eventually endings (as all things must)
May 11, 2026
I was amazed when I started reading this one. Most of the time, after a long break between books, it takes me a long time to remember who is who and what's happened before. With Godswar, I didn't have that early disconnect. It all just started clicking right away, and that never happens unless I'm binge-reading a series.
The story is great, the characters are one-of-a-kind, and the pacing is perfect. Well done!
The story is great, the characters are one-of-a-kind, and the pacing is perfect. Well done!
May 8, 2026
That was fantastic! A great balance of humor and rising tension. The main cast is still great. The pacing of the various mysteries and plots flowed really well. This is easily my favorite urban fantasy series.
May 8, 2026
Welcome return of John Smith, living a happy life, which as this is John cannot last. When gods start dying and the royal vampires are obliterated, John needs to find the answers and save the day. Good story, as John does things in his own unique way.
May 11, 2026
Smith strikes again
A really good continuation to the series. Full and walks a tight line between the escalating stakes and the series trademark humor, and he does it well. Recommened.
A really good continuation to the series. Full and walks a tight line between the escalating stakes and the series trademark humor, and he does it well. Recommened.
Read
May 3, 2026A godly novel
I waited a while for this novel to come out and was not disappointed. Totally enjoyable and can't wait for the next one.
I waited a while for this novel to come out and was not disappointed. Totally enjoyable and can't wait for the next one.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews