God Slayer: A Dark Fantasy Military Adventure

by Robert Jones

“Brutal, ambitious, and unflinchingly dark. Fans of Abercrombie and Lawrence will devour this.” — STEPHEN HUNT
“Jones drags you through the muck and mire of the battlefield and into an epic adventure.” — DEAN KASTLE

The world is consumed by war.

Mighty Varrolin burns. The people starve. The sleepers’ plague spreads through the dying empire.

In the chaos, Captain Tallen, a disgraced officer, must lead the shattered remains of his company in one last, hopeless defense.

Renic, a gutter-born thief, scavenges profit from the ruin—until fate throws him into the captain’s doomed war.

But behind the clash of armies, older powers stir. The gods walk the battlefield, fighting not for men or kingdoms—but for their own survival.

When the God of War marches, only the damned will survive.

For readers of Abercrombie’s The Devils, McLellan’s Powder Mage, and Cornwell’s Sharpe—
a brutal military fantasy where faith, blood, and brotherhood decide the fate of gods.

531 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 4, 2025

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Stacey Markle · Rating 4 out of 5]

RTC

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started the year reading Promise of Blood and the rest of the Powder Mage trilogy by Brian McClellan, and when i came across the cover of this book on social media i mistook it for another in the series. When i realised it was by a new author i read more into it and was hooked by the tagline "For fans of The Devils, McLellan's Powder Mage, and Cornwell's Sharpe's Rifles." I've long been a fan of Sharpe, and loved Powder Mage so i was definitely in for giving this a go (Abercrombie is in my ever expanding tbr list).
There is a prequel story called Tallen's Last Stand which while not essential to the story it is beneficial as it gives a bit of background to the situation you are dropped right into at the very beginning of this book, where we meet the main protagonist Tallen who is not at his best. And from there it's fair to see things don't really get a lot better.
You can almost smell the powder in the air from the battle scenes, the characters are well fleshed out and all serve a purpose as the story pulls you along fight by fight.

[Marco Landi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Libro eccezionale!!
Un military grimdark flintlock scritto come si deve!!!
I primi accostamenti che vengono in mente sono senz'altro con Brian McClellan, Django Wexler, e Bernard Cornwell.. ma anche un po' di Mike Shackle, Richard Swan e se vogliamo The Heroes di Abercrombie..
Ho amato da subito la scrittura di Jones, evocativa e senza fronzoli.. avevo letto la novella prequel, con protagonista Tallen.. mi era piaciuta tantissimo, in circa 50 pagine riesce a gettarti a capofitto nel suo mondo, a darti un carico di azione adrenalinica e a renderti da subito dipendente.. mi sono quindi buttato subito su questo romanzo, che parte esattamente da dove finisce la novella.. mi aspettavo di seguire Tallen nelle sue peregrinazioni militari, e invece Jones riempie le sue pagine di tanti Pov ognuno più interessante dell'altro.. i principali sono Tallen, capitano sventurato e il suo reggimento decimato.. con lui diversi personaggi secondari davvero fighi però.. Loryn su tutte.. poi c'è Renic il violento ladro, che ben presto si ritrova a militare nella resistenza e a voler disertare.. Emeline la madre superiora al tempio del Dio Coravyn.. il Dio stesso.. il perfido colonnello Dravenyth.. e qualche altro ancora che ogni tanto da secondario prende la parola.. insomma una narrazione corale ottima, ben riuscita..

Jones non crea un worldbuilding assurdo, creativo e iperstratificato.. crea un mondo interessante, con alcuni aspetti originali, come i Dodici Dèi che sono in mezzo agli uomini.. non crea un sistema magico troppo complesso o mai visto prima, alla fine resta piuttosto un low fantasy, con alcuni maghi da battaglia, con la magia non troppo approfondita.. e la trama non è nemmeno troppo complessa all'inizio, un esercito invasore assedia la capitale e la bombarda.. con la seconda armata lontana che deve rientrare in tempo..

Nonostante questi aspetti "ordinari" ho trovato il libro eccezionale!!
I personaggi sono fatti benissimo, imperfetti, moralmente grigi, a volte antipatici, o abietti..
Gli scontri sempre intelligenti, con il lato military che non annoia ma che ha senso..
Non ci sono mai momenti morti, con tanta azione e mutamenti rapidi..
La trama è logica, intrigante e mai banale..
Inoltre l'elemento fantasy che qui si intravede un po' e basta, lascia presagire tanto, con esseri interdimensionali e una storia misteriosa alle spalle degli uomini davvero interessante.. e una strana piaga che riduce in vegetali.. Molte delle risposte arriveranno nei prossimi volumi, perché quelle che qui sembrano le vere minacce qui alla fine non lo sono davvero..
I misteri introdotti e solo in parte svelati sono stati davvero una delle parti trainanti del tutto.. e per questo gli perdono un paio di combinazioni un po' troppo fortuite all' inizio, ma per me sono state gli unici piccolissimi elementi negativi..

Ma l'aspetto in cui Jones davvero riesce e che mi ha esaltato, sono gli scontri e le battaglie campali... riesce a far vivere davvero il caos della battaglia, con cariche di cavalleria, palle di cannone, moschetti e baionette, sciabole e lancie, la polvere, le palle vaganti, il sangue, il sudore, la paura e la frenesia.. avrei voluto leggere ancora pagine e pagine di romanzo.. non vedo l'ora arrivi il prossimo volume, perché a mio gusto questo è stato tra i migliori fantasy letti quest'anno, nonostante l elemento fantasy e originale non sia poi così presente!!

[Caleb Best · Rating 4 out of 5]

Top 3 characters - Tallen, Emeline, Loryn

Favorite scenes - Tallens duel, The old mans soup, The attack on the capital

This was an extremely well done historical fantasy book! I am a hug fan of powder era history, so to see it mixed with magic was really cool. I think the biggest upside to this book is the side characters. There are so many characters who don't have that much page time, but all feel extremely individual from one another. This lead to quite a cast of characters - something I think is essential to any book about the military.

[What the Sam Hill are you reading? · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bloody good 4/5. I came for some flintlock fantasy, and left with some Eldritch horror as well. It did feel like it was trying to do too much at times, but it all comes together well in the end. The pace was very quick, and while the novel ain’t small, I blew through it. The twists and turns were fun, and it sets up a grim universe to keep exploring.

I was not expecting as many POVs as I got, and the author did a good job exploring everybody’s unique experiences of the traumas of war. Tallen is definitely my favorite, and while I was initially annoyed with Renic, he had the most satisfying growth. Emeline’s crisis of faith and torture was heartbreaking to watch, and I will be very curious to see how her new found fervor impacts the world. You root for almost all the side characters, and she tragedy strikes, you feel it.

The story pulls no punches with battles, torture, and the desperation of survival. While the tone is grim and bleak, the themes of family and perseverance keep you from despairing. There are a lot of directions to take this story, and the end leaves the world open for some crazy things to happen. I will look forward to joining the 7th on their next campaign!

[Floyd Weitzel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am not a true book reviewer, I am a guy that loves a story with a lot of action. This book has got it in spades. If ever a book was promoted as Grim Dark this is it. Mr. Jones writes a really great story and as I said in my title, it is definitely not for the faint of heart. There are twists and there are turns but believe me this isn’t boring. The fight scenes are great where you are able to feel as if you’re there and feeling everything Tallen is feeling.
I really can’t say enough about this book, you have to read it.

[Peter Hendrycks · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a bit hard to understand in the beginning. It took a while to get the characters straight, and the place names. Who was good, or bad. Once I became familiar, it became easier to understand. This book is meant to lay the foundation for following novels in this story. The battles and fighting tactics are well told, and intense. I enjoyed reading it, and will continue the series.

[Corey Bourne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gunpowder and mage’s!

Great read. I have read other gunpowder mage books but this one is a cut above the rest. Not only the battles but the god elements and the magic which is not over the top it all just rolls into a fast paced edge of your seat story. I can’t wait for the next book and see where our heroes or anti heroes take us. I expect a wild bloody mystical ride.

[Brandon Lynch · Rating 5 out of 5]

epic Scope you can tell the author has so much planned for this world I look forward to the next adventure

[T.David Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is quite brilliant! A special type of genre. RJ makes his characters come alive! Fantastic battle scenes.
Looking forward t0 the next book!
TDJ