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The Hollow Gods #3
The Sun's Devices
Seven years have passed since the shattering of Mirror Town, and Krish has taken has rightful place as heir to the kingdom of Ashanesland, with his friends and allies ruling by his side. He's turned his back on his divine birthright and set out to bring unity to the warring tribes and nations as no more than a man.
The mysterious land once known as the Eternal Empire has opened its borders at last, and invited Krish to take his place as part of its ruling Triumvirate. But there are plots within plots in the country that once worshipped his sister, the sun, and now hates all gods.
Because the sun goddess been made flesh once again and is determined to end the ancient conflict with her brother's final defeat. And there are strange and new gods stirring in the lands - while some search for a weapon that could destroy them all.
- GenresFantasyEpic Fantasy
416 pages, Hardcover
First published February 21, 2019
3 people are currently reading
275 people want to read
About the author
Rebecca Levene
57 books80 followersBritish author, editor and tv storyliner.
Educated at Clare College, Cambridge.
She has written books for Virgin's Doctor Who line, Abbadon books and Black Flame.
She also writes for Doctor Who Magazine and SFX.
Educated at Clare College, Cambridge.
She has written books for Virgin's Doctor Who line, Abbadon books and Black Flame.
She also writes for Doctor Who Magazine and SFX.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 11, 2021
While not being as good as the first two books I was enjoying The Sun's Domain until the last fifty pages or so. The ending to this book was beyond disappointing. The cast of characters all go on their separate ways in this one, embarking on a series of mini quests ; Krish is invited to the Eternal Empire by the Mortal Council, with everyone one else searching for the God Killer or travelling with Mizhara. The author ramps up the strangeness of her world in this one ,an aspect that I did enjoy. All this should have led to an epic conclusion as the Moon & Sun Gods finally clash in what I hoped would be a titanic battle. But no! Instead,some of our characters journeys meander to a stop with no conclusion leaving things decidedly open ended.Yes, there was the big battle at the end but by this point,for me ,everything had fallen flat.
I maybe at fault regards my feelings towards the end as I assumed that The Hollow Gods was a trilogy, so let's hope we get to read more about this world. But if this is it ,then ,forget how Game of Thrones ended, this was much more disappointing !
Rebecca Levene is a talented writer and ,on balance this was a great series,in particularly Smilers Fair, so I'll happily read more from her. I did mostly like this book but I can only award it a low three stars. I do hope I'm wrong about it being a trilogy and we return to the world of The Hollow Gods. Disappointed 😞face!
I maybe at fault regards my feelings towards the end as I assumed that The Hollow Gods was a trilogy, so let's hope we get to read more about this world. But if this is it ,then ,forget how Game of Thrones ended, this was much more disappointing !
Rebecca Levene is a talented writer and ,on balance this was a great series,in particularly Smilers Fair, so I'll happily read more from her. I did mostly like this book but I can only award it a low three stars. I do hope I'm wrong about it being a trilogy and we return to the world of The Hollow Gods. Disappointed 😞face!
May 4, 2022
This continues to be a remarkable series of unusual and epic fantasy, featuring gods and monsters and armies and assassins and strange cities - all the usual ingredients, basically, just not in their usual, more recognisable form. It continues to be grim and bloody and ruthless, too, and reminds me more and more of Kameron Hurley as it rushes towards an epic conclusion (a huge complement, of course!). Only, I guess this isn't the end? It closes with a cliffhanger and an epilogue where yes, everything *might* be over but there is a lot of room for it not to be, if that's the case. Judging by the length of time it took to be published, and the difficulties inferred in that, I can't help wondering if this is perhaps on purpose...
It's a challenging series, because I think everything makes sense in the end - probably on re-reading! - but every book has deepened the ideas while also shifting gears quite a bit, and this one is no different. It has been interesting watching the protagonists develop, though not into heroes or great people, just damaged, desperate individuals caught up in a conflict between emergent gods and the horrors they bring (and the horrors brought by people trying to avoid them, too). However, this means it's still hard to find much likeable or even admirable let alone loveable about them (Rii aside) and yet it's compelling reading for the shear creativity and unpredictability of it all. As such, I can see why it continues to fly under the radar, but that's no reason to avoid it - well worth a read.
It's a challenging series, because I think everything makes sense in the end - probably on re-reading! - but every book has deepened the ideas while also shifting gears quite a bit, and this one is no different. It has been interesting watching the protagonists develop, though not into heroes or great people, just damaged, desperate individuals caught up in a conflict between emergent gods and the horrors they bring (and the horrors brought by people trying to avoid them, too). However, this means it's still hard to find much likeable or even admirable let alone loveable about them (Rii aside) and yet it's compelling reading for the shear creativity and unpredictability of it all. As such, I can see why it continues to fly under the radar, but that's no reason to avoid it - well worth a read.
September 3, 2021
3 stars, Metaphorosis Reviews
Summary
A thousand years after one killed the other, the gods Yron and Mizhara have been reborn. Yron has been invited to the mysterious, long-closed-off Eternal Empire, once the home of mages, but now sworn to reject all gods. Mizhara and a host of others follow Yron to a long-sought confrontation.
Review
This series started with a great deal of promise, in Smiler’s Fair, and continued – in rather more of a muddle – with The Hunter’s Kind, which expanded the story’s world, but also fumbled a little with the interconnections and grander scale. In this last book, while Levene introduces a a number of intriguing elements, she again doesn’t quite manage to form them into a coherent and satisfying whole.
Levene seems intent on introducing new territories in each volume – each different, each interesting – but doesn’t do a great job of tying them together. They feel a bit more like adjacent maps in a video game than natural territories. Each is intriguing, but none is really explored as well as I’d have liked. This third book suffers in particular from the lack of an included map; I had trouble piecing together where characters were supposed to be, and how they happened to be near each other when I’d read the text to say otherwise. Even the map from the first book (with little detail on the Eternal Empire) would have been helpful.
The characters as a whole continue from the second book without much change, though some key relationships are skipped over. In The Hunter’s Kind, for example, I wasn’t sold on Krish/Yron simply giving up and accepting his father and former enemy. Here, Krish is all-in on the relationship, frequently alluding to what his father would do or like, even when – in the latter half of the book – the father and his kingdom have been unceremoniously dropped from the story entirely.
The end of the story makes an effort to gather all the threads and tie them off, but it’s a messy business. It’s thinly credible at best, and unsatisfying. All in all, it seems to me that Levene has taken a host of good ideas and characters and tried to cram them all into too small a story. The result is an interesting stew, but the ingredients are hard to make out, and it doesn’t have a clearly defined flavor. I would have liked to see each of these parts and locales more thoroughly explored. As it is, I didn’t feel I knew any part of the world very well, and the characters never really found a resolution. Even the central theme of gods and religions feels more as if it’s been abandoned than confronted.
Summary
A thousand years after one killed the other, the gods Yron and Mizhara have been reborn. Yron has been invited to the mysterious, long-closed-off Eternal Empire, once the home of mages, but now sworn to reject all gods. Mizhara and a host of others follow Yron to a long-sought confrontation.
Review
This series started with a great deal of promise, in Smiler’s Fair, and continued – in rather more of a muddle – with The Hunter’s Kind, which expanded the story’s world, but also fumbled a little with the interconnections and grander scale. In this last book, while Levene introduces a a number of intriguing elements, she again doesn’t quite manage to form them into a coherent and satisfying whole.
Levene seems intent on introducing new territories in each volume – each different, each interesting – but doesn’t do a great job of tying them together. They feel a bit more like adjacent maps in a video game than natural territories. Each is intriguing, but none is really explored as well as I’d have liked. This third book suffers in particular from the lack of an included map; I had trouble piecing together where characters were supposed to be, and how they happened to be near each other when I’d read the text to say otherwise. Even the map from the first book (with little detail on the Eternal Empire) would have been helpful.
The characters as a whole continue from the second book without much change, though some key relationships are skipped over. In The Hunter’s Kind, for example, I wasn’t sold on Krish/Yron simply giving up and accepting his father and former enemy. Here, Krish is all-in on the relationship, frequently alluding to what his father would do or like, even when – in the latter half of the book – the father and his kingdom have been unceremoniously dropped from the story entirely.
The end of the story makes an effort to gather all the threads and tie them off, but it’s a messy business. It’s thinly credible at best, and unsatisfying. All in all, it seems to me that Levene has taken a host of good ideas and characters and tried to cram them all into too small a story. The result is an interesting stew, but the ingredients are hard to make out, and it doesn’t have a clearly defined flavor. I would have liked to see each of these parts and locales more thoroughly explored. As it is, I didn’t feel I knew any part of the world very well, and the characters never really found a resolution. Even the central theme of gods and religions feels more as if it’s been abandoned than confronted.
November 30, 2025
I didn’t like the conclusion. I’m glad I stuck with it to finish off the trilogy but I feel very unsatisfied by the ending.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews