The Night Diver

This book might be a slight departure from what I usually review, but it does have a good helping of horror within, which still makes it a great candidate. Gunmetal Gods is a dark fantasy novel of epic proportions, with its characters and world written with a complexity that is both beautiful and chilling. The main draw for me in this book was its Middle-Eastern inspired world and mythology. An acquaintance had described this book as the most accurate fictional translation of Middle Eastern/Muslim culture, so I had to take a look. After reading this novel, I am happy to say that the book is all that and more.

The first thing the book does very well is the character writing. The book follows two characters on opposing sides, each driven by their own goals and emotions that are very much justified through their experiences. They are complex, yet they have a clear sort of moral code going for them, which makes it very intriguing to read. Even the side characters are written with an enjoyable level of depth, save for a few that fill typical roles within most fantasy stories with political intrigue. There is a care and appreciation for cultures suffused into the book, really building a living and breathing world you want to travel to. I think the novel does a great job in translating Middle Eastern/Ottoman culture into a fantastical world, and it is always a treat to see a different basis for a world than the usual medieval fantasy variant.

Because the story and setting is so rich in detail, it makes the horror elements stand out even more. The fantastical elements in the book are very present, but they take on a form that is more in the realm of cosmic horror. It makes sense, since the book does deal with Gods and religions, which may as well be cosmic beings far removed from our understanding. Would things really be great if such beings meddled with the world we live in? The book explores this with brutal and horrifying detail, seeing just how dark things can get when people deal with cosmic horrors. This inclusion of cosmic horror into Middle Eastern fantasy is such a novel concept to me, and I enjoyed every moment of it. I am very much looking forward to reading the 2 subsequent books in the series, and I recommend this book for anyone who enjoys horror, especially when it gets cosmic, as well as those who want a new fantasy world to dive into.

My final rating for this book will be: 4 out of 5 stars