The Tethered God by Noah Brisk
Blurb:
The gods of Ashkareth built their world on blood and silence.
Someone else's blood. Someone else's silence.
Brann spent fourteen years drowning the man he used to be — what the gods demanded of him, what the temple required, what his bond was built on. He was done with all of it.
Then a name he buried came back to find him.
And something older than the gods began to speak.
Now a washed-up former Warden must decide what he owes a world he walked away from — before the thing the gods fear most learns to say his name.
A grimdark fantasy debut for readers who want their epic fantasy fast, brutal, and unflinching.
If you loved the scope of The Wheel of Time, the moral weight of Richard Swan, or the visceral horror of Berserk, Brann and Seren's story is built for you. Expect a hard-edged magic system with real rules and real costs, a single-POV narrative that never lets you out of Brann's head, and a pace that reviewers have called relentless from page one.
A flawed, reluctant hero pulled out of retirement
A blood-and-shadow magic system with teeth
Gods, temples, and a religion built on secrets
Grimdark violence with real emotional stakes
The Tethered God is Book One in The Shattered Song, a new dark fantasy series from debut author Noah Brisk.
Review:
The Tethered God by Noah Brisk is a delightfully dark story and an exhilarating debut. At its core, its dark fantasy at its darkest, filled to the brim with brutal action and gruesome imagery. In The Tethered God, we follow Brann, a washed up old man (okay he’s not that old, but he is 44, which is refreshing compared to most MCs being significantly younger), wallowing his life away in a tavern in the ass end of the world. The action picks up almost immediately as we meet the story’s FMC, Seren, who carries with her secrets and information both. Quickly, the two learn that Brann’s old brother, Eldric, is at the bottom of something nefarious and downright terrifying. Problem is, no one else really seems to care. Nobody except Brann’s old love.
I won’t go too much more into the plot than that, but we have a very compelling enemy in Eldric, who is downright evil and while not defensible, at least, towards the end, we begin to understand his character, his motivations, and exactly why he’s doing what he’s doing. Does that make him likable in any way? NO. But that's what villains are for. Of the characters in the book, Eldric, I have to say, moved me the most. Not in the sense that connected or sympathized with him, but that he was my favorite of the lot, for some reason I hope does not speak poorly of my subconscious.
The relationship resurfacing between Brann and his old love is one that pulls at the heartstrings as the emotions bleed onto the page, and the relationship between Brann and Seren, of respect, admiration, and caring, is one that truly is beautiful as the story goes on.
As I said earlier, the story is truly a dark fantasy, not shying away from the grotesque and gruesome even for a second. If that's not your thing, be advised that this book probably isn’t for you. But if it is, then you’re in for a real treat. The action is bloody, raw, and fast-paced, following closely as Brann tears people apart any way he knows how. The scenes towards the end, which I won’t spoil, were so so cool, despite how utterly terrifying it would be to be in a place made of…yeah, you get it. Dark fantasy books need to create a specific atmosphere to work, and The Tethered God is no different.
There are a few moments where, as the reader, you can’t help but go “damn”. For example, Brann had a particularly funny (it wasn’t a funny scene but I enjoyed it nonetheless) where he goes “I’m him”. I know you can’t see my expression right now, but I’m doing the Martin Scorsese “absolute cinema” meme. And let me tell you, Brann IS him, so he can say that again.
Now, with all reviews, I try to talk about what did and didn’t work for me. As you can see, quite a bit did work for me, but one aspect that didn’t is whats keeping me from loving this story as much as other dark fantasies, or as much as other people have loved it. And that's the interiority. A lot of the dialogue, and especially the internal thoughts either felt really unnatural or maid-and-butlery, which was a pitfall I fell into on my debut, so I get it. I think for that reason I never got as attached to Brann and Seren as I maybe could have. Their overall ARCs were great, don’t get me wrong, and they were super interesting characters, but the characterization was not something I was a huge fan of.
Overall, however, I thoroughly enjoyed The Tethered God. It starts off slow, putting together all the different pieces, weaving together threads, and setting the stage, but around the 45% mark it REALLY picks up, and from there I tore through the story in about 3 days. I won’t say anything about the actual ending and what happened, but man am I curious to see what comes next, and I can’t wait for the next book in the series.
If you like your fantasy dark and grim, The Tethered God is one that will not disappoint, especially if you’re looking for your next Berserk or Witcher.
