Paul Perry's Reviews > The Broken God

I first encountered GRH as a designer and writer for table-top roleplaying games, and you can see that background in the care with which he constructs the environments his story takes place in. The city of Guerdon - initially, in the earlier books, one of the few places in the world not ravaged by the Godswar, although that has now taken over here too - is a fully realised city, with districts and factions, history and legends, families and culture.


Playing "spot the gamer" is one of my hobbies, as I think you can sometimes tell in the world-building or construction of plot or characters or magic systems if that is in the background. Both Mark Lawrence and Charles Stross have confirmed that they played in their youth, but haven't in years, for example, while Mary Gentle, Justina Robson, Neil Gaiman, Alistair Reynolds and Steph Swainston either play currently or did so beyond their teen years. Although I somehow doubt Gaiman has the time for it these days.


With some writers from a game-design background, you can see their working - the same fault as writers who feel the need to show off how much research they've done by including too much of it in the finished story. One that comes to mind is Brandon Sanderson (although I don't know if he has a gaming background, either playing or designing) but you can see the construction, the work that has gone into putting it together - although I confess I've only read some of his earlier stuff.


Ryder-Hanrahan is far too good a writer for this. The build is utterly organic and believable, the world and, vitally, the characters superbly realised. He pulls off the trick of making the absurd both believable and horrifying - his alchemical Tallowmen, condemned criminals that have been literally remoulded into living wax puppets, psychotic all-but-unstoppable sentient candles complete with flaming wick, brought to mind the cactus people in China Mieville's New Crobuzon books, something that should be laughable but somehow works within the reality of the story.


GRH uses this setting both as a canvas for the action but, as in the best writing, the city is very much a character(view spoiler)[by this third book, literally so (hide spoiler)], a dark alchemical steampunk fantasy dystopia filled with politics (both low and high), crime, piracy, familial relationships, honour, war - all in a world where the Gods are real and powerful and present, and demand worship.


The end of The Broken God suggest there is more to come, and I can't wait.