I hate for people to think that I love the steam punk genre. There are a few of the books that I’ve enjoyed (and at least one that’s still on my reading list), but it’s not like I go searching for them. And then there are some that are recommended to me. In this case, it was The Horns of Ruin
Three brothers had saved the city of ash, Morgan, Amon and Alexander and became gods. Not just considered gods, but actual gods. Morgan was a warrior god, Amon was a technological god and Alexander was a more of a god of knowledge. But then Amon killed Morgan who was avenged by Alexander and there was only one left. As our story starts, Eva is the last Paladin of the Cult of Morgan, a cult that is slowly dying. Alexander’s cult runs the city, while Amon’s cult are slaves.
When Eva is unable to protect the leader of the Cult of Morgan from being kidnapped while they are escorting an Amon slave back to their headquarters, she finds herself trapped in a giant conspiracy that might uproot everything the city is based on.
This book is more properly described as a fantasy novel with a some technology thrown in. But overall, I found that I cared less and less about the characters and the central mystery. There were also a lot of questions that started coming up (such as why the Cult of Morgan was declining) that were never addressed. And some of the basic questions of the city seemed to be irrelevant to the story and never discussed. There was discussion by the characters about how amazing the setup of the city was, but we are never shown it. And the only character we get to know is Eva. Everyone else seems like they were thrown in to move the plot along, rather than to have anything interesting to do. I wouldn’t say that it was a bad book. But I just couldn’t get into it. For someone who likes the fantasy genre better, it might be a better fit. Not recommended.