Breaking Gods by D.J. Molles

I’ve read most of Molles workS. It all started when I got the hankering to read some zombie lit… and I found what is now my favorite series, The Remaining. It follows Lee Harden and his quest to bring back some form of government to the US after a great zombie apocalypse on the East Coast. He is one of the special protectors trained to respond in case of any natural disaster, even flesh-eating ex-human creature-things. Harden has a key to supply dumps positioned in each state and a wealth of tactical skills that will help him find and regroup survivors. The series is now up to 7 books. It is awesome. Period. I could go on and on… But this work is what brought me to want to read Breaking Gods…

Molles’s new book does not take place in The Remaining Universe, but is its own dystopian world. A world where gods and demi-gods war. Two sides, The Light and The Truth, have been battling it out over the same land for centuries using humans as their pawns. Trained as legionaries in the art of combat, these larger-than-life soldiers die by the thousands during each foray. They leave the battlefield a swamp with their corpses, blood, and wasted ammunition. Perry McGown is on a crew that picks the used shells, repacks them into new ammo, and sells them back to the forces.

Perry is a deserter… he was once enrolled in one of the elite academies that trained legionaries, but he knew he didn’t fit. He was picked on for his size… beaten and called every name in the book, he ran the night before graduation. But he has something he knows is special: The Calm. A focus that he can go inside and rid himself of any fear or distraction. It is a place Perry can reach and find respite from the outside world.

The crew’s life is pretty routine. Find battlefield, watch guts fly, pick shells, make money, get drunk… but the routine is broken when a newbie joins. A girl named Teran. Perry takes an interest in her and at a local saloon he makes the decision to defend her honor. That decision gets him thrown in jail for murder… The story starts to get wicked from there.

The writing style is consistent with Molles’s other books. And that is to say that there is a lot of action, and a lot of focus on tactical military weaponry. I did find some issues with the novel: Some modern slang that seemed out of place… And part of the plot points felt removed from the overall arc of the war for much of the book… I just couldn’t get a full grasp on the whys at times.

If you’re looking for fast-paced action and some fun characters, start this new series by the writer of The Remaining zombie books.