In a post-apocalyptic world humans have shrunk to the size of insects and (mostly) live as parasites in ant colonies. The description drew me in, it sounded like a fascinating idea. I requested and received this from Netgalley in 2017—yes, I am very, very late. But every time I picked this up in the past and read the first few pages, it didn‘t do anything for me. This time I was committed to making a serious attempt. I read the first 2 parts, up to and including chapter 33 (48% of 600odd pages) and I am calling it a day.

I struggled with the stereotypical racism, gratuitous violence, cruelty and physical abuse in the early chapters. Humans live in a rigid caste system and are ruled by royalty and clergy. All very clichéd. Our main character Anand belongs to the lowest caste and is little more than a slave and an untouchable. To add insult to injury, he is a half-breed and dark skinned, which apparently makes him even less of a person. Yes, the “primitives” are dark skinned. Wow.

I decided to keep reading in the hopes of developing an interest in the characters, but mostly just despised them. There was no depth to the characters or any meaningful personal development. Things happen to them and they move on to different things in the story, but they don’t mature or learn—it all felt very superficial. This happened and then that happened and then something else happened and the characters remained one-dimensional. I never emotionally connected. They all just remained their own paper-cut-outs. And the changes that do happened are never really explained.

At some point our main character Anand fell in instalove and decided he wants to marry a girl from his mother’s tribe. I say instalove, because he knew her for just a moment and had barely talked to her. Oh yes, and women in this book are either pretty or not pretty enough. And the not so nice ones spend their time screeching. Wow again.

I realize that Anand‘s origin story needs to be a nasty and and socially horrible one for this all to work, but all the cruelty, violence, racism and bigotry made me uncomfortable. Not necessarily a bad thing, I get that. But here it was so arbitrary. Maybe I could have gone with it, if the writing had been better, with engaging characters and a world building that had taken care to properly explore the social and cultural background of the various nations and tribes.

The plot idea as such was not a bad one. I am pretty sure what will happen in the second half of the book and I will dip into some of the later chapters to satisfy my curiosity. But epic fantasy like this has been done before and very well. The setting with the insects and the downsized humans is not captivating enough for me to struggle through another 300 pages of this. There is also too much telling and not enough showing, as if the author is just working through his story outline. Sorry, I have not found any redeeming features, I am not entertained. DNF, not recommended.

I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher/author through NetGalley. All opinions are my own and I was not required to give a positive review.

PS: There are many very good reviews for this book. Don‘t take my word for it, check out some of those reviews. Who knows…

Mr. Carlton is a creative writer, world building with ease. Insects and humans have developed inter dependent relationships, colonizing, developing religions, and going to war on each other. I enjoyed this book much more than I thought I would. Amazing and recommended.

Excellent first book in a series--Carlton is a new star to watch.

Prophets of the Ghost Ants (Kindle Edition) by Clark Thomas Carlton is a fabulous book I was allowed to read from NetGalley and the book publishers. I thought it was going to be a middle grade children's book but it is an young adult/adult fantasy book. It is very detailed in it's world building. The social structure is defined in all the communities so wonderfully including the caste systems, religion, dress, food, courtship, jobs, war, etc. The bigger picture also of how the different communities interact, the world view, and all the smaller tidbits that would be overlooked it but brought to light in this amazing book. It is a time after the big boulder has struck and great famine. Man, to avoid hunger, has evolved smaller and then smaller. This is an age when man is as small as an insect and interacts in the insect world. It is totally fascinating and I can not stress enough the detailed imagination that went into this. Unfortunately, the cruelty of man did not evolve out of him. Shown in the prejudice of the caste system, the wars, the slavery, and more. But love, valor, and bravery is there also. It is a clever book, long, but full of intense wonder and creativity.

I really tried to like this book,even attempting to read it three times but for whatever reason it just did not hold my interest.
I just could not connect with the characters.
Not for me

In a world where tiny humans live in symbiosis with insects, Anand is a half-breed of the lowest caste. When a new colony is to be formed, Anand is delighted at the prospect but soon finds himself living with a different clan and a new outlook. When the Ghost Ants attack his new home, Anand has a chance to change the world...

This was on my radar for a long time and I couldn't resist when it popped up on Netgalley. I was not disappointed.

While I'm not a fan of today's extruded fantasy product, originally scores big points with me and Prophets of the Ghost Ants has originality to spare. After a great cataclysm, the Earth is nearly destroyed and humans gradually evolve into being insect-sized for survival. Humans live in symbiosis with their gargantuan insect brethren and largely live in a caste system.

You don't normally read a fantasy novel where insects play a prominent role and the main character is in charge of emptying the chamber pots of nobles. I really liked the use of the caste system, somewhat emulating the hierarchy of ants. I also liked that each clan lived in symbiosis with different insects, like roaches, different varieties of ants, and termites.

Since it was a fantasy novel, you pretty much knew Anand was going to turn things upside down but I was surprised at the magnitude. It reminded me of Michael Moorcock's Elric books, only without so much genocide and melancholy. It was also very well thought out. There were no logical holes in the setting of the "Why don't they fly to Mordor on a giant eagle and drop the ring in the volcano" variety.

It was a fun journey, watching Anand go from being a shit scraper to the founder of a nation. The violence was harsh and there was a fair bit of smut in it, all the things I look for in a fantasy saga. Four out of five stars.