DNF at 20%
This books is described as dark fantasy/sci-fi story, and it definitely is. But the writing is not compelling enough for me to push through a very slow beginning. It’s not bad at all, but not my coup of tea either.

I am a member of the American Library Association Reading List Award Committee. This title was suggested for the 2022 list. It was not nominated for the award. The complete list of winners and shortlisted titles is at <a href="https://rusaupdate.org/2022/01/readers-advisory-announce-2022-reading-list-years-best-in-genre-fiction-for-adult-readers/">

Stars: 3.5 out of 5
That was a very unusual book. I struggle to even put it in a category. Scifi? Fantasy? Post Apocalypse? Grim dark? A little bit of both with a bunch of other stuff mixed in?
I admit that I struggled with rating this book because there are certain aspects of it that I absolutely loved, and others that I was less than thrilled about. I had to make a compromise and settle on 3.5 stars.
Let's talk about the thing I absolutely loved - the worldbuilding. This is a gritty and unforgiving world that wasn't created for the human race. In fact, we learn pretty early on that humans came to this world as refugees from their own dimension that was facing immediate destruction. So even though the air is mostly breathable, the water potable, and the soil can grow imported crops, most of the native plant and wildlife can kill you in dozens of imaginative albeit rather painful ways. Not to mention that what livestock and crops the refugees brought with them have slowly been dying out or mutating beyond recognition through the centuries since their arrival.
This is a harsh world and you get a distinct feeling that the human race isn't welcome there. If fact, it's on borrowed time. Even without failing crops and livestock dying out, less and less people are born each year. Cities that were full of people and hope for a new future when they just arrived in this world now stand abandoned. Roads and highways are crumbling because if lack of use, and great feats of architecture that had once made life easier (like aqueducts and sewerage channels) are now broken and forgotten...This general decay and desolation is very reminiscent of some of the darker works by Glen Cook, like the Black Company series, or the Dark Tower cycle by Stephen King. There is a sense of wrongness about the land, like the world had "moved on" and left the humans behind, to slowly die out. And of course, humans being humans, they find new and imaginative ways to abuse and kill each other. Did I mention this book is dark? Very, unforgivably dark.
This is where I will need to mention the part that I didn't like, and that's the characters. They are all absolutely depictable horrible excuses for human beings, especially those who fancy themselves gods instead. There isn't a single one of them that has anything that even resembles a moral compass, and the atrocities they commit seemingly in passing were so bad at times that I found myself rooting for the natives. For me, it is rather hard to like a book when I just want to kill all of the protagonists to either put them out of their misery or to prevent them from committing any more atrocities. And in the case of the Boneman, who seems the least horrible of them all, his sin is the one of inaction. He sees the horrors his brother is committing. He saw all the horrors he committed in the past...  yet he follows him nevertheless. Like  fateful hound devoid of free will. Don't' know about you, but to me that's a character that's extremely annoying to read about.
I understand that the author's idea was to show that his characters deserve the fates they will be getting and that the horrible actions they committed are counterbalanced by the harshness of their environment... Kinda like they deserve the prison they ended up with because they are all so horrible. I can appreciate that idea, but I don't like it. Maybe because my tolerance for pain and suffering and people behaving like absolute Neanderthals has significantly lowered during these 2 pandemic years. I want to have at least one protagonist I can root for. I am not interested in following a bunch of villains and settle for the less villainous of them surviving in the end. But other readers might find this book right up their alley. So I would say give it a try, to discover an unusual world if nothing else.
PS: I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I loved getting to know Papa Lucy and going through this book, It was a well written story and they kept me invested. The author writes this perfectly and has a great writing style.

This is a fantasy story about gods and mortals in a brutal, savage land. This story is revealed in strange bits and pieces, and the world is so bizarre that I felt like I had to read many sections multiple times. It can definitely be confusing, and it took me while to feel like I had any idea what was going on.

I would like to see this book made into an animated movie, as I think this type of strange universe could make for a visually stunning landscape, but it also doesn't seem like it would be possible with real live actors. Overall it was a unique book, and as much as I appreciate a creative and unusual approach to fantasy, I think I would've preferred a more clear and direct style of writing, and the plot stretched out over multiple books. It took too long to get any kind of footing in this universe, and I feel like I would have to read the book a second time to fully understand everything.

This was a excellent read. Incredible world-building, strong, believable characters, an ending that makes you want to read the next book. And I can't wait. The author's descriptions of the lands and the creatures inhabiting it are so good, you can see them in your mind's eye as you read.

Trigger Warnings:

Graphic violence, stabbing/cutting, blood, CANNIBALISM, Shooting, sex (off-page), pervasive language

I eagerly await the sequel(s). I hope to be kept I the loop when they are released.

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this incredible book. All opinions are my own.

Papa Lucy & the Boneman
by Jason Fischer
Outland Entertainment
Wow, what did I just read? Bizarre doesn't cover it! Would be a good movie! This book has a dire feeling from the beginning! A long dead god finally was able to pull his bones together to set out to find his brother, Papa Lucy. The history of these gods and the Before is told in bits and the reader gets clues as the book continues. Same with the Now.

This world is bonkers! No morals at all! Cannibals, murders, fighting for everything is just common. Jane Rider has the last True Horse! Bird men, lizards that are as big as men. Bandit raids that attack towns. There are cars but it's a desert. Very little water. Sorcery by the gods, which people still pray to. There is plenty of characters development. This is a character driven book!

This is a like an Native American Indian story but told by Neil Gaiman! Bizarre, death by everyone, intriguing but weird! I normally read very fast but I had to read this slow to figure out what they were talking about! It would probably help me to read it twice but it is a bit depressing to me so I won't be reading it a second time. I loved the premise and the supernatural aspects. It was difficult to get a footing in the book with the names that were so different for things.

The ending was good but it just had to add a little more! I guess the author is setting it up for another book. I think it should have stopped there! The one sane thing about the whole book!
I want to thank the publisher and NetGalley for letting me read this book! Enjoyed it even if it was weird!
Love the cover! Oh, and that poor horse!

This book reminds me of The Library at Mount Char in the best possible way. But with characters I want to punch in the face. So similar to Mount Char, but punchier.
The world-building is phenomenal, the reader is thrown into the deep end and things get revealed as you limp through a broken wasteland of pain and gods.
Sympathetic characters have the curtain pulled back to reveal monsters, and monsters have the curtains pulled back to reveal yes, they're actually monsters, sucks to be you.
The story revolves around a couple overlapping characters and we get to see them change, grow, sin, and murder just about fucking everybody. Like, George R.R. Martin would be impressed. Fischer kills actual gods, plural, EVERYBODY fucking dies, y'all. Except for maybe those who deserve it the most.
The characters make the story. Sol is relatable, lovable, wait, he's a coward and enabler, is he redeemable? I say no, but your interpretation of the end may vary. Papa Lucy (yes, the story explains the name) is believeable to the point I think I met the madman on a rainy night in college. And the poor horse, I'm sorry, no one met for that to happen to you.
The Epilogue... why? Like, I know a sequel is set up but we had such a strong ending I would have rather just... not. Just no epilogue, just end the story and let me think there may be justice in the world after all.
**I received an advance copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.