The Prey of Gods, by Nicky Drayden
Reading is a thing I’d really like to get into more. As a kid I had been an almost chronic bookworm, to the point that it interfered with other parts of my life, but in high school the pressure of classes and lack of time meant that I basically stopped reading for pleasure for about three years. I’m currently worming my way back into the world of literature with stories like The Fifth Science (which I’ve reviewed previously) and, most recently, The Prey of Gods by Nicky Drayden (The subject of this review). So without further ado, let’s a-do the review.
Set in South Africa about forty years from today, The Prey of Gods is a story about magic, technology and the blurry line between the two. It’s hard to successfully summarize, as despite being less than four hundred pages the book contains a multitude of stories. All at once there’s a story about a fledgling demigod coming into her power, a teen romance between two jocks with supernatural abilities, a political mystery, a story about government experiments and genetically engineered viruses, and a story about artificial intelligence realizing its place as separate from the humans who made them.
Needless to say, this book has a lot going on.
On top of that, each one of these stories is engaging in their own unique way, so you’ll certainly never be bored while you’re reading. The intersections between the old world of magic and gods and the new world of AI and industrialism is endlessly fascinating, pulled up even more by the characters, each of whom feel and act totally distinct from the others.
If there’s one thing I can say it’s that the book is a little hard to follow. Not even because of the amount of stuff going on, but the narration sometimes skips over or barely mentions things that are happening, which lead to me having to change my mental image of the scene when a later statement doesn’t line up. It can be disconcerting sometimes, but I wouldn’t call it a huge issue.
All in all, The Prey of Gods is inventive, unique, and most importantly fun, which is everything I can really ask for in a novel. I’d especially recommend it if you’re looking for a quick, intense, rollercoaster of a story. I have a few more of Nicky Drayden’s books lined up on my shelf and I can truthfully say I’m excited to see where she went next.