God Stalk

Written by P.C. Hodgell

Narrated by Jennifer O'Donnell

Jame is a Kencyr. Kencyrs are not native to the planet where they now live. For thirty centuries they have been the weapon that their Three-Faced God has used against the power of the Perimal Darkling. And though they have fought well, the Darkling has come to planet after planet, and the Kencyrs have moved on. Jame knows this as she stumbles out of the hilly, barren Haunted Lands into the city of Tai-tastigon. But she knows little else. She does not remember where she has been or what she has done for the last ten years of her life. Her memory goes back only a week or two-to finding her home destroyed and all her family dead. In Tai-tastigon Jame begins a new life that seems to be at odds with all that the Kencyrs stand for. Kencyrs are honest and just, but Jame becomes an apprentice to the most renowned thief in the powerful Thieves' Guild. Kencyrs are confirmed monotheists, yet Jame explores the rituals and activities of the thousands of gods, templed and untempled, in this religious center; she even kills a god and then resurrects him. And at the inn, the Res aB'tyrr, where she lives, she finds herself using the most sacred dances of her people, dances she does not even remember learning, for the entertainment and sometimes the destruction of the inn's patrons. Within herself Jame finds power she does not want and doubts she defies her heredity to harbor. She moves through the rich and bloody stew of Tai-tastigon like a hot spice. Her probings, to find herself and to discover what her powers mean to her and her people, combined with influences already at work, very nearly destroy the city. And yet, they bring her face to face with a destiny she must accept. This is the first of several books.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Sep 10, 2019
• ISBN: 9781980050261

Reviews for God Stalk

[jzacsh-533759 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Just couldn't finish this. Maybe I'm not a big enough fantasy fan, but I feel like I couldn't get into the main character or care about what would happen by the end of the book. For me it's pretty bad to get 2/3 through and not enjoy a book enough to just finish it for completion's sake.

Still have it 3 stars, because I feel like there world is interesting and I liked some of the characters, so maybe it's just me that doesn't like this style of fantasy.

[streamsong_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Description from The Black Gate: Adventures in Fantasy Literature:”Out of the haunted north comes Jame the Kencyr to Rathilien’s greatest city, Tai-Tastigon. From the hills above, the city appears strangely dark and silent. She arrives at its gates with large gaps in her memory and cat claws instead of fingernails. She’s carrying a pack full of strange artifacts, including a ring still on its owner’s finger… and she’s been bitten by a zombie. Wary, but in desperate need of a place to heal, Jame enters the city. So begins God Stalk, the first book in P.C. Hodgell’s Kencyrath series and one of my absolute, bar none, don’t-bother-me-if-you-see-me-reading-it, favorite fantasy novels.”A complex story in a multi-layered complex world with a very (what else?) complex protagonist. Jame struggles to fill in the gaps of her missing memory while also looking for the truth of gods and god-heads. She's been taught that there is only one god. However the city she enters is full of them and it's unclear whether they are the Creators or the Created.It's not my usual genre, but I'm intrigued enough that I've ordered the second book in the series.

[ebt1002 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I'm not even going to try to summarize the plot of this old-school science fiction work. Rather, I want to capture my honest reactions. I enjoyed it and I understand why sci-fi is not my usual go-to fare. Early in the novel, during a context-establishing chase scene, I was sitting in my quiet house so caught up in the scene that I jumped when my phone pinged. It made me chuckle and gave me a preview of what the reading experience would be. The plot is complicated, the characters slow to develop (or, more accurately, slow to develop into distinct beings), but the ride was fun. I felt like I was reading a video game (and I get that there is a strong relationship between SF and much of the modern video game territory), with one adventure leading to the next, discoveries of intrigue, deceit, and ancient secrets that illuminated one mystery only to lead to another. The summary description at the end of the novel helped. Surprisingly, I was glad it is at the end of the book; at the beginning it would have been less meaningful. Will I read the next in the series? I'm undecided about that. If I do, Level Up!

[richardderus · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Rating: 3.5* of fiveThe Publisher Says: In the first book of the Kencyrath, Jame, a young woman missing her memories, struggles out of the haunted wastes into Tai-tastigon, the old, corrupt, rich and god-infested city between the mountains and the lost lands of the Kencyrath. Jame's struggle to regain her strength, her memories, and the resources to travel to join her people, the Kencyrath, drag her into several relationships, earning affection, respect, bitter hatred and, as always, haunting memories of friends and enemies dead in her wake.My Review: I read this 35-year-old fantasy novel because my good LibraryThing friend Roni ran a group read of it. She contended that the book was underfamous and underappreciated. I don't know about you, but I'd say any first-in-series book that's followed by eight others (to date) set in the same universe, and which has an 816 page fandom wiki, isn't exactly a concealed target.Still.Reading older books in the speculative fiction genre is an education in revised expectations and their invisibility until challenged. Modern fantasy nonillionologies, each volume a minimum of a jillion pages densely packed with made-up language vocabulary and/or Randomly capitalized normal Words that indicate they're being used as something More Than their mundane meaning, are now the minimum standard. This book predates that trend. As a result, its brevity can feel...unfinished...to a 21st century sensibility. There were many, many moments that the author moved through hastily or simply glided past entirely that would, in modern times, be entire novels.I've complained about book bloat and editing fails so often and so publicly that I expect someone will quite soon point this out with a smug "gotcha!" of some sort. To those legions of carping natterers, I say "oh shut up" and remind them that 1) consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds and 2) there's such a thing as a happy medium.I'm not a huge consumer of fantasy novels at the best of times because magic makes me itch. It seems so nonsensical, so counter to the realities of physical laws under which we live; it flies in the face of experiential existence; but it satisfies a deep need in many people, just not me. Also, almost always, the protagonist is An Exceptional Adolescent (usually female), and that's very much not my favorite kind of person. Adolescence stank, and so do adolescents. Just not where I want to be, or to stay for any length of time.This novel's magical system got in under my radar because it feels to me, like the magic in Kai Ashante Wilson's marvelous Africa-set fantasy stories, as though any second we're going to be told that it's a form of technology we don't recognize as such. I can hang with that. Most of what the main character does isn't terribly magical, and the city of Tai-Tastigon itself is the source of the overall magic. We're teased with the notion of the city's magic being the reason there are so many gods in it; in fact, there's a truly delicious idea that temples to the gods are actually ways for the mundane people to *trap* the gods, to limit their scope for activity, instead of mere places of worship.Jame, our main character, even targets one of these gods in an experiment to test the limits of its power. She causes the god to lose its worshipers in the process, and the results prove to Jame that there is something very hinky about the way the gods function. This subplot is played for comedy, but I was happy to note that the very real consequences for this god and its priest were later sources of shame and remorse for Jame. She goes out of her way to fix the damage she's done, and in the process discovers an amazing library of knowledge that this god's temple has hidden for ages. It is one of the wonderful things about the tapestry of Tai-Tastigon created by Author Hodgell.The city and its quirks, its societal and legal peculiarities, are incredibly enough left to one side as soon as they're revealed! Inconceivable, and that word does mean what I think it means, in today's publishing world. I was intrigued by the Cloudies, a subset of society that's decided to take to the rooftops and not touch the ground: whence came they, what do they do for a living, how come they're not subject to groundling law, and so on and so forth. Never answered. Never addressed. The Thieves' Guild that Jame enters without the smallest tiniest bit of effort on her part is an entire multi-volume storytelling universe! The history that Jame barely skates over with her sort of accidental Thieves' Guild master, one Penari the ancient master thief, is another multi-volume series of novels. I am all for rich texture in a story, and I got it here, but there are way too many delicious side trails that lead nowhere in this book.At the end of the book came my personal biggest disappointment as Jame left Tai-Tastigon for parts unknown. This was inevitable, given the fact that she enters the city from parts only slightly less unknown and for reasons utterly unclear and unclarified. This is a fantasy novel, and the first in a series. Of course there will be a quest, and of course it will lead away from any one location. That doesn't make me any happier about it. The textures of Tai-Tastigon's tapestry are involving and exciting, and I'd like to stay here please. Which is how I know Author Hodgell created a wonderful thing in this book, and why it's no real surprise that her fantasy universe has spawned an 816-page wiki. She understands her readers' need to feel immersed and invested in more than a simple, surface-gleaming world. She delivers those goods. My various dissatisfactions with the execution of this tale aside, I admire her ability and her vision. I won't continue reading the series because I'm less interested in Jame than I am in Tai-Tastigon, but I will likely pick up any future book that returns to this setting.

[crazymamie · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Roni organized a group read of this fantasy novel, which is the first in an eight book series of books about Jame, a young woman who is struggling to remember her past and to figure out her place in a world wonderfully conceived by Hodgell. I am not going to even try to explain the plot or the themes here, but I will say that this is a book that slowly unravels its secrets. I liked the pacing - it drops you right into the action and never really slows down. I read the Kindle version, and there are very helpful appendixes at the end of the book which would be even more helpful it they were placed before the story, especially the one concerning the Thieves' Guild. I honestly would have been lost without the group read to help me out - I think this is one of those books that needs rereading to fully appreciate it. I enjoyed the world-building and the slow reveal, but I felt slightly detached from the characters - I wanted to like Jame, but I didn't feel invested in her. This is where I think rereading the story, now that I know where it is going would help. Also, Hodgell can be confusing at times. But there is humor here that is very well done and the story promises to be deeper, so I am curious about where it is going and how we will get there.

[rretzler_2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Jame, pursued by haunts, has come to the city of Tai-Tastigon from the Haunted Lands seeking to heal her wounds and looking for her twin brother, Tori. Two weeks previously, she had returned to her home to find everyone dead and her brother missing. She has no memory of where she has been from the time she was driven from her home as an outcast child until her return. Entering Tai-Tastigon at night, she finds the guard gate open, and no lights nor sign of life in the town. As she walks through the maze of streets, she realizes that the townspeople are hidden behind closed doors from the chaos that reigns in the streets – the dead gods. Jame rescues an old man, who recognizes her as a Kencyr and offers her a job. Chased by the unknown and the past, she stumbles and wakes up days later at the House of Luck-Bringers, the inn which she stumbled into. She must wait to continue her quest, as the mountain pass that will take her out of the city is closed most of the year. The Innkeeper and his household adopt her, and as she joins the Thieves’ Guild as an apprentice, she becomes enmeshed in the city’s politics.I enjoyed this book a great deal. It was easy to read, and I enjoyed the author’s style. Hodgell did a fantastic job of world-building, especially in the first chapter, which was very fast-paced and frenetic, slowing in the second chapter to introduce us to the characters that would be important throughout the book. There are several underlying plot points which come together during the story. I felt that the author gave just enough away with each new chapter to keep one reading and interested, leaving the story open for a sequel. There was a lot of background information given about Jame, the Kencyrath, and her past, but I sense there is still a lot to learn, and I intend to read the sequels to find out more.I recommend this to anyone who likes fantasy with a strong female lead and interesting world-building.

[quondame · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Many things going on and a heroine who only knows a portion of her past. She has interesting relationships with people, gods and their priests, cats, the thieve's guild and the city itself, but seems distant most of the time, even from herself. I like a heroine who doesn't wallow, but I want a sense of what she feels when her actions have major impacts.

[deltaqueen50 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

God Stalk by P. C. Hodgell is a unique and interesting fantasy that begins the author’s Chronicles of the Kencyrath series. Originally published in 1982, I find it very strange that this book does not appear to be more well known as it has both depth and originality that makes it stand out. The author delves deep into culture, religion and politics and her attention to detail provides many striking descriptions and events.The story begins as the main character stumbles into the complex, crumbling and corrupt city of Tai-tastigon and endures a night of terror as the dead gods return to stalk the streets and alleys. She is a damaged soul apparently having no memories of her past, although she does appear to know some things such as her name and that she has a twin brother, along with some details about her culture and history. I found the story slowed somewhat after this terror ridden night as Jame establishes herself in the city, meets many characters and forms relationships. Luckily I found myself admiring and liking Jame so I wanted to read on and find out where the story was heading.What I enjoyed most with this book was the creative world-building and vivid descriptions that the author gives us about the city, and it’s god-ridden ways. God Stalk serves as a strong introduction to the series and introduces a unique and unusually skilled heroine whose cryptic memories still leave much to be revealed in future volumes. My only quibble, if it can be so named, is that this book accomplishes it’s goal in that I am thoroughly sold on continuing on with the rest of the series.

[altheaann · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

My first book by this author, who's described as a "cult favorite." Never heard of her before, but I thought this was a quite entertaining fantasy in the classic vein (think Thieves' World) but with a vein of darker elements running through it... (maybe a little Storm Constantine, Tanith Lee, Meredith Ann Pierce...)
From the wilderness, the young woman Jame arrives at the city of Tai-Tastigon... unfortunately during the inauspicious night of the Feast of Dead Gods, when all sorts of formerly-worshipped horrors walk the streets freely.... Luckily, most of the rest of the time, the many gods of the mazelike city are safely "en-templed" (I LOVE the concept of having to keep your god locked up in its temple!)
Although Jame remembers little of where she came from, or what she has been doing for the last few years, she knows that she is one of the possibly-alien Kencyr, that her high-blooded family was killed, and she has a mission to find her brother, and restore the heirlooms that are his birthright to him. However, it seems a hopeless task, and Jame soon finds herself caught up in the complex life of the city - apprenticed to a master thief, and living at a bustling inn that unfortunately is being harassed by the competition next door... not to mention catching the interest of more than one man, and also being fascinated my the riddles of Tai-Tastigon's many gods...
A fun read, with a good mix of the classic and the original...

[thedivineoomba · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a book if I read it when I was a teenager, I would have loved it. But as an adult, it I see its many faults. Its a better than average 1980's Fantasy novel. Set in Renaissance Festival type world (it feels too "clean") It sits at a weird point - not dark enough to be taken seriously, but too dark for a more light hearted novel. Example, the inn Jame ends up staying at just takes her in, no questions asked, but her best friend gets killed, and Jame doesn't seem to be very heartbroken about it. The Thieves Guild is too nice, it feels like something taken directly from a Dungeons and Dragons Scenario. The list of characters at the front, and the appendices at the back, is such a typical 80's thing. In this book, its not needed. Even add in a telepathic connection to a large cat, and you hit all the major themes in 1980's fantasy.The story itself is fairly good - characters are fairly typical, but the plot is interesting. The world is standard. Too many minor characters not introduced properly can make it challenging, as well as the mix of made up fantasy stuff mixed with real life objects. I actually stayed up all night to finish it. The book was an easy read, and the ending was a bit of a surprise.As for the book itself, it was written in 1983. But it doesn't feel dated (unless you read a lot of stuff from this era). I suspect that this book could be released as a young-adult novel, and it would actual do well.So, take it for what it is, a story that is a better than average 1980's fiction book. My only question about this - is why, why must all these types of novels have bonds with cats?!

[mossjon · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

3.5 stars - I'm not rounding up to four stars though

Jame stumbles into Tai-Tastigon, apparently deserted, after being so long on the run she's delirious with exhaustion and fighting off her race's healing dwar sleep. She chances upon Penari, a famous thief, as he's trapped in a doorway by a a couple of footpads. Jame rushes to the rescue and Penari offers her a job as recompense. Too weak, confused and lost to comprehend, Jame wanders the maze of Tai-Tastigon until she collapses just inside the doorstep of the Res a'Bytrr, one of the few taverns open on the eve of the Feast of the Dead Gods.

Jame is adopted into the hearts and hearth of the tavern owner and his staff. She recovers rapidly, but is stalked by nightmares of her life before arriving at Tai-Tastigon, home to thousands of gods, their temples and followers. Jame, a Kencyr, believes in only one god, the Three-Faced God: Torrigion, That-Which-Creates; Argentiel, That-Which-Preserves; and, Regonereth, That-Which-Destroys. Honor bound and honest to a fault, Jame finds Tai-Tastigon strange and dangerous.

Unable to continue her journey to Kencyr lands due to the closing of the mountain passes and storms on the seas, Jame takes Penari up on his offer of an apprenticeship. She seeks the approval of her god through the high priest, Ishtier, in residence at the Temple of the Three-Faced God in the Lower Town. Arrogant and hateful, Ishtier is about to refuse her request, when the Three-Faced God speaks through him and gives a limited blessing to Jame.

Jame spends the rest of the story learning her craft, remembering her heritage and mastering a martial art similar to dancing, which can also entrance her audience and through which she can channel unseen forces and powers. She also seeks the answer to a burning theological questions: how can there exist so many gods? has her race, the Kencyrs, been duped by itself for three thousand years? She stalks the gods, even managing to kill one and resurrect it, before she comes to terms with her beliefs.

There are moments of poetical prose amongst the heists, action and intrigue. The characters seemed flat though as I never cared one whit if they were in danger, injured, kidnapped or killed.

[rivkat_2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I don’t really know what to say about this dense, captivating fantasy. Blasting through worldbuilding, the book introduces us to Jame, a half-amnesiac not-quite-human exile from somewhere, running for her life. She runs into a city filled with gods, only some of them alive, and finds a makeshift family that is having political troubles of its own, into which she intervenes rather decisively. She’s either named for—or perhaps is, though that’s only my interpretation of some cryptic bits—the greatest traitor known to her kind, who opened the door for the Dark Lord who’s slowly taking over the worlds. Anyway, it’s fantastical and elaborate and chewy, and I enjoyed it immensely.

[patbrooks_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Really enjoyed this book, re-read it several times. The setting is highly detailed and truely fascinating, and Jame, the lead character, is both mysterious and heroic. Just enough humor, and the storyline is easy to follow. Was looking forward to the second book in the series which, unfortunately, turned out to be a big dissapointment as it was no longer set in Tai Tastigon. The city itself deserves a series of books.

[kellswitch_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I found the world this book was based in fascinating, very layered and realistically written, it felt like a world that could really exist.As much as I love this book and am haunted by the imagery within it, it's not one I can read very often, the world is dark, the people in it are dark, there are very, very few bright spots in it or just nice people. This works well for this book as bright and cheerful really wouldn't fit in this world, but it does make it a title I have to be in the right mood to read again. Though I find I don't need to reread it very often as the images stay with me for a long, long time afterwords, even now typing this I can re-imagine the mood of the book and imagery as much as if I had just read it.

[justchris_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I first stumbled across this book in a used bookstore somewhere on my rambles in the 1980s. I was intrigued by the title--stalk as noun or verb? I was delighted by the story: it has humor, fast pacing, interesting ideas, a dark side including death and mayhem, and a well-imagined world. It is something of a dark yet light-hearted fantasy with a unique flavor and an engaging heroine struggling with the eternal questions of identity, honor, life's purpose, and the nature of god. Jame stumbles into the old city of Tai-Tastigon pursued by haunts. She tarries a year, makes friends and enemies, and struggles with her amnesia before continuing her travel to rejoin her people, the Kencyrath.

[sunnysd_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The descendant of an off-world people who fled unspeakable horrors through a world-gate, Jame has little memory of her own history, and no certain future. Haunted by vague memories of traumatic past events, and with the knowledge that all of her close kin, with one possible exception, are dead, she is left with only her wits and skills to defend her. Honor-bound by blood to a rigorous code of ethics, she must deliver a book, broken sword, and her father's ring to her twin brother, who may or may not be alive. The main action occurs in a huge, maze-like, temple-bestrewn city where dead gods and demons sometimes walk the streets, and factions rule. Jame apprentices with a thief-lord, is adopted by tavern folk, baits priests, and makes friends and enemies at all levels. Great dialogue, humor, and continuous action compensate amply for a plot which moves somewhat slowly. This is the first book in a series, so I'm anticipating great things to come.

[wyvernfriend · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An interesting read and very different fantasy. Partially a coming of age novel, partially an adventure story, it looks like I have the trilogy in one novel somewhere so I'm looking forward to reading the rest.