We Are the Origin [Wrath of the Gods #1], by C.M. Lockhart {Indie Ink Awards 2023 Finalist}

Another Finalist for the Indie Ink Awards 2023, this Dark Fantasy novel sees the heroine turn around her life of destruction to one of protection, by the will (and the whim) of the gods. It’s like Boondocks Saints meets Leon the Professional in a fantasy world.

Indie Ink Awards (categories)

This book is a Finalist for:

• Best use of tropes
• Wittiest character

Sadly, that’s it, and I think this is a wasted chance. So for the sake of this review, I’m going to judge two additional categories:

• Best setting (a category that, actually, exists)
• Best badass heroine (a category that, sadly, does not, but absolutely should exist)

Let’s start with the unofficial categories.

Best setting

It’s a shame this book hasn’t been nominated in that category, because clearly a lot of world building went into that one. It’s not your typical, run of the mill fantasy setting, rather one that feels very unique, starting with the way the gods are weaved into everyday life. This is a world where you might actually pray for the gods to heed you no attention and just keep godding on (or whatever it is a god does while not making people’s lives miserable).

Best Badass Heroine

After reading this book, you would probably agree with me that this category should exist, if solely for the purpose of awarding it to Brandi. She’s unwavering in her character and does a lot of badassery (along with some bad ass archery).

She’s also a very, very morally gray character, so that category (which does exist) wouldn’t have been too far off. Guess Brandi just goes on doing morally gray stuff unrecognized, but at least in a totally badass way.

Wittiest character

That’s a rather hard one, I think. The reason I was lauding the badass character was to counteract the fact that the book seems to fall short in this category. Brandi is dark, glooming and – again – a badass. But mumbling “I’m the wrath of the gods” over and over again is not very witty. Menacing, for sure, but not witty. There is simply too little light banter for anyone to be witty. I’m sorry, but I don’t see this achievement here.

Best use of tropes

With regards to dark fantasy, there are some tropes I expect to see. The gods are real, but far from being only benevolent and more love egomaniacs? Every boon they offer comes at a price? Check and check. The people in this story act based on some kind of blue and orange morality, where their concepts of right and wrong are so outlandish to us, we don’t really understand them.

The judgement

There are a few parts where the story falls short. I’ve mentioned the outlandish morality of the characters, but that’s not where the alien influences stop. While I praised the fantasy world to be an interesting one (and it is interesting, without a doubt), there is still the fact that a lot of it feels alien to me as the reader. Lockhart avoids empty exposition in the dialogues, which is a blessing, but as I’ve mentioned time and again:  The sacred approach of “show, don’t tell” needs to be balanced against the more alien parts of a story. Sometimes you need a little tell to understand the ramifications of what’s going on. This is an area impact with this story – I’ve often felt like stumbling though a strange painting (maybe by M.C. Escher), trying to understand what the people were talking about. That diminishes my joy in the story greatly.

This is mostly based on the fact that by withholding context from me, the author makes it hard for me to recognize the dramaturgical depths of the story and their relevance to the characters. Basically, I don’t feel for the characters because I can’t realize if they’re currently stumbling through world shattering events – or just another Monday.

I’m going with 3.5 stars. The world building has potential!