November 1st saw the start of the second stage of the SPFBO – the Self Published Fantasy Blog off organised by Mark Lawrence.  All the details can be found here.

Today I’m highlighting the second book that I will be reading for the SPFBO.  All the books have been drawn randomly and the second out of the hat was: Paternus by Dark Ashton. (The synopsis below taken from Goodreads):

The gods and monsters of myth have returned. In a breathtaking story that takes place in a single day, two ordinary humans are caught up in the final battle of a war that’s been waged since the dawn of time.

Gods, monsters, angels, devils. Call them what you like. They exist. The epic battles between titans, giants, and gods, heaven and hell, the forces of light and darkness. They happened. And the war isn’t over.

17 year old Fi Patterson lives with her stuffy English uncle and has an internship at a local hospital for the aged. She doesn’t know what she wants to do with her life, misses her dead mother, wonders about the father she never knew. One bright spot is caring for Peter, a dementia-ridden old man whose faraway smile can make her whole day. And there’s her conflicted attraction to Zeke — awkward, brilliant, talented — who plays guitar for the old folks.

Then a group of very strange and frightening men show up for a “visit”…

Fi and Zeke’s worlds are shattered as their typical everyday concerns are suddenly replaced by the immediate need to stay alive — and they try to come to grips with the unimaginable reality of the Firstborn.

“Keep an open mind. And forget everything you know…”

Paternus has been called “American Gods meets The Lord of the Rings,” and claimed to be reminiscent of Roger Zelazny’s Lord of Light as well as Clive Barker’s Weaveworld.

Contemporary Fantasy / Mythic-Fiction. New Adult Fiction – as opposed to Teen or YA, though savvy 16 or 17 year olds might survive without permanent damage.

Book No 1: Shadow Soul by Caitlyn Davis.   Review here.