Book Review: Temple of No God by H.M. Long

Temple of No God by H.M. Long
Length: 432 Pages
Genres: Fantasy
Rating: 3.5 out of 5

A special thanks to Netgalley and Titan Books for providing me with an ARC of this book!

Trigger Warnings for Violence, Blood and Gore

Hall of Smoke, the first book in this series by H.M. Long, was one of my favorites of 2021, so I was thrilled when I got the chance to receive an ARC of the second book via Netgalley! While I did love catching up with Hessa, Nisien, and Estavius, I wasn't as enthralled by this sequel as I was hoping.

Hessa is now thirty, a High Priestess of the resurrected God Thyvinder, and married to a High Priest of an enemy tribe in the hopes of bringing their people together. She is older, wiser, and even more deadly than before. After the Upheaval, Rome-inspired Arpa is in turmoil; not only do they have no Emperor, their Gods are dead, leaving their souls with no one to shepherd them to the afterlife. Castor, a nefarious legionary from the first book, has made a reappearance and been tasked by pretender to the Arpa throne, Bresius, to find Hessa and ask her to join their cause. Being a High Priestess, she is one of the only people who can enter the Penumbra, this world's Mount Olympus for the Arpa Gods, and touch the Blood of Eiohe, which gives the Emperor his power and extraordinarily long life.

She agrees, and is once again thrown into the center of dangerous divine machinations, some that may change the very course of the world she fought so hard to make better.

I expected to love this one as much as the last, and while much of the ride was enjoyable, there were also parts that seemed monotonous -- the majority of the book involves travelling across Arpa and getting into several fights with the mysterious Laru, priests of a new and dangerous God working against Hessa and company. The worldbuilding is dense and so well done and is probably one of the most original and fun fantasy worlds I've encountered, and definitely stands out amongst all the legions of fantasies inspired by Medieval Europe. Honestly, I was expecting more of the previous characters, like Sixnit and her two children, Vistic and Thray, who I felt had the most potential for new stories, to be involved, and was a little disappointed they only had a scene or two. I'm excited to see where Hessa goes next, but Hall of Smoke still stands as the best so far in this series. Pick up Temple of No God if you're like me and want more of this breathtaking world and mythology.