Rating

Review

Faithless by Graham Austin-King is one of those books that I didn’t necessarily expect greatness from, but where I was really hoping for an engaging story, some competent writing, and maybe even a handful of moments where I could look back on the reading experience with some fondness. Unfortunately, the author did not deliver on my expectations on enough counts for me to continue reading past about 20%. I do thank the publisher for giving me the opportunity to review Faithless, but a combination of flat writing and flatter characters made for a generally unengaging experience.

The premise wasn’t half bad. There’s a temple with mines underneath. People are called to service, presumably to the temple but, in actuality, to work in the mines. But if one makes their tally so many times in a row, that person has the chance to go before the priests and serve them instead of toiling away in the mines. We are introduced to one such character who was sold into service by his father and another who worked his way out of the mines to serve the priests, but who came back to the mines under mysterious circumstances.

The problem is that neither character is particularly interesting. They’re actually quite ordinary, with no special aptitudes or skills, and nothing about them really grabbed me. Same for the writing. It’s competent enough, but couldn’t make up for the other shortcomings that ultimately led me to put this one down.

I almost feel as if I could give Faithless a higher mark than a single rocket because some people will like it. But I also can’t recommend a book that I couldn’t finish, so one rocket it is.