My first Did Not Finish (DNF) - A Non Review of "Into the Path of Gods" by K C Guler

I am a firm believer of not reviewing a book that I did not finish, because I don't think it's fair to the author, or anyone involved in the making of this book. So there will be no rating at the end of this non-review. Instead, I will just tell you why I couldn't bring myself to waste more time on this book (and believe me, I tried).

First off, disclaimer: I received a copy of this book, "Into the Path of Gods" by Kathleen Cunningham Guler in exchange for a review.

I have been trying for months, yes months, to finish this book. It started off so well, with an interesting beginning scene of everyone in a travelling party but one young girl was killed in some sort of raid. But after that, it just got worse. I even tried looking up a review of this book, to get me into the story. Looking up other reviews of books I plan to review are something I *never* do, because I don't want their opinions influencing mine. The only exception to this is when I buy a book because of a review, and then review it, but.. well that's just different, I say. The review I read of this book said it was fascinating, a good read, but even reading their opinion of the book, it did not make me want to continue this, because my brain just kept going "wrong wrong wrong wrong!" Sigh, so on to why I thought this book was so bad I did not finish it.

First - The characters. The main characters are whiny, and unreal. The main girl, Claerwen, seems like she should have some motivation to do things so outlandish, things that could most definitely get her killed. And in a way she does, because of that opening scene I mentioned, but she doesn't feel like she has it. It's like the author has written twentieth or twenty-first century characters in a fifth century AD setting. The other main character, Marcus, has too many strengths. He's described as fairly young, but yet already a master swordsmen, AND a master of disguise, AND able to orchestrate his own rebellion, AND... you get the point. It was like the author couldn't choose, and either wrote herself into a hole so she needed him to do everything, or she just wanted to make him more god-like.

Next - The setting. Okay, fifth century AD in Britain. Alright, I can handle that. Or I would have, if she hadn't mentioned plumbing. Now, maybe my knowledge of the 5th century is sorely lacking, but I'm fairly positive plumbing of any sort didn't come around in Britain until several hundred years after the time covered in this book. Even if I'm wrong, obviously this mention was enough to pull me, and therefore I'm sure others as well, out of the book.

And finally, the last thing I will cover here - Pacing. There just wasn't any. Maybe if some of the scenes that just seemed unnecessary were cut, it would be a bit better. Within a few pages, we move forward five years, but between there, we get a small scene of time inbetween, such as something that happened in year one. And it's not really necessary, nothing so major happens in this scene that we need to see. There's no sense of time it takes to travel. Actions and occurrences are just thrown at the reader with no regards to making it flow.

This book is apparently the first in a series. And it seems it's supposed to be some different take on the beginning of the King Arthur myth, though I got over a third of the way into the book without any mention of anything Arthur-related, except for the fact that it's in England.

Dear readers, you are all more than welcome to read this book, and come back here and tell me I'm wrong. But I honestly felt like I was wasting my life on this book, therefore I can't bring myself to finish it.

Happy reading!
~!~ Morning Glow ~!~