A book that was a re-read, and I knew I needed the re-read. I\u2019ve said before that eldritch horror is a bit difficult for me to totally picture<\/em> the first time around. Plus, I\u2019m not much of a fantasy reader\u2014though N.K. Jemisin is doing her best to change that\u2014and given the imagined world here, this book has some strong fantasy elements. This is a novel that imagines a pantheon of gods, then takes their presence in the world seriously. It\u2019s a book with fedora-and-trenchcoat wearing detectives, but also sea monsters. It\u2019s a book filled with blood and ritual sacrifice, and a book that is, for the second time this month, really concerned with water. I\u2019m talking, of course, about No Gods For Drowning<\/em> by Hailey Piper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n No Gods For Drowning<\/em> by Hailey Piper: <\/strong>to semi-rehearse what\u2019s happening here\u2014the gods that protect the holy land of Aeg have abandoned their city-states. Fled the continent. No gods, and no one knows why, and drowning is imminent. Without the gods to protect people, the sea threatens. In the sea are not only sharks and whales and sea monsters, but the glories\u2014an aquatic but almost-humanlike race of people-eaters. Our four main characters are Arcadia (a flood-fighter), her new beau Lilac (the daughter of a goddess), and private detectives Alex and Cecil (Cecil is also a descendent of gods). Lilac begins serial killing people as a sacrifice to Logoi, her goddess mother, in an attempt to bring divine aid. Alex and Cecil, without knowing it\u2019s their friend Lilac, investigate the murders. Arcadia, suffering from PTSD after refusing to participate in a \u201csacrifice\u201d that was just some cops machine gunning a village, has turned the service life of a flood fighter, evacuating neighborhoods and fortifying barricades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Too much plot rehash isn\u2019t as fun as just reading the book, so lemme say: it\u2019s pretty wild that this is such an imaginative and inventive world in a standalone book (some other stories exist in this universe, per Hailey’s website<\/a>). It has the same kind of genre pastiche and set piece quirks that you\u2019d find in, say, John Wick<\/em> or anime. We have priests and priestesses next to Bogart-style PIs and pawnshop owners and evil mermaids and lore about Dawn Gods. This novel takes place in a loud world\u2014a touch of theatre kid in how long the world is\u2014but it is genuinely fun, imagining all of these stock characters hanging around in this wholly original setting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s plenty of metaphor, too. The great storm is coming, and the sea contains horrors. It didn\u2019t used to be like this. I really appreciate the gods leaving Aeg as a metaphor for enshittification. It also says something interesting about humans that the presence of gods doesn\u2019t seem to make anyone any more or less moral. Gods have no right and wrong, only whims. People can be killed in the name of gods, temples seem to be more like orphanages and foster homes more than ultra-powerful institutions. One cool thing about the gods? If you\u2019re trans, you can visit one, pledge lifelong loyalty, and get magical gender affirming surgery. Everyone seems to think it\u2019s pretty cool, too. As I said a couple weeks ago<\/a>, this book is a real mind-expander. Give it a look if you\u2019re feeling adventurous (and wanna read about blood getting spilled, because there are buckets<\/em> of blood spilled in this book).\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n LINKS!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Something to listen to while you browse? I missed Andersonville Midsommar Fest this year because we were in Baltimore, my wife’s cousin got married. Midsommar is an absolute highlight of my year, and I’m sad to have missed it, so we’re gonna listen to some Bev Rage and The Drinks. I know I link to them a bunch, sorry if this is a repeat, but honestly\u2014here’s a Bev Rage and The Drinks video, are you really gonna be upset about it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.lazyandentitled.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/image-10-1024x768.png\")
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