Godstorm is what happens when the Roman Empire never falls, steals all the oil, builds steampunk monorails, angers the gods, and then throws a former gladiator into the middle of it all and says, “Good luck, babe.” This book has: Gladiators God-powered death storms Airships Pirate crews Jungle warriors Political corruption Climate rage Found family And one extremely feral woman who will burn the world down for her child Arrow is an ICON. A LEGEND. A gladiatrix-turned-governess-turned-mama-bear-on-a-warpath. If Livy so much as stubs her toe, Arrow is ready to fight gods, emperors, storms, and probably gravity itself. Their relationship is emotional, devastating, and beautiful, I was rooting for them like my life depended on it. The worldbuilding is wild in the best way. Imagine ancient Rome, but make it Victorian, add steampunk tech, oil worship, divine weather tantrums, and then toss in social injustice, feminism, climate change commentary, and a splash of chaos. It shouldn’t work. It absolutely does. Is it ambitious? Yes. Is it unhinged? Also yes. Is it fun, emotional, and impossible to stop reading? Extremely yes. This book doesn’t walk, it sprints through gods, storms, empires, and emotional damage. I laughed. I gasped. I whispered “oh no” more than once. If you like: morally grey women epic fights angry gods steampunk chaos found family that will emotionally wreck you then congratulations, this book was written for you. Now excuse me while I sit here impatiently waiting for book two like a Roman citizen demanding more gladiators.

Godstorm is the story of Arrow, a gladiator-turned-governess in an alternative history where the Roman Empire never fell. When her ward is kidnapped, she must use her skills as a fighter to rescue her. This was a brilliant read! I loved the concept of an industrial ‘ancient’ Rome still controlling much of the world, and I felt it was done very well. The worldbuilding is great, there is enough information for things to make sense without any info-dumps, but at no point did I feel bogged down. The industrial aspect was also good, and the weaving of the constant fumes in Londinium through the first section leads well into the revelations towards the end of the book. Arrow is a complex character with plenty of trauma which impacts her relationship with Livy. There is conflict in her between the enslaved governess instructed not to coddle and the woman wanting to love the child, and ultimately she will do anything to save Livy and make her happy. There are plenty of side characters on their adventures who add to the depth of the story, and I’d like to see more of The Flyer and her crew. I also loved the Roman numerals as chapter headings and story dates, it was perfect, especially when moving between the current date and Arrow’s flashbacks to her childhood. Overall, this was a great book and I’m hoping there’s going to be a book two!

I really enjoyed the concept of this book and the blend of historical fiction/ alternative history and felt the very topical and modern climate change message was well done without being preachy. I pictured this as an ancient Roman steam punk setting though I’m not sure if that’s quite what it was meant to be, that’s what it was in my head. I loved Arrow (though hated her name - sorry!) I hadn’t picked up on her being neurodivergent until I read the author note at the end but she felt well developed, with a good back story and values and I was rooting for her all the way. There were some really good twisty twists I didn’t see coming which i always love, some good hatable bad guys, some complicated relationships I hope we get to explore more in any future books, and a whole lot of adventure and plot. My one bugbear with this book was the Aurelian Calendar references at the start of each chapter to tell us what timeline we were in. These didn’t work at all and might as well have not been there. It wasn’t too hard to work out where in the story we were after the first few sentences of each chapter once I got used to the characters so this didn’t detract from the story. I understand why the author put them in to reiterate the setting, but it didn’t add anything to the actual reading experience and having finished the book I still have no idea when it was set.

In a world where the Roman Empire never fell and the earth is suffocating from the over reliance of oil, Arrow is governess to Livy. Arrow was an acclaimed gladiatrix who grew sickened by the blood and violence. Usually the only ways out of the arena are death and slavery. She is lucky that she is given charge of a tiny baby to bring up and educate in the ways of the Empire. When Livy goes missing, Arrow is determined to find her. Along with another ex gladiator they travel through the empire and discover that Livy is not just any young girl. I did enjoy the world building of this story. It was very cleverly done. There were things you thought you were familiar with, but really were totally different. I loved Arrow. Her determination and love for her charge caused her to do more than she thought possible. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book.