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.

An interesting steam punk take on our own global warming crisis taken from the viewpoint of a world in which the sun never set on the Roman Empire - which for some unexplained reason moved it's centre of power from Italy to London. An over reliance on oil, which is used with none of the filtration systems that we engage to reduce the harmful effluent content, gives rise to violent weather disruptions that risk harm to everything they touch - the Godstorms of the title. The weather patterns changing across our globe are bad enough, these are very nasty localised death storms! The story takes us across the alternative London, into the high seas and deep into the Amazonian forests as a former gladiatrix turned governess fights to protect the young girl that she has cared for since leaving the arena. I'll not go into detail about the relationship or the roots of either character as I try to avoid spoilers in my reviews, suffice to say there are the red herrings and healthy coincidences that we all enjoy in a ripping yarn...and, with one minor irritation (I couldn't believe that a trained gladiator in this alternate reality would refer to himself as "just a bloke") this is indeed a ripping yarn. The novel provides dating clues using the "Aurelian" calendar - by my reckoning it's set in what we'd see as a mid-Victorian era, the steam punk airships, road vehicles and monorail are adequately covered for a casual fan such as myself - real devotees of the genre might find the descriptive a little light. I've given a four star rating, which I think is ok for a first released novel by the author, who is an acknowledged climate expert. I think I'd like to know where the story might go next - that's always a positive for me when discovering new joys. I was provided an advance copy of this novel by Net Galley in return for my honest and unbiased review - please consider this as being such a response.