Gods and Monsters: Myth Breaker by Stephen Blackmoore will be the second novel in the series and will be
published in December 2014.
Wendig
imagined a brand new world for Abaddon Books last year, in which gods and
goddesses are real and fight one another for mankind’s belief and devotion. But
when one god drove all others out of Heaven, it was back to the bad old days of
cults and sycophants, and the terrible retribution the gods visit on those who
spite them. Gods and Monsters: Myth
Breaker continues the story of
humanity pitted against both the natural and the supernatural in a world of
violence and faith.
Chuck
said: “Stephen Blackmoore is the exceedingly worthy heir to the Gods and Monsters throne, and unto him I
bequeath my crown, my sword, my whiskey bottle (it’s empty, sorry), my robot
butler, my monkey butler, and what’s left of the ragged cheesecloth that is my
soul. COURAGE TO HIM.”
The first people the gods stopped
talking to, back in the day, were the Chroniclers: people who were touched by
the divine. Prophets and storytellers; Moses, Homer, Hesiod. Chroniclers don't
just tell the stories, they make people believe.
And when the gods don’t keep up that connection, they go mad.
Growing up an orphan, Louie Fitzsimmons
always had conversations with “invisible friends,” could see patterns in the
world that no one else could see. He suffered bouts of mania and depression,
but with a regimen of drugs and therapy he grew out of it as a teenager.
When he was thirteen, he ran away from the orphanage and got in with organized
crime as a drug runner, skimming the pharmaceuticals he sold to keep his
visions at bay. Now, thirty-five years old and burnt out, Louie’s had enough.
With access to the mob's finances, he plans to go out in a big way.
Only he can't. Things are conspiring
against him: a broken down car, a missed flight. It's bad enough being hunted
by the mob, but the gods – kicked out of the Heavens, stuck on Earth without
worshippers – need someone who can tell their stories, get the word out, and
they aren’t letting him go. And there are new gods on the scene, gods of finance and technology, who want
him too.
Caught between the mob and two sets of
rival gods, Louie hatches a plan that will probably get him killed. If his
powers can make the gods, there's no reason he can't break them...
The critics on Gods and Monsters: Unclean Spirits:
“The style is gonzo and rapid-fire, with bizarre imagery and flashes
of violence and the grotesque.”
– Hellnotes.com
“The tone, the pacing, the characters, all of it, and honestly, this
story is just plain fun. Dark, sometimes horribly creepy, but fun.”
– Fantasy Book Critic
“… full of stark realities dragged through gutter-filled dreams ...
Even now I cannot seem to shake this novel free.”
– SF Signal
