The Gutter Prayer by Gareth Hanrahan
To say that this was a highly anticipated book would be an understatement. Hanrahan is one of the best RPG authors on the scene, having written or participated in such landmark campaigns as The Dracula Dossier or The Darkening of Mirkwood. The Gutter Prayer, his first novel, is set in a steampunkish fantasy universe where gods wage war on each other through virtually immortal human proxies. The godwar has so far spared Guerdon, but strange things are happening around our trio of rogues: Cari, a Guerdon native who left as a child, weeks before her noble family was slaughtered, Spar, the son of the deceased chief of the thieves guild afflicted with the stone plague, and Rat, a ghoul from the underground tunnels who stays at the surface to avoid sinking into the animalistic ghoul instincts. There's a lot going on in this first volume, and while it has a satisfying ending, it's clearly not the end of the story. Hanrahan's worldbuilding reminded me of Glen Cook or Steven Erickson, but is deeper than the former and less convoluted than the latter, which is all for the best. An altogether satisfying first volume, curious to see where this Black Iron Legacy series will lead.
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