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The God Engines
The God Engines
The God Engines
Audiobook3 hours

The God Engines

Written by John Scalzi

Narrated by Christopher Lane

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

()

About this audiobook

Captain Ean Tephe is a man of faith, whose allegiance to his lord and to his ship is uncontested. The Bishopry Militant knows this—and so, when it needs a ship and crew to undertake a secret, sacred mission to a hidden land, Tephe is the captain to whom the task is given.

Tephe knows from the start that his mission will be a test of his skill as a leader of men and as a devout follower of his god. It’s what he doesn’t know that matters: to what ends his faith and his ship will ultimately be put—and that the tests he will face will come not only from his god and the Bishopry Militant, but from another, more malevolent source entirely…

Author John Scalzi has ascended to the top ranks of modern science fiction with the bestselling, Hugo-nominated novels Old Man’s War and Zoe’s Tale. Now he tries his hand at fantasy, with a dark and different novella that takes your expectations of what fantasy is and does, and sends them tumbling.

Say your prayers…and behold The God Engines.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateDec 15, 2010
ISBN9781441890832
The God Engines
Author

John Scalzi

John Scalzi is the New York Times-bestselling science fiction author (Redfish), blogger (Whatever), and former president of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. He is best known for his Old Man's War series, and is the winner of the Hugo, the Locus, the Seiun and Kurd Lassitz awards, as well as the 2016 Governors Award for the Arts in Ohio. He is creative consultant for the Stargate: Universe television series, writer for the video game Midnight Star, and executive producer and consultant for Ghost Brigades, currently in development for television. He lives in Ohio.

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Reviews for The God Engines

Rating: 3.6627907188160678 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

473 ratings39 reviews

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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    An excellent short story! Some pretty impactful moments of body horror.
    I was really rooting for a different ending, but the one it has was fitting and satisfying.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Apparently Scalzi's first attempt at a fantasy novel. It still feels a bit sf--the characters fly in spaceships to distant worlds. But the spaceships are powered by the torture of gods.

    Generations ago, the One True God rose to power. Ever since, the remaining gods have been enslaved by the True God's followers to power their technology. But pockets of resistance remain...

    Scalzi manages to pack a great deal into 136 pages--I felt like I knew the captain and his society well, and I was interested in his odd relationship with his ship's enslaved god. I think if this book had been longer the twist at the end would have felt even more like a gut-punch, but as it was, it still left me nearly breathless. Definitely worth a read.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    "The God Engines" by John Scalzi "In 'The God Engines,' John Scalzi embarks on a daring journey into a universe where gods are harnessed as engines to power starships. It's a dark and ambitious exploration of faith, power, and the consequences of playing god."

    'The God Engines' is a short but impactful novella by John Scalzi that challenges conventional notions of religion and power in a unique blend of science fiction and fantasy. This review aims to dissect the strengths and shortcomings of this thought-provoking work.

    Concept and World-Building:

    The central premise of 'The God Engines' is both captivating and unsettling. In this universe, gods are subjugated and enslaved to serve as the engines of starships, their divine powers harnessed for interstellar travel. Scalzi masterfully builds a world that is simultaneously awe-inspiring and grim. The fusion of advanced technology with religious mysticism creates a setting that is both intriguing and thought-provoking.

    Characterization:

    The novella's main character, Ean Tephe, is a devout priest and captain of the starship Righteous. His internal struggle between his faith and the demands of his mission forms the core of the story. While Ean's character is well-drawn and his moral dilemmas are compelling, the limited length of the novella prevents deeper exploration of the supporting characters. The crew members and other entities in this world remain somewhat underdeveloped, which is a missed opportunity to add complexity to the narrative.

    Themes and Commentary:

    'The God Engines' is undeniably a work of speculative fiction that delves into profound themes. It explores the consequences of unchecked power, the manipulation of belief systems, and the moral ambiguity of using gods as tools. Scalzi raises questions about the nature of faith, free will, and the cost of progress. It's a dark and philosophical examination of human nature's capacity for cruelty and exploitation in the name of survival.

    Plot and Pacing:

    The novella's plot is tightly woven, with a steady pace that keeps readers engaged from start to finish. The suspense and tension build as Ean faces increasingly challenging ethical dilemmas. However, the brevity of the story means that some aspects are left unexplored, leaving readers with lingering questions about the world and its inhabitants.

    Conclusion:

    'The God Engines' is a bold and imaginative work that showcases John Scalzi's ability to blend genres and tackle complex themes. While its brevity may leave some readers craving more depth and development, it remains a thought-provoking exploration of faith, power, and the consequences of wielding divine forces. If you're looking for a short, intense read that challenges your perspective on religion and morality in a science fiction setting, 'The God Engines' is a worthy choice.

    Disclaimer: This review is based on my personal assessment and preferences as a reader. Individual opinions may vary.

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The range of reviews for this story is amazing. Some people were utterly surprised, others underwhelmed and claiming to have guessed every twist and turn... For me, the story makes perfect sense and each element connects, but I was still a little surprised by where Scalzi took it. I was impressed at the ambiguity about Shalle: I saw Shalle initially as male and then as an androgyne, where most people saw Shalle as female. I really liked that.It's an interesting concept, and bravely executed -- it would be horribly easy to go with the urge for a predictable end, in which everyone lives and somehow everything turns out okay. I was even hoping for it, for Shalle to live, for Shalle somehow not to be wrong.I like that we ended with ambiguity, too, that I don't think there's any confirmation which 'side' we should be on in the final conflict.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    I'm incredibly disappointed in this. Voice acting all over the place, and thought the story was terrible. A rare miss for me from Scalzi.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I'm surprised at how little I enjoyed this book considering the material and author. It took until 46% for an interesting concept to show up, which doesn't really pay off in any way, and the end was sort of pathetic. It's short so it was still easy to get through, but Scalzi really falls flat for the first time for me. I'd recommend anything else I've read by him by far over this title.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Very good to know you really have to go back
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Devastatingly captivating. Absolutely brilliant narration. The epic style of writing was new to me from Scalzi. I thought at first it would break into another style but as it continued I was completely hooked. I finished it in two listening/sittings. I only stopped to sleep.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This story is much darker than Scalzi’s other work, so it wasn’t quite my style. Still well written, with good world building but not my favourite work by the author.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A nice change of pace fantasy novella from a sci-fi author.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Very good! Loved the way it ended. One for the re-read pile.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    This is just... super weird. Weird premise, weird setting. A lot of brutality and gore. The "twist" at the end, that the protagonist's god is actually horrible? Not really a surprise, and the ending is just meaningless.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This was good. I was sorry it only took 3 hours to listen to it. It is a sci fi horror story. Be warned; Scalzi has a gruesome imagination and his descriptions are very vivid.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    ‘“And then let those ships kill you?” Shalle smiled and kissed Tephe. “You silly man. You haven’t been listening to a word I’ve said. Our lives are Our Lord’s. I’ve made peace with the fact that I am going to die today, Ean. One way or another. This way I get to save you. And the ship and the crew you love. You will live because of me.’ In “The God Engines” by John Scalzi Great SF is the King's Jester in the court who has immunity from having the head chopped off for telling the truth. Scalzi keeps on rehashing the same worn-out crap, by getting closer to the prophetesses than most of us have time to. Unless one is brave enough to confront the spirit of the age, in objective terms, 'Scalzi-SF' is hardly the right description of his work. The word 'sycophant' comes to mind. What do I want? Roll back the thick scum of 'enlightenment' that sits in a slurry upon our literary consciousness, cut into the feotid morass of bloated SF.Worth reading Stephen King's “On Writing”. King reckons his plots reveal themselves like dinosaur bones to an archeologist. The same happens with Scalzi but in a bad way. I’m sure Scalzi is laughing all the way to the bank. I’m laughing as well but not for the same reason.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Darker than anything I've read from Scalzi. Gave me some thrills and chills.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    A very unusual book - unusual for Scalzi's style, that is.

    It's not just that he went outside of his established (?) genre, creating a strange mix of fantasy, horror and science fiction; the whole concept about "gods" (or rather non-human creatures possessed of weird powers) made for an interesting read, if an unsettling one - especially considering the ending.

    The writing felt different too: again, it might be that the medium Scalzi chose required the convoluted, almost stilted dialogue, but I missed the quick, humor-intensive narrative that I've come to associate with his works. And the light-hearted approach, as well: the story is quite dark, and devoid of hope.

    What connects The God Engines with the other Scalzi books I read are the thought-provoking issues on the meaning of freedom, choice and what makes us human. I suspect that a re-read will reveal more insights, and further possibilities for exploration.

    A different experience, granted, but a fascinating one.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This is a dark fantasy novel and I liked the concept for the novella. A highly entertaining read about Gods and humanity.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This is a real departure for Scalzi, extremely dark fantasy bordering on horror. Ean Tephe is captain of the Righteous, a space-faring ship whose "engine" is a defeated and imprisoned god. Tephe's own god is the powerful figure who conquered all the lesser gods who now serve as engines in his fleet. That Lord God is sustained, literally fed by the faith of his followers--and something is going wrong. The defeated gods are getting restless, attempting to rebel, and threatening the faith of the Lord God's followers.

    But he has a plan...

    Tephe is genuinely a man of strong faith, and a good, responsible captain of his ship, loyal to his crew as well as his God.

    What happens when they come into conflict?

    This novella goes to some very dark places, and Scalzi's usual humor and light touch, which would be inappropriate here, are completely absent. Tephe is a well-developed character, but while his relationship with the rook Shalle is developed, Shalle is not quite so well developed. Also, sorry, the thing where you never, ever identify the gender of a particular character has been done, many times before, including at least once by Scalzi. It's no longer a particularly clever trick, and I don't think it added anything here.

    While there are some interesting concepts here, and Scalzi never writes badly, there just isn't enough development and background here, and while I do somewhat care about Tephe and his friends, I could not possibly care less about what happens to their society--and that matters, if we're to care what happens in this story. It isn't even, as some have argued, an interesting discussion of religion, because what exists in Tephe's society has little to do with what we call faith and religion in our own world. Tephe's god is all to real and physical. Believing in him is rather like believing in the baseball that just hit you in the head; no faith is involved.

    Very likely I'm being a bit harsh. As I said, I don't like horror, and I wouldn't have read this if it weren't by John Scalzi. I have long since learned that starting a book does not create an obligation to finish it.

    Nevertheless, not recommended.

    I bought this book.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This is a quick read by one of my favorite contemporary science fiction writers, but it’s not science fiction. It’s a space fantasy. At only 136 pages in hard cover, it can be easily read on a rainy afternoon, which is what I did. It is set in a universe in which gods have replaced science. Things people once did for themselves using technology have become the purview of gods. If you want to communicate across distances (like radio), you pray for it to happen. If you wish to travel to another planet, you compel a god imprisoned by your god to move your starship. Everything on the starships, communication, life support, engines... is god-powered. Nothing happens without the direct intervention of some god, and they are not doing it to be magnanimous. The gods do not serve man. Man serves them in their competition with other gods for believers and the faith that gives them power.
    This book differs much from everything else I’ve read by John Scalzi. In addition to being fantasy rather than science fiction, it’s darker. The characters lack the ineffable charm that I’ve come to expect from Scalzi’s creations and there are few if any smiles invoked by the book. It includes a fairly detailed sex scene and graphic violence. I imagine it is intended as a social commentary but I can’t say the message it is trying to convey was clear to me.
    I thoroughly enjoyed many of Scalzi’s other works including his ‘Old Man Goes to War’ series and ‘Fuzzy Nation.’ I’ve ordered ‘Redshirts’ and eagerly await its arrival. I can’t honestly say I enjoyed this particular story much, but the setting and characters were interesting, and the art between the chapters of the hard cover edition are a nice addition. It kept me reading, but I much prefer Scalzi’s science fiction.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Showcasing a very different side of Scalzi, there is no comedy in this short science fiction tale filled with hints of fantasy. On a ship powered by a chained and tortured god, in an empire controlled by a god who subjugates and harms other gods, something is finally beginning to change. Gods in the ships are becoming more volatile, threatening, and the captain whom this tale focuses around, though certain he is strong in his faith, is about to discover the horrible secrets which have been wiped from his people’s past, the truth about his god, and the plans that the god powering his ship works to bring to fruition.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The God Engines is entertaining because of its strong characters and shifting conflicts. The first pages introduce Tephe (the ship's captain) arguing with Andso (the ship's priest), who manages the ship's engine (a captive god). The god doesn't like being captive, so he's been killing people, and Tephe doesn't trust Andso to do his job, so Tephe disciplines the god himself. Since I saw Tephe immediately taking charge and putting down rebellion from both the god and the priest, I wanted to read more about him.

    Other characters enter: Tephe's female confidant (head of the ship's sex therapists), the Bishops of Tephe's church, and Tephe's God Himself. The Bishops send Tephe to a hidden planet to evangelize the natives, promising that Tephe will be promoted to a desk job after he gets back. Tephe, however, would prefer to keep his ship.

    In a very short time, the relationships among these six characters shift through submission, subversion, alliance, and dominance. The shifts are believable and never feel rushed. It all ends with a deus ex machina, but what better way to end a story called The God Engines?
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Fascinating and terrifying. The follies of faith, the minefield that is a desire (and in this 'verse, a necessity) to believe. A bonus is the exquisite artwork by Vincent Chong.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Scalzi has written and said that he wrote this book to prove he can write dark fiction. Maybe so, but I found the book full of his wit and the ending both terrifying and humorous.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    In this novella, Scalzi manages to quickly bring to a life a world where gods use humans to fight for them, and the fallen gods power starships. It manages quite a few twists and turns in its short span and I would happily read more stories set in the same universe.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Average SF novella whereby Scalzi pokes fun at religion and discovers the 'Turtles all the way down' issue that Pratchett first poked fun at years ago.HUmmanity has spread ot the stars as have other beings. But theur gods are no match for ours, and can get caught and subdied. Once shackled to the floor of a spaceship they can be persuaded - with the proper tools - to take the spaceship anywhere the captains and priest decide. Preists obviously become very important in such a scenario. Although when the captured gods start rebelling then it all gets a bit more tricky.Kind of obvious, and going ot be offensive to many believers probably. I've no idea why this is a novella form, because with a bit more exploration, plot and characterisation it could be quite good. But as it is it's just average.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Too short.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Simple review... I found it pretty odd at first. I didn't know what was going on. By the end it started to make sense.

    Its really nothing like scalzi's normal writing. Its very serious. Kinda dark. Very short.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This seems to be Scalzi's first try with fantasy. Dark fantasy. But it still has plenty of space action. It reminded me of the Old Man's War trilogy with the contrast turned way down and added religion. But it's a hella awesome combination - space opera with "mythological religion" - two great tastes that taste great together.But I gotta air one beef. And I didn't realize this until I was doing my fun thing where I look up trivia/info about the story. I saw this review that called attention to one component -- the established harem on the ship designed to give the crew "release". That's all fine and dandy -- not uncommon practice for this level of cultishness -- until Scalzi points out he never assigned any pronouns to the prostitutes. No physical gender characteristics or anything that could define as this, that, or the other. This is creepy. It's clever, but it's creepy. And I'm not sure how I feel about it. On one hand, it's a neat writer trick, one that I didn't see coming. I guess it's a technique to let the reader fill in the blanks with what he/she wants to. Which is the sign of a good writer. On the other hand, now that I know that the prostitute could have been a girl or a guy, I feel icky. All I can do is imagine him as a guy. Maybe it's my instinctive homophobia. Maybe in my mind, if the character has no gender, it's potentially both -- a hermaphrodite or someone like Pat.I also feel betrayed by the author, that he fooled me. Maybe it's that I know how the trick is done. Maybe it's that I feel, as a writer, omitting information for the sole purpose of messing with the reader is not cool.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    An interesting read with haunting illustrations, this is a dark novella that has some striking scenes and language. With powerful writing and characterizations, Scalzi's work comes together into a quick and multi-leveled read that provides both entertainment and thought based off of a fascinating concept. For this reader, the work does move a bit too fast, but that's my primary complaint: simply, I wanted more from the characters and the narrative because I felt like it was worth more time and concern. The depth of thought was here to back up a fuller commitment, but it ended up feeling less thought out than it might have because of the small rushed package. Still, for science fiction fans, I'd definately recommend this work, and I may very well reread it myself. Certainly, I'll look out for more of Scalzi's work--the concept here was amazing, and again, I can't say enough for the illustrations by Vincent Chong that brought this work to another level entirely.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    The God Engines is an amazing short novella. I read this a few days ago and was rather stunned. Then, like a penitent with a need to scourge myself I read it again. This is science fiction, horror and fantasy all in one small package. It is a dark story that may offend some. No, actually, I am sure it will offend some people. Scalzi's imagination knocked this one out of the park. How do people dream up stories like this? Imagine a future civilization so devout in the worship, faith and belief in their God that they have the power to subdue and torture other gods, and the power of these subdued gods is used to drive their starships across the universe and spread their own true religion. This is only part of the story however.It may take only two or three hours to read this but it will haunt you for many hours more. It begins with one of the best opening lines I have read in years ... "It was time to whip the god." Subterranean Press books seem overly prone to typo/typesetter/editor errors and this one is no exception. They make beautiful books (the cover on this is stunning) but seem to mess up the proofreading time and again. The first paragraph of this book is simply awkward and I think that may be the author at work however.This is a book about Faith. John Scalzi is rapidly becoming one of my favorite authors.