God of Gnomes was a very enjoyable LitRPG which follows the growth of Corey, a “God Core”. Yes, that name is a pun. God cores are special beings who control the area around them and are worshipped by their denizens, in this case, gnomes. Their job is to improve the town/village/area they influence to improve the lives of the people who live there. Think The Sims in book form except fantasy with gnomes.
Overall I really enjoyed the book. It’s structured in a way that focuses on leveling up and Corey progressing in his abilities. He’s accompanied by a little wisp, Ket, who functions a lot like a tutorial engine and explains how being a god core works and provides him companionship throughout.
One of the things I found very interesting about this book was that only three of the characters actually had any dialogue. The whole story is told from the perspective of Corey who as the god of the gnomes, can’t actually understand them. The entire premise of this is if he as the god can understand and perform miracles based on exactly what they ask for things are a bit too easy. That leaves Corey to try and interpret what the gnomes want and how best to meet their needs. Despite the limited number of characters that have dialogue, Demi Harper still does a fantastic job at giving the gnomes their own personalities and individuality.
There’s also an antagonist floating round who I haven’t mentioned yet. An evil core who is the god of kobolds seeks to farm the gnomes as sacrifices to make him stronger. Corey is forced to defend against kobold incursions to ensure the gnomes can continue to live without losing their number to the kobold threat. Fought through underground tunnels with “gob-born” creatures that Corey creates, this adds a real time strategy element to the city building.
God if Gnomes was a very fun read with a lot of elements of a city builder and real time strategy games. I really enjoyed it and would recommend to people who enjoy:
- LitRPG
- City builders
- Cute books
- Good banter
Thank you so much for the lovely review, Tam! ^^
I love the concept of a god who can’t actually understand those who depend on him! One of the toughest aspects of using deities as characters is finding a way to limit them so they can grow. That’s the first time I’ve heard of that solution!