The Awakening of the Gods (Forgotten Ones)

The third book in the series. Picking up where the last one left off, the Cleansing—the End of Days—has arrived, and the judgement of the gods is near, standing on our doorstep and ringing the doorbell, just waiting for an answer. And their wrath is all around us, above us, dangling over our heads like the sword of Damocles, and the gods are cruel.

The beginning of the end is here. It’s upon us. The bell’s been rung, and gods and monsters have returned. Five of the First Seven, the seven gods destined to judge us, have ready risen and now walk among us, for the first time in ages. And the final two gods, sensing that the Cleansing has arrived and that their time is at hand, have been roused from their slumber and grow restless, ready to make their presences known.

And everything seems particularly bleak, and the sun seems to be setting on this chapter of mankind. The gods have abandoned us. They’ve lost faith in our kind, failed us, or just left us to die. One god is dead (killed by another god), and our only hope, the Golden Lion of Elysium, has been poisoned and left for dead—before she disappears mysteriously. The other gods have grown bitter. Disgusted by the world of mortals, our hypocrisy, and our restless, foolish actions; their patience was worn thin. The mercy and forgiveness of the gods have been replaced with their condemnation and spite. The gods are cruel. And if the legends are to be believed, the last two will be even worse, crueler and colder than all the rest combined.

As the story unfolds, the mysteries of the gods and mankind’s history are revealed, and we discover that this isn’t the first time that the gods have extinguished mankind. And as it turns out, the gods haven’t been quite as docile as previously thought, some being particularly hands-on in shaping and manipulating the current course of humanity… all done for their amusement.

But all is not lost. Hope appears when you least expect it and often when it’s needed the most. Sometimes the shadows are comforting, masking the perceived flaws we only see in ourselves. And sometimes you fall in love beneath a starless night’s sky, and the darkness becomes the warmest of places. And if people can change, maybe the gods can too. And if the gods can find a hint of their humanity, maybe we can find some shred of redemption.

When it’s all said and done, the world will be forever changed—reshaped and molded into something else. But will we be around to see it? And for both gods and mortals, there’s one last question that needs answers: who will bear the scars of sacrifice and the burden of redemption?

It’s time to find out.