His is sort of like a mini coming-of-age story tucked into the book, with him coming to understand his queerness while also working through some difficult family issues. There are quite a few POVs to keep track of in this book, and I think of them all, hmm…I may have enjoyed Muzi’s story best overall. This is a part of the world I’ve never visited, but this story really made me feel like I had.

The story is set in Port Elizabeth, South Africa in 2064, and Drayden breathes such life into the setting, like…goddamn. There’s a heavy sci-fi element, but there’s also old gods rising to power, politics, a scourge of dik-diks (and subsequent dik-dik jokes), sentient robots, weird hallucinogenic drugs that might make you think you are a crab, singing….there’s just A Whole Lot going on in The Prey of Gods. It’s a little bit of a lot of different things, and it all comes out to something that’s wildly entertaining from the word go. This is a book that for sure doesn’t fit into any one genre.

Mostly because The Prey of Gods by Nicky Drayden is just so wholly original & unlike anything I’ve ever read, and I don’t quite know how to take this truly bonkers novel & distill it into a review that makes sense. I’ve been struggling with how to write this review for some reason, which has been frustrating. It’s up to a young Zulu girl powerful enough to destroy her entire township, a queer teen plagued with the ability to control minds, a pop diva with serious daddy issues, and a politician with even more serious mommy issues to band together to ensure there’s a future left to worry about. Īnd an ancient demigoddess hellbent on regaining her former status by preying on the blood and sweat (but mostly blood) of every human she encounters. That is, if they can survive the present challenges:Ī new hallucinogenic drug sweeping the country. Yes-the days to come are looking very good for South Africans. And in the bustling coastal town of Port Elizabeth, the economy is booming thanks to the genetic engineering industry which has found a welcome home there. The government is harnessing renewable energy to provide infrastructure for the poor. Personal robots are making life easier for the working class. In South Africa, the future looks promising.

The prey of gods by nicky drayden