The Gods Below is the ambitious first novel in the epic fantasy series The Hollow Covenant, written by Andrea Stewart, and published by Orbit Books. A brilliant story that excellently weaves together 5 POVs in a high-stakes proposal, with a worldbuilding that engulfed me and managed to capture my full curiosity until I was totally on board with the characters' arcs.

Our story starts with two sisters, Hakara and Rasha (15 and 9, respectively), being separated in a traumatic event, while trying to flee from Kluehn's restoration; as a consequence, ten years later, they don't know if the other one is alive. Hakara is desperate to find about her sister, and eventually that takes her to join a group called the Unanointed; they want to steal gems from Kluehn and use them to restore their realm to the former state, without Kluehn, even if that means fighting with Kluenh's acolytes. Joining them will bring Hakara access to new powers and also the opportunity of stopping Kluehn from harming more people.
On the other side, Rasha became part of Kluenh's cult, which took advantage of a broke Rasha to bombard her with love; she accepts her sister is dead, so her path in life will shift towards becoming a Kluehn's acolyte, eventually joining the dangerous trials to become a god killer. Fanaticism taking advantage of the lack of hope, a cult that is aiming to take over the world.
Outside of our two sisters, we have three additional POV: Sheuan, a woman from a declining clan, who needs to prove herself in front of the Sovereign of her nation if she wants to restore her family's position; Mullayne, an academic which is trying to solve how to reach the land of gods in order to get a cure for her lover, undertaking a dangerous journey for it; and finally, Niaoen, one of the gods, which allows us to understand more of Kluehn's crusade and how many of the gods were annihilated in the process.

Despite the ambitious scope of the novel, Stewart manages to give the reader reasons for caring about these characters, their perseverance to reach their goals and how, on many occasions, they are manipulated by others in positions of power. There's a big human component in them, especially in the case of the sisters.

Not only the characterisation is excellent, but the worldbuilding is one of the main selling points of this book: from the ecological catastrophe that shaped the world, the rich pantheon and lore and the magic system. The pacing is really on point, making reading the 500 pages of this novel a smooth experience, shining especially in the combat scenes, as the use of the magic is done in a really smart way.

The Gods Below marks the start of the ambitious high fantasy series The Hollow Covenant, and honestly, if you like complex character-driven fantasy, a worldbuilding that will get your full curiosity and a well balanced magic system, you should totally read this novel. I can't wait to see how the story continues in book 2!