The Whisper that Replaced God is a great dark fantasy novella, written by Timothy Wolff, that we had the pleasure of reading as part of the SFINCS' semifinals. A story that shows a great narrative voice, especially taking into account the main character POV, many hard-hitting lines and an engaging plot mixed with more reflexive passages.

A novella that is narrated by the main character, Lord Mute, a highly educated prince that acts as an assassin for his brother, the king; when treason struck him, his world will be in shambles and will need to navigate through the multiple contradictions that afflict him. Not only we have a really polished and even pedantic voice at points, but we also see how his world vision can be at many points differing with reality.
With Mute, we have a conflicted soul, between the idealization he had of his family, as a consequence of his mother's education, but also the bleak vision of the world we can experience at some point of the novella.

The setting itself is a bit bleak, especially as our character itself is an assassin that uses the power of the God of Silence to fulfill whatever his brother demands; but with interesting hints around the politics. The pacing is well balanced, mixing some parts with more "action" with other that are more reflexive, giving some drops of Mute's own philosophy; the prose is slightly purpleish, but it fits well with the narrator's voice.

The Whisper that Replaced God is an excellent novella, which combines the sardonic voice of the main character with a bleak setting to bring us a compelling story. This novella is the perfect piece to kickstart your reading of Timothy Wolff's bibliography, showing the excellence of his craft!

Disclaimer: This review represents my personal opinion. Score and review from the whole team might vary.