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Last Updated on April 10, 2026
As a serial series starter, I always love prequel novellas as a low-commitment way to get a little taste test of a new world, but Noah Isaacs surprised me by delivering a whole damn meal instead in Heretic. And honestly, it might not be the easiest to digest at times, but I still ate it up. I mean, it’s giving Arya Stark meets Nevernight meets Red Sister, and it’s got sapphic assassin vibes, so yes, of course all my buzzwords were buzzing.
So, when you’ve got a story with the title Heretic: A Prelude to the Testament to Broken Gods, you can expect things to get dark in a very religious, morally messy way, and that immediately had me hooked. We follow Varre, a genuinely deadly assassin who has killed lords, priests, queens, and now is aiming for an emperor, which should not be a problem for her hardened heart, except it is. She tells herself she is a saviour but she can’t deny that she feels more and more like the monster everyone says she is, so hello inner turmoil, we love to see it.
Now, I genuinely liked Varre and her tumultuous journey, especially because we get to see the softer, vulnerable side hiding behind her tough, gritty, morally gray mask. See, she might be a badass, independent woman, but she’s fiercely loyal to the people she cares about, and I really appreciated how her relationships, especially the sapphic romance subplot with the nun Esobel, added a bit of warm heart to Heretic that balanced out all the blood and violence. Also, she’s got a tiger cub companion, how can you not love that?!
And yet, for some reason I never fully connected with her, even though she’s doing everything right on paper. To me, the third person narration just felt a bit detached, which is strange for a story that is otherwise so intense and personal. Like, the internal conflict is there, the tragic backstory is there, the moral questioning is there, but I kept feeling like I was just slightly outside of her head, looking in, instead of being dragged down with her. There were moments where I felt like I should be a lot more impacted and invested than I was, and sometimes the scene transitions felt a little abrupt, which pulled me out of the flow.
Still, Isaacs makes up for that lack of character connection with his incredibly immersive worldbuilding, and I am honestly amazed by how much he was able to pack into just a little novella. Heretic is absolutely brimming with lore, religious systems, political tension, and mystical magic, and the fact that roughly 15 or so of its 160 pages are glossary material should prepare you well enough for what exactly you are getting into here.
Even though I was overwhelmed at times, I did really like the addictive air of mystery and intrigue, especially with the little oddities like the use of firearms in what otherwise feels like a more traditional fantasy setting and the weird dystopian undertones around the threatening weather patterns and the limited water supply. And if you’re a fan of epigraphs, you are in for a treat here, because each new chapter provided some new information that made the world just feel like it’s living and breathing outside of the page, and I loved that.
Overall, Heretic might sacrifice a bit of its own narrative focus and character depth in favour of setting up the larger series, but ultimately, it still impressed me and made me want to come back for more. So yes, if you are okay with a novella that throws a lot at you and expects you to keep up, this is a really solid dark fantasy adventure. It’s a quick read, but not a light one, and I have a feeling it’s going to stick in my head for a while, if only because I’m still trying to piece together everything it threw at me.
Thank you to the author for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. Heretic is scheduled for release on April 5th.
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