Death Rider (Gunmetal Gods, #0.5) (2025)

Gunmetal Gods is a series that should be known by now. A staple of self-publishing.
So as I am just starting my journey into this part of books, it obviously sits at the top of my priority list.
This is a free novella, taking place before the first book of the main trilogy (is it?) and for that reason I wanted to use it to decide between The Bound and the Broken or Gunmetal Gods as my first "big" self-pub series (apart from Cradle).
Earlier this year I read The Fall (Free Prequel Novella for Bound & Broken) and liked it quite a lot.
This one is completely different in style and tone from that and now I'm even more lost as to what I should read next.
But first of all: I'll repeat what I said in my update: In this case, I don't know how good it is to start with this novella. Not that I would not be wary of what happened, what the implications of this are, but it doesn't feel as much as a "teaser" to the bigger series as The Fall did for it's series.

But that doesn't mean you shouldn't read this.
Technically Death Rider is exactly what I search for in my reading. The setting, tonality, etc. was phenomenal.
As a pitch: Eldrich gods being a major force in the world. Total bleakness and hopelessness, the most disturbing sicknesses and states of existence casually flying through the narrative, etc.
So regarding themes and setting, Zamil Akhtar hits a soft spot for me.
This feels dark, it is brutal, it deals around breaking the minds of the charactere (at least a little bit ^^)
Religion drives the plot and therefore creates conflicts on a larger scale - there are actual ideas discussed by making these abstract kind of biblically accurate gods and angels being so apparent in the world.

The prose also serves that, altough I had some problems with the narration. This was also what bugged down my enjoyment and led to some confusion in some parts of the novella.
This is multi-pov, but with one of them being in first person.
That style is obviously nothing, a reader can't deal with and nothing, that can't be done well. Although in this case, I was kind of confused at times, as to why this was chosen.
With that, I also get back to the previously mentioned idea of this not being the best place to start.
I have no idea about how the main series is told or about when exactly this novella happens on the timeline of Gunmetal Gods.
So if this first person character is also the "main" pov of the other books, this decision makes sense and gets readers of these books right into the action.
With me though, that was obviously not achieved... Unfortunately so...

Especially in the beginning of the novella, it felt kind of strange and lacked focus. A focus, that would probabla already be set at least a little, if I would have already read some more of the series.

And that brings me to the next point: The focus.
For the majority of the novella, it was a bit difficult to see some sort of narrative focus or the exact purpose of the story. And if you have only so few pages, that is a major problem in my opinion.
If someone chooses to write something in the format of a novella, there needs to be some sort of concept or thematic throughline - otherwise, accomplishing much with this little amount of pages becomes an almost impossible task.

But as I said, the main series probably brings that exact context to the novella and eventually, I will one day look back and appreciate, what Akhtar did in such a small page count.

So about my plans on starting Gunmetal Gods, this novella succeeded. But not because I was fully hooked or engaged - actually barely so - but because I want to know, what lies beneath this surface and why this novella was written; what it is supposed to accomplish.
And because the world is fascinating.
Inspired by christian religion, arabic tales and osman empire, combined with a Lovecraftian feel to the magic and religion, this will probably be right up my alley.
I hope the main series can deliver on the promises made here.

Not sure, when it will happen, though... Might do it as a mood-read sometime in the next months.

A very fun and unique tale which was a perfect intro to the world of Gunmetal Gods. I read this as an introduction to the setting and writing style of this series without committing to a full length novel and boy am I glad I finally got to this!

Without giving to much away, this is the story about a warrior in the middle of a siege. She is condemned to death by her god-like emperor for failing in her attack. She has once last chance however at regaining her glory in one last charge to the death.

This story starts off as a pretty straight forward military siege story, but at about the 50 percent mark it blends into an "eldritch-like, HP Lovecraft mind melt of a final act." I absolutely loved this direction that the author took, even if I had to think about it for awhile afterwards to fully understand what just happened.

This was my first experience with Zamil Akhtar, and I can confidently say I will be moving on to the main Gunmetal Gods series as soon as possible. If you're looking for something new and fresh, with a dark gritty tone, pick this one up! I had to read it in one sitting.

A crazy 4/5 stars

Lat, save me from Zamil Akhtar, I can't stop reading his books!

Here is my honest review of the novella, "Death Rider", by Zamil Akhtar.

This book is set in the same universe as "Gunmetal Gods" and "Conqueror's Blood".

In "Death Rider", we meet Darya, a disgraced Khatun (female tribal warleader), among the Sirmian tribes who is sworn to a great king, Shah Jalal, know as "The Shadow of God". Darya's downfall is attributed to her failure to play her role effectively in the siege of the great Crucian capital city. Due to being unable to successfully lead her troops to break through the city's defences, the Shah sentences Darya and her compatriots to death by firing squad.

But while her other comrades are killed, the executioner assigned to Darya has his gun misfire. When he prepares to reload, the Shah intervenes, believing that it is a sign from God that Darya be spared - at least temporarily.

Instead, the Shah is determined that Darya's death be less ignoble, and condems her to ride with the "Death Riders", at the vanguard of the next assault on the city. The "Death Riders" are essentially cannon fodder, given inadequate weapons and armour, expendable, sure to perish in the brutality of a frontal assault on the city.

But besides the Shah, there are far greater and more capricous powers at play, perhaps, who are really the ones that have kept Darya alive, for their own ambigous, and potentially nefarious purposes.

Akhtar's characters, at their very best, feel like they walk beside you, or at the very least that they have walked the earth in some distant alternate past, and you can read about them in some dusty history book, somewhere.

I have read few writers that have such an uncanny ability to depict the thoughts, feelings, and motivations of BOTH sides of a military conflict, with such poignancy as Akhtar. Akhtar truly makes the reader question who and what is right, and who and what is wrong. Which gods truly hold sway, and are any of them good, or truly worth of human devotion?

Darya is a fabulous protagonist. She's formidable, a great warrior, a loving wife and mother, full of passion, duty, and a desire to protect her children and preserve her family legacy, while at the same time playing a meaningful role as a war-leader.

Her waffling between wanting to die a heroic death, and redeem her honour, versus the natural self-preservation drive, was very realistic. The secondary characters like Jalal, Niovi, and Argus are also very well drawn, and fleshed out, all the more difficult with the brevity of the narrative.

Once more, Akhtar takes us to his incredibly lush, beautiful Middle-Eastern inspired world, where life is cheap, the gods are mercurial and very fickle, and humans idle their time away in fruitless wars of conquest, while the gods laugh, and pull their puppet strings.

Akhtar's worldbuilding, as in both of his previous novels, is some of the best you will find in Indie fantasy: layered, intricate, organically woven into the plot, so well that everything feels utterly believable. This is an especially amazing accomplishment when one can achieve such immersive worldbuilding in a novella that is less than 100 pages. I can see, when I close my eyes, the heraldric and military flags adorning the yurts, I can smell the rot of those infected by the worms, and I can hear the gunfire of the janissaries' matchlocks.

"He smelled like the mountains of Tagkalay. Like the caves where bright-budded pileas grew. And he was cold like the breaths that descended from the peaks. His blood was not meant to water this soil, a thousand miles from home."

The battle scenes are intense, shocking, and amazing. Akhtar takes you into the thick of battle, and shows you it is not pretty or glamourous -it's bloddy, messy, gross, and desperate. But there are feats of incredible heroism and sacrifice for a cause during battle that can be incredibly moving, and Akhtar truly uses the brush of a master artist to paint those scenes so vividly and so impactfully.

Fair warning, candidly I was left dazed and confused during a chapter or two in the novel, as the true nature of the cosmic horror that was controlling Darya's fate took shape, and everything became a blurry kaleidoscope of mobius loops, zombies controlled by leeching worms, and shocking revelations. You as the reader may lose your balance for a moment as well.

Moreover, as with all of Akhtar's works to-date, this book is very violent, dark, and disturbing. Some of the images may haunt you, for a very long time.

Still, the momentary disorientation is worth the payoff, and you will finish the novel feeling a bit stunned, and not quite sure of everything that happened, yet completely amazed by the author's talent.

Lastly, Akhtar's prose still leaves me humming, wanting more. His "re-read passage for the beauty of it quotient" is very high.

"He handed us mushrooms for the pain we hadn't started feeling. Or rather for the death fear a reider ought not to feel when charging the enemy. As I bit down on the supple flesh of he mushroom, I realized what it was: an invitation for the mind and sould to go first, before the body followed."

"Death Rider" is bewildering, glorious, spectacular, exceptionally well-written, and a wonderful book.
Zamil Akhtar is one of my favourite authors, and my only advice to the reader is just keep reading everything he writes: you won't be disappointed. Five stars for "Death Rider"!

My head hurts… in a good way!

There was so much to get my head around within the space of 100 pages with Death Rider but it is written so well and the pace kept so high that I was compelled and engaged at all times.

Our protagonist Darya begins the story being dragged out of her yurt to a waiting firing squad, her failure in battle costing the lives of hundreds and earning her death. When the weapon carrying her shot fails to fire, her life is briefly prolonged when her leader, Shah Jalal orders her to join the Death Riders.

Our splintered wood would crash against the enemy’s ravenous steel. They didn’t call us death riders because it sounded fearsome — we rode to our deaths for the cause.

Being assigned to the Death Riders was a punishment, but a more noble death than being subject to a firing squad, a punishment that meant you would die fighting in battle rather than on your knees in a ditch.

As the story develops, you begin to realise not everything is as it appears, and there are clues littered amongst the brutality and grim scenes that unfold. It would give away too much to go into more detail, but I really liked how it was done, even if at first I didn’t quite understand what was going on. More pieces of the puzzle are revealed towards the end.

90% of the book is really pretty grim and bleak, and Akhtar excels in painting this picture of horror, death and forlorn hope. Speaking of horror, without revealing too much, there are actually parts that did feel very creepy. The God that is revealed later in the book gave me shivers, and I really enjoyed the sinister, mysterious vibe the author was able to create around it.

I haven’t read Gunmetal Gods and decided to start with this novella, book 0.5 so it made sense to me to get a taste for the writing and the world, and I’m incredibly impressed. Death Rider is its own self contained story, with what I imagine are small nods to the world of the wider series. While writing a satisfying and interesting story is an achievement in itself within just over 100 pages, I appreciated being able to taste the flavour of this series after only a few of them.

The conflict feels inspired by elements of various cultures and factions of the middle ages, including parallels to the Ottoman Empire, with Shah Jalal’s army consisting of Janissaries. Perhaps most predominately this felt inspired by The Crusades, and is told from the perspective of the side we’d associate with the Middle Eastern forces. You’ll see the author has made quite the divergence from the religions of the Holy Wars, however. I loved how inventive the elements within combine to make the book feel like sort of a fantasy-historical fiction- mythology- horror.

Holy crap this was good. For a story that is less than 100 pages, it packs a hell of a punch. I'm going to be thinking about that ending for a while.

For a prequel novella I adored this story. Lovecraftian horror done so well. This story will take you for a 100 page mind trip and now I’m so pumped to be getting into Book One of the Gunmetal Gods series. I felt love lost, love endured, hopelessness, and the sheer cosmic terror of these Gods, tentacles with eyeballs and all.

It’s so good but this is a 100 page novella. Going to read the first book NOW lol

This review was originally posted on SFF Insiders

“Sometimes those fears do come true. But even then, you don’t just give up. You find the strength to endure, to climb out of that pit. You don’t dig yourself deeper. If you had a mother, she would’ve told you as much.”

Zamil does it again. Death Rider is a prequel novella that rocks just as hard as Gunmetal Gods. From the first sentence, I felt like I had slid right back into the fantastic world Zamil created in Gunmetal Gods. His characters and the surrounding eldritch gods that fill in the setting are so palpable, it immediately feels like stepping back into a dark, twisted version of home that welcomes you back with a sinister hug.

Death Rider takes us back in time to a legendary battle briefly mentioned in Gunmetal Gods. A disgraced warrior is given a second chance to lead a band of Death Riders on a suicide rush at the walls of the infidel’s stronghold. As we learn more about the horror that the defending army has welcomed into their city to prevent the conquest of Shah Jalal, Zamil truly shines as he mixes otherworldly horrors into a demonic carousel of a day.

The evil angel Saklas is a twisted, unheavenly creature of insatiable hunger that requires the bodily sacrifices of humans which it receives through an evil oath. Zamil delivers in spades on Saklas and the conquest of this city while hinting at much larger things to come for the rest of this series.

Again, while this is a dreary, horror filled novella steeped in the seedy death of war and the wormy danger of unholy resurrection, there is a soft core deep down that shines a ray of redemptive light. Death Rider delves into the frailty and inevitability of existence, emerging with the nugget of hope that love, even if finite, makes every hardship and misery worthwhile. If I had needed any further convincing of Zamil’s rightful place on the divan of Lovecraftian horror/fantasy authors after reading Gunmetal Gods, Death Rider cemented his position in my mind.

This was short but enjoyable.

I can’t get enough of this world. Zamil continues to impress and solidifies his statement that he can grip you with a story in less than 100 pages. That’s impressive.

This could perfectly be a standalone novella, but it is enjoyed best if you have already read at least Gunmetal Gods. This book amplifies so much more of that same universe. It left me with serious thoughts as to what is really going on here. I got my mind blown by the end of this one. It ties up perfectly with what is happening in Elder Epoch. This story threw everything I thought I knew, out the window. Now, I don’t know what to expect for the next installment.

This world has been strange enough already, and this novella manages to add even more to it. Memorable characters, more cosmic horror and a plot twist that will leave you tilting your head to the side while only being able to mutter “huh?”. Great stuff! I have not read anything similar for the past few years and I’m all for it.

If you are reading or planning to read this series, make sure to don’t leave this one out. It adds lots of value to the overall story. This is one hell of a series that I will re-read several times in the future.

From the first page, we are thrown into the grim reality of this world. Familiar but different. Set in a part of this world that we haven't travelled yet in either Gunmetal God's or Conqueror's Blood.

Akhtar likes to dangle a carrot of hope in front of the reader's face, toying with both the characters and the reader's emotions. I love puzzles and trying to figure out plot points before they are revealed. I am yet to get it right in this series. Zamil crafts characters in such a realistic way, as in reality, it is often impossible to know what someone will do and the true motives behind their actions until after the fact when it seems like it should've been obvious.

Though Death Rider is a prequel novella, I would recommend reading at least Gunmetal Gods first. There are not enough pages within this book to become properly immersed in the world that Gunmetal Gods and Conqueror's Blood do so well.

The cosmic horror that I enjoyed in GG and CB was taken to ANOTHER LEVEL in Death Rider and I LOVED it!! It is a new element for me as a reader, but it fits perfectly well in this series.

As I have come to expect from this author, the characters in Death Rider are complex, unique and flawed. The way they each interact with each other and their environment is fascinating and makes for a fantastic close.

Easter eggs for the rest of the series can be noticed and added an extra layer to the tale.

All of these things and more have made Zamil Akhtar an auto buy author for me.

5 stars.

Very similar to Conqueror's Blood, I wasn't able to connect with the characters as much as I wanted to in this novella, but the theme work and horrors of the Gods in this world were just as fascinating as in all the previous installments.

One of the themes that Akhtar consistently wrestles with is the perpetual cycle of violence; on the macro and micro scale. How can it be ended when both sides have legitimate grievances? Or when the pressure for blood and conquest is is irresistible? When individual acts of hatred are expanded to whole cultures? Or one's selfish desires for happiness cause the suffering of others? As always, those discussions were done with grace (while wrapped in gore of course).

The idea of wrathful hateful gods is taken to a whole new level in this novella. Gunmetal Gods and Conqueror's Blood both deal with it heavily, but this one was directly in your face. The Gods in the pages of this world don't care for those who worship them, and they don't care that they don't care. And it's glorious.

I definitely recommend reading at least Gunmetal Gods before this novella because, while you CAN read it as a stand alone, a lot of the call backs and connections between past and future that feed into the larger context will be lost. However, if you simply want a sample of the lyrical writing, breathtaking speedy pace, and lovecraftian horror of Akhtar's writing, this will suffice as a sample for sure.

I'm invested for all future installments in the this world, for sure!

Dark and full of despair. I'm slamming this puppy home in Grimdark.

I savored this sweet little book. It was glorious! Poetic and dark. Zamil Akhtar's surprised me. There's a lot of hype about Gunmetal Gods (book 1) and if it's anything like this short story I can see why.

If you like Grimdark with a touch of horror, this free novella is for you!

I decided to read Death Rider while I waited to determine my next full-length book to read, and coming off the heels of finishing Gunmetal Gods, I was ready for more of Zamil's work, which I'm happy to say this little novella satiated, but not in the way I expected.

While Gunmetal Gods provided a change in environment from what we could call "the traditional fantasy setting", it was still very much fantasy-focused, albeit Grimdark, there was a struggle between good and evil, magical beings and supernatural elements, with the cosmic horror existing mostly in the background, acting like seasoning on the meal, rather than being the main course.

Death Rider on the other hand is the exact opposite, set within the same world and feeling very much in line with the first novel, but the entire focus is eldritch horror, with winding plots that twist throughout the story like a wicked tree root, playing with concepts that are alien and unnatural, and beyond initial comprehension. That is to say, while Gunmetal Gods was fantasy first and horror second, Death Rider is horror first and fantasy second.

I especially appreciated that while we were still dealing with the machinations of an angel in this book, it was a different angel to the one in Gunmetal Gods, still very much feeling like it was part of the same pantheon of gods, but with intentions, desires, and hungers all its own, which helped this little novella to stand out. And that's huge for me personally, since I generally don't pay much mind to novellas.

All in all, I enjoyed my time with Death Rider quite a lot, and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoyed Gunmetal Gods. I can't make myself give it a 5 star review, just because of the short nature of it, but I think it's very deserving of a 4.5 out of 5, check it out folks!

I always like these free newsletter novellas because they are a) free and b) give you a glimpse into a bigger world the author has already penned so if you enjoy it you can dive straight in to something bigger and more than likely better.

I enjoyed Death Rider. The world that we are introduced to (I haven't read anything else in the GG series yet) is a dark and weird place, featuring horror elements and unusual characters. It's definitely not my normal go-to-fantasy but I didn't mind because it was something new to me and that's always fun.

I found that this particular story was a character driven story since each of the three main characters all had things they wanted. Unfortunately I found it really hard to connect with them until near to the end of the book and only then did I connect on a surface level because there just wasn't much to grab onto. I feel like this was more a world-setting story, maybe the next novel follows on directly from this story and this novella was to give a back story to the main novels. I'm not sure.

The worldbuilding was good for such a small amount of pages and definitely sets the tone for a middle eastern inspired desert land with walled cities and vying kings.

I like that Zamil has chosen to write what he would like to read because it shows originality, which this story oozes and it's for that reason that I will continue the series. I'm interested to see where Zamil takes all this and I think the whole gods aspect can be a real winner.

(A 3* from me (if you check my profile) is that I would buy the book on Kindle and since I read this on my Kindle, I'd say it's a fair score.)

I have no idea what I just read but it was bloody, gory, and gritty, but also spiritual, theological, and philosophical? As a standalone prequel novella, I feel like I'm missing a lot of worldbuilding details that I presume readers of the main series will already know, but it certainly got me intrigued for the Gunmetal Gods and I've already purchased it to read next.

3.5 stars—-

A promising start to a series, the atmosphere of the world is my favorite part. I didn’t love every aspect of the plot, but overall it was an impressive entry into a series I’ve heard great things about. This one was free (ebook) by signing up for the author’s newsletter and was under 100 pages.

HAPPY RELEASE DAY.

I CAN'T WAIT TO READ THIS STORY.

This series seems to be topping my interest with its eerie, mystical and creepy storytelling.
Very eager to read Book-3 releasing in few days.

For more reviews go to www.Wolfmantula.com

You can get a FREE copy of this ebook by signing up for Zamil’s newsletter on his website at:
Www.Zamilakhtar.com

This was a fantastic novella that was bloody, gruesome and brutal! The story was very interesting from the get go, starting off with our main character, Darya, in a lineup ready to be shot for failing the Shah. She gets a second chance by becoming a Death Rider, which is a suicide mission to die with honor. The onslaught that Darya faces as she’s a death rider is pretty graphic, but done so well that I was left amazed by everything that was happening. Flying body parts, fire bombs going off left and right, Fire arrows killing everyone, this was a bloody war!

”If you had any wisdom, you’d
know that something merciful would
never create the earth the
way it is.”

Zamil has done a fantastic job of world building in each of his books, as well as giving us compelling stories and characters, and Death Rider hits on every level that Gunmetal Gods and Conqueror’s Blood did as well packed within 100 pages. Then finishes it off with a huge twist that you don’t see coming, and reading this, you still won’t see it coming. I wish I could say more, but saying anything else would just start giving too much of this away, and it needs to be experienced!

By Lat and Saint Chisti that was bloody awesome. Zamil Akhtar knows how to keep his readers glued from start to finish, with this gore ridden, mind bending short story read from the Gunmetal God's series. When Darya and her fellow Zabadar's promised and failed to beat the Crucian’s and are slaughtered in the process, she and the survivor's are sentenced to death by execution by the Shah's Janissaries. But when Darya's executioner's gun fails, by Lats will and the Shah's demand she must ride with the death riders and fulfill her honour by dying honourably and not shame her family. But Darya's fate is not done yet and must endure an endless nightmare before everything makes sense. Absolutely brilliant, my head is spinning after reading that. Excellent worldbuilding, plot and setting. If you haven't read the series yet, there are two books so far in the series, Gunmetal God's and Conqueror's Blood, I very highly recommend...😁💙🔥

First of all I would like to thank the author for his generosity on providing this story for free. This story begins as standard fantasy during the siege of a city. The two opponents are inspired by real world counterparts: The besieged resemble medieval Eastern Romans ("Byzantines") and the besiegers a middle eastern civilization, a mixture of Persians/Arabs/Ottomans. For a change it is told from the point of view of the middle Easterners which is refreshing. The story flows well and about three quarters in, it turns into Gnostic philosophy inspired cosmic horror. I greatly enjoyed this story, especially the world building and the horror elements.

This was a super fun and quick read. It adds some color to the world and reveals some more deeply eldritch magic. If you're a fan of the other two books, don't skip this one. I really liked the protagonist. She is tough without feeling like a caricature.

I can't say much because of spoilers. I guess I'll end the review by saying that I hope the author intersperses more little novellas like this one between his main books.

This is the first of Akhtar's works I've read and I can tell his next books are something I'm excited to read. This novella had such beautiful prose despite the gritty and gorey world the reader is dropped into. I got so many Bloodborne and Dark Souls vibes mixed in with a terrifying dash of The Matrix. I liked the dynamic between Darya and Argus, the light of life and the shadow of death. The world building felt so natural and flowed well. The end did feel a bit rushed to me but definitely hints at larger things at play in the next book in the series. 4.5

Loved it! 5 stars.

3.5/3.75

Horroresque, but you don’t realize it until the story is almost over! I envision that this story could be adapted into a hauntingly beautiful short animated film. I enjoyed the deep dive into the human psyche of grasping onto the known terrible versus letting go in the face of death!

Amazingly strange and equally fantastic. It’s always a pleasure to read what Zamil puts out.

This was such a fantastic and quick read. I loved every second of it!

Wow! What a trip! Not what I expected at all. Very dark, very strange and very creepy in all the best ways! Just when I thought it couldn't get any more out there, it would take another hard left. My mind is still spinning! I know this is a short one but I really enjoyed how bizarre and unexpected it was.

I've been itching to start the Gunmetal Gods series for a long time now and figured that picking up the prequel novella would be a good start

I really loved the writing style and the world building in this one. Akhtar's prose flows very well, while still providing the reader with some beautifully crafted sentences.

The world building was the main highlight, as I was surprised how much the author was able to show us in under 100 pages. Set in a Persian-esque world, this is a military fantasy story full of violence. It's quick and hard hitting, and when I came to the end, I felt satisfied with the story that was told. Assuming that Gunmetal God's and the sequels are set in the exact same world, I am quite excited to see where this series goes.

Really the main downside for me, like with most novellas, is just wanting more. The premise in this one is very unique, but I feel it needed more pages to properly develop. The plot is fast, almost too fast at times, and I would have liked some more time with the characters as well.

I am sure that the novels in the series remedy this, as authors can really show their creative ability in those when compared to what they can show in a novella.