Faith, Power, and the Price of Freedom: Craig Zeppelin’s Born of the Gods Reimagines Divinity and Desire

December 11, 2025 at 06:00 AM EST

Books & Culture

For centuries, stories about gods have promised power, purpose, and transcendence. But what happens when faith itself becomes the chain that binds you? In Born of the Gods, author Craig Zeppelin delivers a breathtaking fantasy that turns divine mythology inside out — a visceral, emotional journey where devotion collides with danger, and salvation demands rebellion.

At the center of the story is Arleia, a devoted high priestess whose perfect life crumbles the moment her goddess literally explodes. Awakening amid divine ruin, she finds herself cursed — or blessed — with mysterious healing powers that defy explanation. Seeking refuge in another convent, Arleia instead falls into the grip of a cruel god whose sadistic rule forces her to confront the darkness within faith itself.

What unfolds is part myth, part psychological odyssey. Zeppelin writes with cinematic intensity, weaving sensuality, violence, and theology into a story that feels as ancient as legend yet as modern as our struggle for self-determination. Arleia’s journey — from obedience to defiance, from worship to self-discovery — transforms Born of the Gods into more than a fantasy epic. It’s a meditation on freedom: the courage to define one’s own divinity.

Blending high fantasy with moral complexity, Zeppelin’s prose glows with both beauty and brutality. His gods are flawed, seductive, and terrifyingly human — and his heroine’s evolution from victim to liberator is both harrowing and empowering.

Born of the Gods isn’t just about faith — it’s about what happens when belief breaks, and a woman learns to rebuild it on her own terms. A dark, daring debut that asks the ultimate question: When the gods fall silent, who will you become?