Reviewed by Grant Leishman for Readers' Favorite

Challenges of the Gods by C. Hofsetz is a fantasy/science fiction adventure that takes us into the world of Pangea that exists in the minds of its inhabitants and can only be visited when asleep. Here, in this quasi-heaven exist the gods and their messengers. When Mike discovers himself in Pangea, he is confronted with the realization that his beloved Earth is under threat and he has been chosen by the messengers to be the one to ensure that his planet and civilization endure. Unfortunately, in order to achieve this, Mike must destroy another Earth planet and its population that exist in this multiverse and is the equivalent planet to his own. Somehow Mike must battle his moral qualms and act decisively to save civilization, but what he doesn’t bank on is his inherent morality and the relationships he develops in this new world, which interfere with his decision making.

The basic construct of Challenges of the Gods was uniquely exciting to me as a reader. The initial little twist that was revealed over Mike’s origins was enough to suck me into the story completely. Author C. Hofsetz has created a twin reality that at times threatened to spill over into confusion. The idea of one mind with two different bodies, depending on where Mike was, had the potential to be confusing to the reader, but I thought the author did an excellent job of keeping the narrative on track and the reader informed. The character of Mike was well written and his relationships and interactions with his friends Ravi, Jane and the others was the key to a good story and a thought-provoking read. Many of the issues faced by Mike were not dissimilar to those being faced today, with blind obedience to a cult-like personality figure being uppermost of those. I thoroughly enjoyed this fresh and exciting read and can highly recommend it to all lovers of fantasy and science fiction.