God of Small Affairs by Olga Werby is the story of a young man who was just doing his job but things turned out worse than he ever expected. Jon Uolan belongs to a First Nation tribe. Life is much simpler there, but with a lot of little things that add up. They live in a small town now. Jon knows that his people are just as much a part of their tribe as they were generations ago. He is tasked to bring a god to them. This god is called Ay-Tal Blue and she is the god of small affairs. They need her so they send him to get her. This was meant to be an easy job, one that was supposed to end quickly, but fate has other plans for them. Something horrible happens and Jon has to find a way out of a sticky situation. He is now a suspect in a murder investigation and back home, his people are suffering. He cannot find a way that will make this all right, but he has to come up with something before it is too late. What is Jon going to do?

Many authors try to tackle tribal literature, but not all of them have what it takes to make it as amazing as Olga Werby does. She brought the narrative to life with her descriptions, her imagery, and her wonderful writing skills. I was transported into Jon’s life; I was living his issues, his problems, and his desperation. I wanted to know more about the culture of the tribe, the way of the people and understand why they are the way they are. Jon’s struggles were very real so his reactions were real as well. He is a believable character, one that makes you find yourself in him and feel as if he is speaking your words. This was intense, action-packed and perfect for an evening read!

God of Small Affairs by Olga Werby is a dark fantasy novel set in modern-day America and told from the viewpoint of multiple characters as well as the protagonist, Jon Uolan. Jon has been entrusted with the transport, care, and protection of bringing home a god to his tribe. Ay-Tal Blue is the god in question and the titular character, the god of small affairs. She goes through transformations—the Change—and despite shifts in the physical to human form, she is and remains an Inuit deity. When she is shot and Jon is arrested for the murder of another woman, the village Ay-Tal was brought to live among is devastated by a series of catastrophic events. In a day and age when the old gods are no longer considered relevant and the traditional ways are being replaced at rapid speed, Jon must patch back together the remaining threads of his tribe.

God of Small Affairs is an exceptionally unique story that mixes together a wide range of genres, with author Olga Werby weaving mystery, horror and dark fantasy in the most creative of ways. I liked how Werby is able to mold the history and beliefs of the First Nation Inuits with the limitations of a supposedly free new world. The suspense runs evenly through the book and the characters are deeply layered and multi-dimensional, enhanced by shifting the points of view that allow the story to be told through a few different sets of eyes. This is a book that dives right in and is solid to the end, offering a spectacular plot and all of the right fantasy elements to make a reader a true believer in the God of Small Affairs.