| The God Engines | |
| Author: | John Scalzi |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Genre: | Science fiction novella |
| Publisher: | Subterranean Press |
| Release Date: | 2009 |
| Media Type: | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages: | 136 |
| Isbn: | 978-1-59606-299-3 |
The God Engines is a 2009 science fiction/fantasy novella by John Scalzi.[1]
The story takes place in a universe where space travel is accomplished by chaining intelligent, human-like creatures called gods to a spacecraft and torturing them to drive the ship. The people are ruled by an organization called the Bishopry Militant, who worship a powerful being. Captain Ean Tephe is completely faithful to the Bishopry, but his faith comes under test when he is assigned a secret mission in which his ship's god seems to have a keen interest.
The God Engines was a finalist for the 2009 Nebula Award for Best Novella[2] and the 2010 Hugo Award for Best Novella.[3] Publishers Weekly called it "ferociously inventive, painfully vivid, dispassionately bleak and dreadfully memorable", and compared it to a collaboration between J. G. Ballard and H.P. Lovecraft.[4]