Rhys and Nyx are studies in contrasts, with him being religious, a man of deep conviction and faith, whilst Nyx is all but an atheist with occasional forays into depression and nihilism, whose answer to most problems is violence. There are occasional chapters from the POV of other members of Nyx's team, but for the most part the novel is a two-hander alternated between these two very different characters and their worldviews. Chapters alternate between Nyx, a bel dame assassin who later turns independent contractor, and Rhys, a Chenjan refugee and magician who reluctantly teams up with Nyx for protection from her racist countrymen (and women), as well as employment. The novel opens in media res and leaves the reader scrambling to keep up with what the hell is going on. Kameron Hurley is also not an author particularly interested in exposition or infodumping. This isn't really explained either, although one revelation suggests it's a form of long-forgotten genetic engineering.

Also, there's other people who can transform themselves into animals, somehow. Special types of people, 'magicians', can manipulate these bugs for offensive and defensive purposes, sometimes to devastating effect.

Instead everything from lights to weapons to computer consoles are powered by bugs of varying size and capability. For reasons not really explained in this opening volume, the colonists on Umayma does not use traditional power sources. The New Weird elements creep in the form of technology. Chenja is a more conservative and repressive nation where women are kept firmly in the home and not allowed much in the way of freedom. Nasheen is a matriarchy where women have the power and do everything from ruling to fighting (either on the front or in boxing rings). This is an SF take on the New Weird, set on a planet well over 3,000 years in the future where the natives practice different forms of Islam that have evolved from the various present-day versions of the religion, but along very different lines. God's War is the opening volume - volley may be a better term - of The Bel Dame Apocrypha. When the Queen of Nasheen gives her a special mission that can set her and her team up for life, Nyx jumps at it.only to find herself trapped behind Chenjan lines unsure of who is the enemy and whom she can trust. When Nyx gets in over her head, she ends up in prison and is eventually released as a free agent, a mercenary for hire. Nyx is a native of Nasheen, a bel dame assassin sent out to do dirty undercover missions too dangerous to entrust to standard law enforcement. The nations are divided by religion, each preaching a different version of their holy book split along gender lines. The world of Umayma is divided between two warring superpowers, Nasheen and Chenja, and a whole host of neutral nations surrounding them.

God's War by Kameron Hurley