Review: The Fury of the Gods by John Gwynne

Blurb:

The Fury of the Gods is the earth-shattering final book in John Gwynne's bestselling Norse-inspired epic fantasy series, packed with myth, magic and bloody vengeance.

The final battle for the fate of Vigrid approaches...

Varg has overcome the trials of his past and become an accepted member of the Bloodsworn, but now he and his newfound comrades face their biggest challenge yet: slaying a dragon.  

Elvar is struggling to consolidate her power in Snakavik, where she faces threats from without and within. As she fights to assert her authority in readiness for the coming conflict, she faces a surely insurmountable task: reigning in the ferocity of a wolf god. 

As Biorr and his warband make their way north, eager for blood, Gudvarr pursues a mission of his own, hoping to win Lik-Rifa’s favour and further his own ambitions.

All paths lead to Snakavik, where the lines are being drawn for the final battle - a titanic clash that will shake the foundations of the world, and bear witness to the true fury of the gods.

Review:

John Gwynne, the master of action-focused low-fantasy epic saga tales is back!

Oh Mr Gwynne, how sneaky you are to show us that chapter heading at the start of the book! Maybe you show more empathy for your characters than other brutal authors!

If you’re reading this review then you’re likely to have an idea of the plot. We’re witnessing the end of the Bloodsword Saga, where the dragon and rat gods with their host of monsters, tainted and warriors alike are facing up against the wolf god and those who are fighting for a fairer world.

Having said that, there is an undercurrent throughout involving questions of morality. Where it asks questions of the reader to decide upon the morality of each side involved and who is really fighting for fairness and equality? By the end, that question is definitively put to bed!

Characters - what can I say without giving too many spoilers here? Each and every character is given the ending that they deserved; although there are still plenty of tear jerking, heart wrenching sad endings as well! Gwynne masterfully draws together story threads from across the 3 books and brings everything to a close, leaving no plot holes or stories left dangling.

SPOILERS

Lif: my favourite journey to have witnessed. From a pathetic, young fisher who witnessed his father and brother murdered by a warrior of his town, he went on a huge journey to grow into a warrior in his own right and got his revenge! In contrast, Gudvarr went from being that strong warrior of the town into a snivelling coward as the trilogy progressed, almost in a mirror to Lif’s development and growth.

Orka: well Orka had her justice and got her son back. What I really liked is that she ended where she started; on her homestead alongside family. Oh, and that she didn’t die in the 2nd book after all!

Biorr: a dark horse for my favourite story arc; being a “bad guy” or at least on the bad side for most of the trilogy, yet with glimpses into Orka and Elvar’s worlds you could feel that he wasn’t where he should be for the majority of this book at least. With previous discussions still lingering in his head and heart we see him slowly change his opinion and in the end he saves young Bjarn by taking him to his family. Yet that is also where his redemption arc ends. He is cut down by Gunnar as revenge for a previous murder Biorr committed. Justice? Maybe. But I liked Biorr and he was on his way to being the good, ex-bad, guy.

END OF SPOILERS

It’s great to see an author realise that most readers aren’t devouring their books one after another, nor do we all have amazing memories and therefore write a recap at the start of the book, especially with this book where we’re following multiple characters.

Even though I’ve not long finished a re-read and so remembered most of the connections and events, some still passed me by or had slipped from my memory and so it was really helpful to have each character’s arc and progression through the previous 2 books broken down into 1-2 pages each.

Similarly, before we even started the latest story, Gwynne recapped the cast of characters with a detailed list, also including pronunciation help for the various Viking words used throughout.

The pacing is absolute perfection. Many short chapters present a quick and snappy pace, often filled with jaw dropping action scenes keeping those pages turning. Yet just when the adrenaline is waning Gwynne slows things down just enough to catch your breath; in the same way a brilliant live band knows exactly when to play their ballads!

Conclusion

After a number of years has passed since book 2 of the Bloodsworn Saga due to the tragic circumstances of John’s daughter passing away, it is so great to see this trilogy complete. I have so much empathy for what he must have gone through and the difficulties in writing anything at all. The fact that this book blew me away is testament to his skill and persistence! I fell in love with his works with book 1; The Shadow of the Gods several years ago and quickly devoured his 2 other series which firmed up his status as one of my favourite writers. His skill for weaving detailed, hand-crafted and epic sagas with such amazing battle scenes and action throughout is unparalleled in my reading experiences.

I genuinely find it hard to not shout about this book and the trilogy as a whole non-stop and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys fantasy books. 

In this final instalment we see the threads of story and plots tie up beautifully, and I was tearing up, nodding with approval and fist pumping the air, all while reading the last few chapters as characters found their revenge, were cut down, were given their justice or just had a nice happy ending (yea right!).