Review: The Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne
Blurb:
THE GREATEST SAGAS ARE WRITTEN IN BLOOD.
A century has passed since the gods fought and drove themselves to extinction. Now only their bones remain, promising great power to those brave enough to seek them out.
As whispers of war echo across the land of Vigrid, fate follows in the footsteps of three warriors: a huntress on a dangerous quest, a noblewoman pursuing battle fame, and a thrall seeking vengeance among the mercenaries known as the Bloodsworn.
All three will shape the fate of the world as it once more falls under the shadow of the gods.
Set in a brand-new, Norse-inspired world, and packed with myth, magic, and vengeance, The Shadow of the Gods begins an epic new fantasy saga from bestselling author John Gwynne. The story continues in book two, The Hunger of the Gods, available now!
“We are the Bloodsworn, closer than kin. A brotherhood, a sisterhood: we live and die together.”
Review:
This is the first instalment in The Bloodsworn Saga by John Gwynne. I am sure that none of you are surprised that I simply loved this. I can’t even begin to tell you how much I loved this, and this is one of the best Viking-inspired fantasies I have ever read. Gwynne’s writing is so contagious to read, any of his releases are top of my anticipated list, because there is never a doubt in my mind that I will love it; it also gives me ample time to prepare my mind, body and soul for the heartbreak that is inevitable when reading Gwynne. The first thing I loved about this was how epic this cover looks, the writing inside just continues the epic theme. So given the recent announcement that the series will be concluded this year, I felt it was on;y right to revisit the story, and experience it all over again. This is an entirely new series and is set outside of the Banished Lands, so if you haven’t read Gwynne’s other works, no worries, pick up The Shadow of the Gods right now, and jump in!
"When you have lost everything, there is still something you can lose. Hope."
This new series is heavily inspired by the catastrophic foretelling of Ragnarok which means that this has a huge impact on the world, the events in the story and the characters. Right from the get go we are entranced with Gwynne’s world building. He manages to create a war torn, blood soaked world and takes the events from Ragnarok and the mythology from Beowulf and entwines them together to create an authentic world filled with culture, daily life for the cast of characters. The characters and Gods mentioned in the story Snaka (Snake), Ulfrir (Wolf), Berser (Bear), Rotta (Rat), Orna (Eagle), Lik-Rifa (Dragon) and Oskutred, are all unique and their mannerisms are described in such a way that mimics their animal counterparts.
“Fear is no bad thing,” Orka said. “How can you be brave if you do not feel fear?”
In typical Gwynne fashion, he manages to keep you on the edge of your seat with all the twists and turns with his epic storytelling. Gwynne seems to have a habit of not wanting to have a simple single path story, instead we get fed multiple POV and storylines taking place at the same time, being intertwined, and from a broad range of characters. Considering the story is fast paced, we are fed a lot of character development, and he takes the time for the heavy hitting moments, the roller coaster of emotion is in full swing. There were no shortcomings in the “nooo” or “I wasn't expecting that” or “no way!” at the end of multiple chapters. One of my favourite things is that the revelations, twists and turns keep you wanting to know more, wanting to continue, which is all well and good until you are on the last page, and there is no more!
“Because I do not know the reason for a thing, does not mean that a dragon-god did it”
If you are a regular Gwynne reader, you will know that one of the things he does really well is characters. He writes characters that we care about, that are memorable, we can relate too, we are invested in; even if that comes with uncontrollable sobbing in the end. Oh my goodness, the characters in this are epic, memorable, and you care about them. If you are new to Gwynne, welcome to characters you will fall in love with, characters that are simply amazing. When I read, I find it very hard to care about or relate to female characters, I am more likely to say “my favourite character was X” and they are typically male, or a creature. However, my favourite character was Orka. She is a strong, powerful and a very complex character who is devoted and loyal, and driven by her family; whom she loves like crazy. I love that although she is this badass warrior, with a quick, sharp mind, she is also vulnerable and has a huge sense of humanity and this is what makes her feel very real and incredibly relatable. I won’t lie, when I first started reading, I didn’t know whether I liked Orka, I couldn’t work out if I cared about her or not, but she is a new level of brilliance from Gwynne, she is a rare gem in fantasy. She gets to be a mother, a warrior, a partner and there are no stereotypes, there are no limitations to Orka, she just is. I love that she is a conflicting character within herself, striving to be all of these at the same time, even now after reading twice I find myself thinking “can she really be all of this?” she can, and she is doing it while the whole world goes from bad to worse around her.
“Courage is being scared of a task and doing it anyway."
Of course, Orka is not the only memorable character, Gwynne always has a range of characters and misfits that band together, Varg is one of the other main POV characters with Elvar being the other, and both are a stark contrast to Orka, each follow different paths with different underlying themes. Elvar’s arc explores themes of honour and duty. Varg explores themes of self discovery, vengeance, and starting to form bonds with the new crew. In order to make the world feel really alive, the supporting cast have to be up there, it is an incredible talent to be able to write not only a main cast of characters that we care about, but also a full supporting cast that we are cheering on the whole way, we are with through the wins and losses, the ups and downs.
“Men die, Women die, all creatures of flesh and blood die, but battle-fame survives. To become a song, a saga-tale told from generation to generation. That way we will live forever. That is what I want, what all of us want.”
I do not think it is possible for me to explain or emphasise to you all how much I enjoyed this. It is rare for something I read to click right from the start, it usually takes 35-50 pages sometimes more, I never have that with Gwynne. It is unusual to have something click into place from the very outset. I love Gwynne’s battle sequences, the grim dark themes we have come to love with Gwynne are still flowing and ever present. If you are a fan of Gwynne and haven’t read this yet, I implore you to read it, your “thought-cage” is missing out. If you are new to Gwynne this is a great place to start, definitely one of the easier reads, his other works have much bigger ranges of characters, and more word counts from the outset. But you should also read those, your “thought-cage” will thank you.
