An absolutely amazing start to a new series by John Gwynne. I love the viking/norse inspired world and the characters. Can't wait for book 2.

This book was fine, but it didn’t quite live up to my expectations. I’ve enjoyed Gwynne’s other books and figured this one would also be dark. But this one was dark without the solid characters I expected. I honestly didn’t really like (or like to hate) any of the characters. They weren’t bad, I just didn’t care about any of them. There are 3 different storylines here and it takes until the bitter end for them to even remotely cross. I think that was the issue for me, there was no “oh I bet xyz might happen when these characters cross.” There was just nothing to tie the characters and storylines together until the bitter end. This almost was more of a prequel or a really long setup for the next book. I’m undecided if I’ll continue reading the series.

John Gwynne has long been a favorite author of mine. I've mentioned before that I've never given a single book of his anything less than a five-star rating. When I heard that his latest book was going to be heavily influenced by Norse mythology and Viking lore, it was as if my two favorite things were coming together to create a story written just for me.

Unlike the previous series that John Gwynne has written, this first book in The Bloodsworn Saga only has three main POV characters. I thought this worked incredibly well as it kept the story tight and the pacing brisk. I felt Gwynne had learned from his HUGE cast of characters with The Faithful and The Fallen where he spent about 300 pages introducing them and developing them...which caused a lot of readers to DNF or get bogged down.

About those characters:

First is Orka, a loving wife and mother with the heart of a warrior. Cross her at your own peril as she protects those she cares about with a fierceness that cannot even be measured.

Varg was sold to a slaver at a young age, only to escape soon after. His sister wasn't so lucky however, and Varg has become increasingly obsessed with finding the identity of those who murdered her. His unquenchable desire for vengeance finds him eventually hooked up with a group of Bloodsworn. Because these monster-hunting mercenaries often travel with witches who can perform searchings, he believes they may be able to help him find the answers he seeks. But first he must prove himself worthy of achieving the title Bloodsworn, or die trying.

Finally we have Elvar, a member of a another mercenary group of cutthroats that seek out fortune wherever they can find it. She is staunchly loyal to their leader who often takes on questionable jobs for his own personal glory and fame, sometimes at the expense of those who blindly follow him. Their most recent job in particular is one that could spell the end for this band of fortune-hunters and Varla must make a hard choice that will test her commitment and force her to come to terms with who she really is.

As these three characters are scattered in different locations across the continent of Vigrid, evil forces are scheming and formulating their own plans. And when children begin disappearing within the towns and holds, superstitious fears begin to take root with whispers and mutterings that terrible monsters stalking the woods may be to blame. Are the gods unleashing their anger over what took place ages ago, or could the truth be even more horrible than that?

First, let me just say that this book is relentless in its pace and compelling story line. Having read both of Gwynne's previous series, I am confident in saying that the action in this book is definitely more plentiful than in either of the opening books in those series. There really isn't a break throughout the entire book as far as pacing and action - you will not want to stop reading.

What made this a fantastic read for me is that you really can't trust a single character. This is one of the hallmarks of a John Gwynne story, those who we think are the good characters, often are just the opposite You are always kept on your toes and waiting for that knife in the back, or in Gwynne's case, ax to the cranium. Everyone is put in peril so that turning each page is often a stressful endeavor as you don't know if your favorite character will meet their demise suddenly and painfully.

As far as the setting goes, Vigrid is a rugged continent and home to a number of different clans and tribes who are each governed by individual jarls. These jarls are entrusted with protecting their settlements from attack and also with settling disputes. As such, many of these jarls wield much power and often with that power exists corruption. Such is also the case in real word politics as we all know, so it was pretty easy to relate to many of the struggles of the people of Vigrid as many just wished to be left to tend their land and live a quiet life with their families free from the punitive taxes and laws of the jarls.

To wrap things up, John Gwynne did what he does best: write a tale with characters you love (or love to hate), give you non-stop action, all while ripping your heart out and squeezing your soul.

And I absolutely cannot wait until the next one!

A brutal Viking-esque fantasy story that really made you feel for the characters. Such a big story. I can't wait for the next in the series.

(4.5)
Norse-inspired epic fantasy with characters that will have you devoted to them before you hit the 50% mark.

An epic new fantasy that follows three different characters as they traverse the fractured world left to them by the gods that battled in the land of Vigrið.

Looking for bloody vengeance, myths, magic and mercenaries, then look no further!

Thank you to Netgalley and Orbit for the eArc for review!

#netgalley #theshadowofthegods #orbit

The Shadow of the Gods is the first book in John Gwynne's new Norse-inspired series! It follows the intertwining journeys of three individuals: Orka- the warrior and loving wife and mother on the hunt for answers, Varg - the former slave turned mercenary on a quest for vengeance, and Elvar - the noblewoman seeking battle fame and glory. The dead gods do not get their own points-of-view but they are the driving forces always in the background.

The pacing of The Shadow of the Gods was very steady and compelling with an infinitely more manageable number of points-of-view to follow. For the first half of the story, I was a lot more interested in Orka and Varg's journey but Elvar's eventually becomes more interesting. Orka stole the show for me but I'm pretty invested in the all three character's outcomes.

The world-building is top-notch and I'd expect nothing less from John Gwynne. Magic, mythology, and Viking lore are seamlessly blended into the world of Vigrid and Gwynne manages to depict it masterfully without having any large sections of information dumping.

Overall, this is an excellent to start to what I expect to be a phenomenal fantasy series.

Thanks so much to the Netgalley and the publisher for the e-arc!

The Shadow of the Gods was one of my most anticipated books of 2021. I adored both The Faithful and the Fallen and Of Blood and Bone in their entirety, and I couldn’t wait to see what new world Gwynne was going to create outside of the Banished Lands, which until this point had served as the setting for every novel he’s penned. And he didn’t disappoint. The Norse-inspired Vigrið is a fantastic setting, one I’m sure will only become more and more interesting as the series progresses. However, as with his previous series, the setting and premise might draw a reader in, but the characters are what keeps said reader invested.

Gwynne is a marvel at developing characters who it’s impossible not to care deeply about. Our three perspective characters, Orka, Elvar, and Varg, are all warriors with radically different motivations. Varg won me over the quickest, but his two female counterparts had just as much of my heart by the end of the book. Something I adored about this book was the complete lack of sexism. Women are just as likely to be badass warriors as men are, and men are never shocked by their female counterparts’ badassery. That’s one of my favorite elements of real Norse culture, and I was ecstatic to see it so well represented here.

I enjoyed Gwynne demonstrating how and why myths came to be, as characters use stories to explain natural phenomena. He does a wonderful job hinting at Norse mythology and culture without outright copying it. The Tainted, humans who carry the blood of a god and can exhibit animal characteristics, are fascinating, as are the magical creatures populating the land. This book includes the most terrifying take on tooth fairies I’ve ever read. I actually had nightmares about them.

While I really enjoyed The Shadow of the Gods, I honestly wish I would have waited just a bit longer to read it. But once I was the only Novel Notions writer who had yet to read it, I just couldn’t hold off any longer. The book was excellent, but I experienced exactly what I feared: battle fatigue. You can tell from the synopsis that this is a blood-saturated story, and I wasn’t quite up for it. By the middle of the book, I was growing mentally exhausted by the constant battles each main character was facing. That, combined with the fact that Gywnne’s series tend to start with a slow burn of an opening installment, kept me from adoring this book quite as much as I wanted to, though I still definitely loved it and will be reading the book 2 as soon as I can get my greedy little hands on it.

The Shadow of the Gods is a very promising start to what I’m sure is going to be another incredibly epic series from Gwynne. It’s a bit of a slow burn, though for many fantasy readers the constant bloodshed will more than make up for that. There were some surprising twists towards the end of the novel, and I really can’t wait to see what happens in the next installment. If you’ve never read Gwynne’s work, pick this one up and give him a try. And then please, I am begging you, catch up on his back catalogue. His two previous series are among the best I’ve read in the genre. They’re incredibly epic, and I truly believe they are must-reads for any epic fantasy fan.

I don't really know where to start on this one. John Gwynne is an eternally nice guy who maintains solid fan communication and is a prolific writer. I enjoyed my forray into the Banished Lands with his first and second series, so when NetGalley approved an ebook copy of this I had to read it. Now heres where people are probably going to rip their hair out. I have read positive review after review ad neasueam pertaining to this book. It's to the point where you look at different review sites and see that all the reviews could have been copy and pasted over and over again. Gah sometimes I wouldn't know. I was reading different reviews since they all sound so similar. I am all for giving a book and author praise when I feel it deserves it. Again, this is just my opinion, so if you think that Shadow was and will be the best book put out all year, please read a different review.I will still try to remain non spoilery, especially since it is so new. Let's start with what I liked?The creatures- I see a good amount of the creatures and worldbuilding have inspiration in viking lore, and that was the fun part about this book.I liked Elvars POV. The mystery (at first) regarding his backstory, yes could appear cliche, but was fun and engaging. The worldbuilding stayed in line with what we are to expect from John Gwynne, Comparing it to his previous series, I saw a definite improvement in worldbuilding and in character relationships. a few few forced, but otherwise read smoothly and realistic.‍Heres what I didn't find particularly pleasing about this bookOrka.... *Possible Spoilers* That event in the beginning with her family send her into a homoicidal rage. Yes I get it, It was a traumatic event, but she just went on a murdering spree of anyone she assumed had something to do with it, It felt like just blatant murder with no consequences. Few parts where I wondered where anyone was to stop her from mindlessly slaughtering multiple people. Not a big fan of Orka, even though shes a fan favorite.The Thrulls threw me off a bit, I liked the horror element they brought but when they were talked about it felt a bit cringe. Do I think this was Gwynnes best book so far? quite possibly yes, and I know that this medieval fantasy is his thing, that's fine, do your thing, but It struck me how extremely similar it was to his other books, with just diff names of places and people. Almost felt like going back into the banished lands again, and I was hoping to not feel that way.As a reader it's none of my business to tell an author to try to write something else or stop writing medieval fantasy, Gwynne has a following that welcomes this and thats fine. I wasn't feeling this one as much as I would have hoped to.Gwynnes strong points are Worldbuilding and plot progression and execution. What I was hoping for was character development. Of course there is some, but the characters is what drives the story. If the character feels empty or one sided, it's going to be hard to be engaged, and this happened with a few of his characters in this book.Like I said I don't enjoy nagging on Gwynne, he seems like an awesome person, but I wasn't feeling this book. I will definitely keep him on my radar of course but I was hoping to enjoy this more.‍3/5...‍‍‍‍‍

While this started a little slower, I really ended up enjoying it!
I always struggle to find a Viking inspired story that I connect to, but this one finally did it for me! Orka is the best and I love seeing mothers as bad-ass main characters in books!
All of the characters were great and I absolutely loved how everything came together at the end!

The Shadow of the Gods, first book in The Bloodsworn Saga, is a world after the gods have driven themselves to extinction after years of warring. Now a land filled with monsters and feuding lords, we follow three people across the world on their different quests.

John Gwynne can do no wrong. That’s it. That’s the whole review.

Seriously though, having read everything that Gwynne has put out so far, I knew going in to The Shadow of the Gods, I would love it. He is the perfect author to tackle a Norse-inspired world, and he managed to even exceed my expectations. This book has everything. Badass characters? Check. Epic battle scenes? Check. Strong world building? Check. Monsters? Triple check. It has everything I could possible want from a fantasy book.

Of the characters, Orka is by far my favourite. While her goal is the most single-minded and bloody, it’s the most heart-wrenching. You can’t help but cheer her on every step of the way, wishing her every success, feeling every loss she suffers, and feeling zero pity for those that get in her way. Despite saying Orka was my favourite, that isn’t the say I felt like the other characters chapters got in the way. Varg and Elvar were equally as interesting, and you never find yourself in a chapter wishing for another character like you do in some books with many points of view. Okay. That’s a lie - sometimes the chapters leave you hanging and you’re desperate to get back to them, but not enough to skim read someone else. Instead, these are perfectly placed to increase the tension of what could have happened to someone else.

The world building was truly something else, seeing this Norse-inspired land unfold as you adventure along with the characters. We’re introduced to so many different types of monsters, some familiar but yet all still wholly unique in this book. Gwynne sets this enormous exciting land up in this book, and it’s done so beautifully you feel like you’re really there. Not that I would particularly want to be, I would not win in a fight against anything. Despite how much world building that is done in this book, I know that it will be expanded upon further in later books in the series and I can’t wait to keep exploring it.

If you’ve read Gwynne before, then you’re already well acquainted with how well he writes a fight scene, and I won’t need to go further than that for you to know how good this book is for them. If you’ve not read any yet, well then you are missing out and I can’t possible put into words how descriptive and visceral his fight scenes are, and you really just need to read all of his books to find out.

This is one of those books that I know will stick with me forever, and that I won’t stop recommending. As much as this is every fantasy lovers dream book, I think it could also be a book that gets non-fantasy readers more interested in the genre. I’ll be testing that theory by passing it out to everyone I know. This truly is a must read book, so please go read it immediately.

This was a fantastic start to a new series! The Norse mythology was woven into the story quite well, and the character development is fantastic. I loved the battle scenes and plot twists. I cannot wait for book 2!

John Gwynne is an author I had seen hyped up by people who have very similar taste to mine. And somehow I didn’t get around to reading his stuff until I got approved for an arc for The Shadow of the Gods. Within about the first 20 pages, I was reconsidering all my life choices and seriously regretting not jumping into Gwynne’s work sooner. It was a wild ride and I was living for it.

This story and this world are heavily influenced by Norse and Viking culture and has 3 different POV characters, and all seem to be motivated primarily by finding freedom from the roles they were born into. This book is the first in a new series and is more focussed on battle scenes and thematic elements than it is character or prose. That’s not to say either of those things were badly done, but I have a feeling that the thematic elements will make a huge impact by the end of the series and that’s what is making me the most excited. In this world, the Gods were defeated in a huge battle and while lesser supernatural beings still exist there aren’t any major powers to pray to or to interfere with mortal matters.

Orka is my favorite of the three POV’s. She and her family live on a remote homestead and try to live simply and not get caught up in the politics of the village they trade with. But when Orka’s son is kidnapped, she goes John Wick on everyone and sets out on a quest to find him. She takes no prisoners and is a very capable fighter, and while her character could have very easily fallen into the mother bear trope, I feel like Orka is so much more than that. She understands how dark and dangerous the world she lives in is and is very practical and pragmatic in how she carries on her quest.

Varg is a former thrall who ends his master and goes off to find someone who can help him discover who ended his sister. He basically has to go on a long side quest to enable him to do his main quest and he’s someone you definitely empathize with even though he isn’t asking for your pity. He definitely notices the class differences between his life as a thrall and freedmen, but in both roles he is having a hard time getting what he wants and constantly has to fight for his position in life.

Elvar is a young woman who has joined a warband to take control of her destiny beyond the expectations of her father. Over the course of the story she is able to prove herself as a warrior. But unlike a lot of stories about a girl who wants to kick ass instead of have babies, this isn’t her central character trait. It’s more centered around how she wants to be good at what she does rather than wanting to seek approval from others. Her character could fall into a trope trap, where her story is just a bad retelling of Mulan or a knockoff of a Tamora Pierce book, but instead Elvar’s story is more than that. I talked a bit about this in my Elatris video where there’s good and bad ways to write about female empowerment. We need more stories about women fighting for themselves because it benefits them instead of women fighting against a badly written patriarchy that never stood a chance because the heroine has plot armor.

This book is very dark and would make a great R rated action movie. The battle scenes were gnarly and entrawling and I loved it. It’s inspired by viking culture and has a lot of battle scenes and cultural emphasis on earning your battle fame and becoming a famous warrior. Both men and women fight in this story, even though in the upper classes women are valued more from their ability to be married off and produce heirs than their battle prowess. One of the major themes is that there’s no such thing as true freedom because there is always a catch. Your social standing could limit what you can do in life, whether you are a princess or a thrall, and even when you try to live away from outside influences those influences are happy to come to you and demand you conform. However, the emphasis on battle fame gives characters the message that they can earn respect and a more comfortable life by being a warrior and getting really good at wrecking people. What power you have comes at the pointy end of your weapon of choice.There’s also no set right and wrong, and every time some wrong is righted, it leads to some other group suffering. This gives me Game of Thrones vibes, in a good way. I think that the idea that something is right or something is wrong and there is no in between or compromise is under-appreciated, especially since the villain of one story is the hero of another.

One thing this book has helped me realize is that I really like darker, more gritty stories where there are consequences instead of plot armor. If a book needs several trigger warnings, I will probably love it. We can go into the ethics of that statement later in a video if you want.

Some people didn’t like this book because they didn’t find the characters to be memorable. I look more for thematic elements and plot than I do one of a kind characters, so this didn’t bother me. I also haven’t read as much dark fantasy as some and I’m sure there are books out there that might have made me enjoy this book more or less by comparison. Guess I have to go read more books. Darn.

I want to preface this by saying that this galley was my first John Gwynne book. I had heard about one of his other fantasy series, but I hadn’t felt compelled to actually pick up any books by him. I’ve come to regret that decision since reading Shadow of the Gods

This book was AMAZING. I loved the fresh take on a fantasy world inspired by Norse mythology. The characters were excellent and the world was politically and magically complex. Gywnne is an auto-buy author for me now.

WOW. Okay, John Gwynne... You've got my attention.

The Shadow of the Gods was my introduction to John Gwynne. I went into it with high expectations and this book delivered on every aspect. It's one of the strongest starts to a series I've ever read. I don't even know what to write in this review because there's nothing to criticize. The world is so well build, the characters are badass, the plot is super intriguing and the magic system is like a cherry on top of it all. I even enjoyed the fight sequences... WHO AM I?

Malice has been sitting on my bookshelf since early 2019... I was very intimidated by it due to The Faithful and the Fallen being frequently compared to GOT. It made me skeptical and I put this series off. I WAS A FOOL and you better believe that I'll be picking this series up soon.

Thank you to Orbit for providing and advanced reading copy!

I have been a fan of John Gwynne since reading The Faithful and the Fallen. So, I was excited to be given the chance to read this novel. One of the things I love about Gwynne is the way his plots weave together and the easy to read writing style. This book had neither.

While I did still enjoy this book and Gwynne's writing has definitely improved, I found myself pulled out of the story when many of the character driven elements came to the forefront. This is likely due to the overuse of certain words that began to grate on my nerves after a while.

I do think that Gwynne's previous "criticisms" had an impact on this book and not necessarily all in good ways.

What I did enjoy was Orka's story. If the book would have been more focused, I think I would have liked it a lot more.

There's so much hype around Gwynne's work, and although I haven't felt particularly drawn to his previous work, I can't deny that the cover of this book very much piqued my interests! I mean, look at how HUGE that dragon is!

Overall, I think that this was a decent way to start a series and springboard into the events of the next book, but for myself, it took too long to get to that point. There's no doubt that Gwynne is a talented writer, and I can tell that he has a clear vision for his works.

I had a hard time getting through this book though, reading a few chapters each sitting mostly for the sake of getting to the end to finally see where all the ties connect. It took me over a month to get through it, for several reasons.

The mean reason is that I simply didn't connect with or care very much for the three main POV characters or their development through the book. I was interested in their motivations in the beginning (especially with 2 of 3 being women), but slowly became bored over time. It took too long to get where we were going, and I was confused for a majority of the book because it felt like we were just waiting for something to happen. And within that time, it felt like there was very little development for the characters, with awkward dialogues and phrasing. I couldn't tell what the direction of the novel was, and it made it difficult for me to connect and feel invested in the characters, their stories, and the plot.

What further pushed this feeling was how lost I felt with all of the references to Norse mythology and use of language and terms, without a glossary or point of reference for further explanation or clarification. I think someone who understands more about this history would have an easier time sinking into the world-building and story-telling. There was a disconnect for me because of this, as I'm not familiar with all of these terms and names, and it made it difficult to feel immersed and interested. Essentially, I felt quite lost.

Overall, this was an interesting book that didn't quite work for me, but I'm interested in seeing where the rest of the series goes. The ending of this book drew me in - I'm just sad it took that long for me to feel more invested. I also think that this book would appeal more to someone who has knowledge of Norse mythology and enjoys Gwynne's writing style!

I really enjoyed this first installment of a new fantasy series by John Gwynne. I am new to the author and haven't read any of his other books, but hope to rectify that soon.

This book focuses on three main characters and that is what really pulled me into the story. They are each very unique and it didn't take long for me to feel invested in their lives. The world-building and plot were solid and I look forward to the next installment.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a digital ARC.

It is the Sagas brought to life! The story is so vivid that you feel like you're in it with them. Norse mythology lovers this is a MUST! Incredible characters and incomparable World building.

A huge thanks to Netgalley and Orbit for providing me with an ARC of John Gwynne's newest release. The Shadow of the Gods, unfortunately, ended up being an overall disappointing book for me. I loved the setting and the writing but I had a really difficult time connecting with the characters and I felt that the pacing was really slow for most of the novel. The only point of view character whose story I was interested in was Orka and when her chapters would end I had a hard time continuing because I just wasn't invested in Varg or Elvar's storyline. The story picked up steam in the last 30% and that last was really what ended up saving the novel for me and because of those last 100 or so pages I'm probably going to end up picking up the next book when it comes out.

I wanted to love this book a lot because all my friends have nothing but amazing things to say about it but did I? Well… not exactly.
This is the first instalment in an epic fantasy series based in a Norse inspired world. The story progresses through the viewpoint of three characters- Orka, Elvar and Varg. I loved Varg from the very beginning. He is a runaway, a sort of underdog and has to prove his worth to the Bloodsworn, a group of mercenaries who have sort of adopted him into their fold.
Orka is a warrior mother who seems to be leading a life in disguise with her husband and son. She is afraid for her son as incidences of missing children abound near their settlement. I connected more to her son than to her and was kinda skimming and skipping through her pov chapters to get to Varg atleast until the halfway mark. Thereafter the author just gears it up to the top and it was one exhilarating action scene after another.
Elvar is a noblewoman who has thrown away her status to fight in a mercenary group. She wants to prove her battle might and make a name for herself rather than be married off to the highest bidder. Elvar’s chapters were my least favourite because I just couldn’t bring myself to like her for some reason. I just couldn’t connect to her even though her life was the most relatable out ot the three characters in the book. It was at the very very end of the book that I kinda warmed up to her a little bit but even then it wasn’t much.
Overall for the first half I was just skipping and skimming mostly and stopping to read only Varg’s pov chapters but the second half things finally started happening and Orka’s povs became just as compelling. Elvar’s were still a struggle until maybe the last 20%.
I didn’t end up loving the book as most of my friends did but I really liked it. Just as I was turning the point from like to love, the book ended but it ensured that I would keep reading the sequel to find out what happens next. Definitely recommended for fans of epic fantasies. It takes some time for the action to start but once it does, its a non stop, high octane, edge of the seat thriller. You would not be disappointed.
P.S the dragon on the cover is not just for show, but only the patient get rewarded 😂
Rating: 3.5 stars