Damn!! What a story!! I loved Shadow of the Gods and Hunger of the Gods cranks it up even more. From the relentless pace to the twists, turns, reprieves, deaths, battles....this story has it all. Each of our characters, Orka, Elvar and Varg are here plus some additional POV's which adds so much and I really enjoyed how those fleshed out the overall story. I certainly won't give anything away here, but if you haven't read Shadow of the Gods, you should stop reading this and go read that instead!!
The story picks up immediately after the dragon god, Lik-Rifa is freed and the Bloodsworn have been betrayed. Orka is still searching for her son Breca, and Elvar is committed to helping Uspa free her husband and son. Meanwhile, Varg and the rest of the Bloodsworn search for Vol. I loved that several of the threads from the first book finally bring our characters together. Once again, John Gwynne proves he is a master of not only battle scenes, but also creating creatures and moments of truly nightmare proportions. And those last few chapters.....are you kidding me.....what??!!??? So incredibly excited for the next book!! Epic fantasy fans, if you haven't started this.....you are missing out on phenomenal characters, action and story-telling!!!

Thanks to Orbit Books and Netgalley for the ARC.

This was fantastic! 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 3!

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Actual Rating = 4.75 stars, rounded up to 5

Like everyone and their mom, I thought The Shadow of the Gods was THE SHIT, so I was thrilled when I got approved to review this. Man, did Gwynne not disappoint! This book was, IMHO, every bit as good as the first and I devoured it like I was Lif-Rifa herself.

"'Once you unlock a door, you cannot control what comes out of it," Uspa spat."

I don't want to go super in-depth with the plot, as this is the second in the series and even a bare-bones review would give major spoilers to anyone who hadn't finished the first book. So, here are some general thoughts:

- The Pronunciation Guide in the beginning of the book has been expanded a bit since the first novel, which I found super helpful.
- Handy-dandy Cast of Characters, Norse Titles Terms and Items, and What Has Gone Before sections have been added as well, which will be great for people who read Shadow a while ago.
- Orka has my whole heart and I would ride or die with that bish through anything.
- This book has two new POV characters, Biorr and Gudvarr, which was absolutely necessary to accomplish the expanded scope of the story. I actually really enjoyed following both these characters, and think Gwynne does an excellent job not wasting any of his POVs. If I had any issue with the five, as opposed to three, POVs - it was just a bit harder to keep track of what someone was doing if they hadn't popped up in a while.
- The pacing of this novel was definitely a bit faster than with Shadow, probably because so much of the heavy worldbuilding is done.
- This story has a really interesting exploration of injustice; the various ways it pops up in society and how those who seek to rectify it often do so in equally destructive ways. You also get to see some characters developing prejudices, which is objectively bad, but it's kind of understandable in context. The grayness of the characters and the world is just really well balanced.
- IDK how Gwynne does it, but there are so many wholesome moments between characters woven through the absolute carnage that is the world they live in. Like, tell me how a demonic tooth fairy getting aggravated because she doesn't have room for all the available post-battle teeth is so charming??
- I just loved all the characters, even the ones I "loved to hate." *coughGudvarrcough*
- There was more of the god's language in this book than in the first one, I'm pretty sure at least, and I kind of just glazed over those sentences. Including them didn't take anything away from the text, I just didn't really feel like it added too much either.
- WHAT IS WITH THE CHEESE SVIK?!?!?!
- This book has way more action scenes than the first one, which is saying something. I thought the fighting and battles were super cool, but I could see some less action-oriented readers getting bored with the repetition.
- We get to see Iskidan, which is neat....except for the tongue eaters, which were horrifying. You'll see.
- I did think the passing of time was a bit vague, and it could be hard to get a sense of how much time had passed for the characters. This is a very minor note though and had minimal impact on the reading experience.
- That effing ending! It wasn't a cliffhanger or anything but still ripped out my heart. If you know, you know.
- A few grammar errors and incorrect words were dotted through the text, but I assume those will be fixed in the final release.

The Bloodsworn Saga is actually my first exposure to John Gwynne, so I guess I'm going to have to go read his whole back catalog while I wait for book three to come out....what a hard life I lead.

A great follow-up in The Bloodsworn Saga! Some great characters, brutal gods, and a well-written story make this a fantastic read. This viking-inspired fantasy is wild ride! We follow five characters in this volume, dealing with their own problems in different parts of the ever-expanding world. The book felt a little too long to me, and I was losing my interest after about 400 pages, but it's well worth it to get to the end. Looking forward to the epic conclusion!

A read that keeps you on the edge of your seat, THE HUNGER OF THE GODS picks up exactly where SHADOW left off and keeps you reading with Gwynne's tight plotting.

I was so excited to read this book!! I loved The Shadow of the Gods and book 2 has not disappointed me at all!
I love how John Gwynne gives us a character list and brief description of what has happened at the beginning of this book, so helpful! (Wish more did this)
We continue to follow our 3 pov’s from book 1 and he adds more character povs in book 2. Very easy to keep up with everyone’s thought cages :)
The journey that is taken in this book is so brilliantly written, you feel like you are in the battle, or roaming the country with these characters. The world feels real, you can almost smell the blood and hear the bones break.
The Bloodsworn Saga is fantasy at its finest in my opinion, the cover art on these books is amazing too, but the words inside are such a brilliant tale.
My favorite quote is from Okra, “ Do not be sorry…Be Better”
Such memorable characters… I’m looking forward to the next tale.
I was given an arc from NetGalley and Orbit in exchange for an honest opinion, thank you.

This book was given to me by netgalley. My review is 100% honest and all my own opinion.

This book was definitely an interesting one. I was intimidated at first by the length of it, but the story went by like it wasn't a thick boy. I'll be totally honest I didn't realize that this was the second book in a series. But it definitely reads like it can stand on its own as a standalone.

I loved the authors deep and rich world building that was saturated with Norse and Viking vibes. I feel like the author put in the time they needed to research such topics to make it flow as well as it did. I also enjoyed that the author provided a glossary of the different characters and monsters that I felt like I was comfortable with the different characters that were thrown at us.

Chef's kiss!!!

I would like to thank Orbit Books and Netgalley for allowing me to read this ARC free for an honest review. I never realized there could be so much punching, biting, gouging and skull-splitting in one story, but this one has it all. Several gods who all hate each other, as well. These are the fiercest warriors I’ve ever read about. They stab and heave and chop throughout. All I wanted while reading this story was for Orka Skullsplitter to find her kidnapped son, Braca. And once I read what had happened to Vol, I couldn’t wait for Glornir to find and save her. Yikes!!! There was never a dull moment in this story, and I loved reading it. I really liked most of the characters, but not that niding Gudvarr. He was a real arseling. This is a great story and I’ll be looking forward to its conclusion. I would recommend this story to any fantasy fan. It is truly fantastic. There were so many young strapping warriors, but of course, the warrior who stayed in my thought-cage was Urt the Unwashed. Yuck! LOL

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for providing an advanced reading copy ebook of The Hunger of the Gods. This review is my honest opinion.

John Gwynne has knocked it out of the park once again. I've been preaching the awesomeness of the first book in this Norse-inspired fantasy series since I read it. This second book has lived up to the hype and is a worthy successor to The Shadow of the Gods. Orka remained my favorite character, but I also enjoyed the stories of the others. It was interesting to see more POV characters emerge as the story continued, giving us readers a glimpse into the minds and situations of the other people in this world.

I highly recommend this book to fans of fantasy, especially because of the impressive combat sequences and advanced world-building.

Thank you so much to Orbit and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I'll cut right to the chase: I LOVED THIS. I adored the first book in the Bloodsworn Saga, The Hunger of the Gods, and I was fortunate enough to be able to review an ARC of that as well. The Hunger of the Gods picks up right where the first book left off, going more in depth on a certain plot twist that was dropped at the end of the first book. I don't want to elaborate too much so as not to spoil this second book for anyone that hasn't read the first one yet (but seriously, if you haven't...what are you waiting for?).

A couple of things I did want to touch on, though. Orka and Varg continue to be my favorite points of view, and Elvar continued to be one of my least favorite, not that that's saying much since I still enjoyed reading what she was doing in this book. Book two also introduced two new points of view, of characters we met in the first book. While they also weren't my favorite to be reading, it was interesting seeing what was happening with them throughout the course of the story.

The fight scenes continued to be cinematic in nature and epic in scope, the emotions that I felt throughout the course of reading this ranged from laughing to crying, and John Gwynne continues to prove himself an auto-buy author for me. I can't wait to see what these characters will do in future installments of this series. Hunger of the Gods was an easy 5 stars for me.

The Hunger of the Gods
John Gwynne
4.25⭐️
Out April 14th

The Hunger of the Gods is the continuation of the bloody, dark, epic, immersive fantasy series that began in 2021 in one of my favorite books of that year, The Shadow of the Gods.

To say that I was anticipating this book is a criminal understatement. The Shadow of the Gods amazed and surprised me to no end. In many ways, The Hunger of the Gods takes the foundations laid out in book one and amplifies them in ways that were both vast and thrilling. The battles are more ambitious, the gore more explosive, and the peril more imminent. In addition to that, the inclusion of two new perspectives widened the scope of the story in exciting ways that I enjoyed.

What sucks is, I just can’t give this book 5⭐️ like I did book one. This book suffers from some middle-book syndrome, and honestly the middle third dragged a bit. Three of the main perspectives spend the majority of the book traveling all across the map, which was good for world building, but it became challenging to remember which characters were traveling where and why. If the middle section had been trimmed or had mashed plot points from different moments of the story together, the middle would have been just as thrilling and fun as the rest.

BUT…..I NEED BOOK 3. No spoilers, but I am more eager for book 3 than I was for book 2, and that is no small feat! I highly recommend this series if you love complex characters in fantasy, unique class systems/worlds, and so much bloody more-inspired action. I love this series!

Thank you to Orbit for the gifted copy of The Hunger of the Gods!

This sequel to this epic fantasy series has knocked it out of the park. I am left with so many emotions after finishing it. Not only that, while reading Gwynne’s writing style was absolutely amazing. The world building and character development remains strong through out this novel. I truly enjoy how Gwynne is able to properly write female characters where their emotions are not their weakness and male characters where their sensitivity is their strength. This novel will stick with me for a while.

I received this e-arc via NetGally, I was not paid and am leaving a voluntary review. Thank you Orbit for allowing me to read this.

I loved the original story, a good blend of Norse saga with fantasy action, so was looking forward to this one. Thankfully I got an early copy from Netgalley, so the wait was reduced :)

This was a very hectic book. So much happened, with many different points of view and many subplots. Once again, I enjoyed the perspectives of the various protagonists, no-one is wholly good or wholly bad (well almost).

If you read the first book (and you should bef0re you read this one), then you'll appreciate the setting and the fight between rival goods, with a mixture of humans and semi-gods in the mix. No-one seems invulnerable, and some characters fall by the wayside throughout the story.

This book was a good continuation of the story and development of the various characters, with decisions made having consequences down the line. I enjoyed the book, and I'm looking forward to the next book and hopefully a gripping conclusion.

what attracted me to this book is i am fascinated by norse mythology, i always found myths & lores to be interesting. hunger of the gods is the second book. i appreciate how in the front of the book it shows a map, characters & norse vocabulary. this is because so much happens in this book & there are a lot of characters & terms being used. at first it was a little difficult to get used to reading the norse terms but as i read throughout it became easier to read & remember the repetitive vocabulary. john gwynne’s book is full of detail, evolving plot, and action packed, a lot of bloody battles. absolutely amazing! that ending though 🐺 i received this arc from NG and i’m so happy i was able to join this epic fantasy by john gwynne.

ARC provided by Orbit in exchange for an honest review.

The Shadow of the Gods was my favourite book of 2021, so it goes without saying that I was very excited to dig into The Hunger of the Gods, the second book in The Bloodsworn Saga. First things first, props have to be given to the publisher and the cover artist for the stunning piece of art that is the cover of this book. Continuing the trend from the cover of the first book, the scale and sheer intensity of the art is awe inspiring.

Now, regarding the book itself. Gwynne has done something that I really wish more authors would do in adding a section right near the start of the book with a recap of the previous events from The Shadow of the Gods. It’s broken into a recap for each of the main characters leading right up to the beginning of The Hunger of the Gods. Additionally, a Norse terminology guide, a pronunciation guide for the non-English letters, and maps are included! I was especially glad for the pronunciation guide, even if it was just for 3 letters.

Finally going into the content of the book itself, I’m not sure if it was due to the hype I’d built up in my own head or just for the benefit of setting up for the third book, but while The Hunger of the Gods mostly lived up to my expectations, it’s safe to say that it was not quite as exciting as the first book. The combat scenes are still amazing and visceral, the characters are wonderfully realised with their thoughts and motives more fleshed out, especially Elvar, who felt like the weakest perspective in the first book.

The pacing had some minor issues for me that just slowed down the excitement of the book. Much of the time in this book is spent moving from area to area. It does make it so when something big happens, it’s all the more exciting, but it does drag it down a bit. That isn’t to say that it’s bad, Gwynne’s writing is top notch. His description and worldbuilding always leaves you in awe with a great mental picture of exactly what’s going on.

Much to its benefit, Gwynne did something quite interesting in adding two new character perspectives to the story. I won’t go into their specifics but they definitely help to flesh out the narrative and make sure that the story feels fuller. While you might not like the characters, their perspective is meaningful and their actions have consequences to the story.

All in all, I really enjoyed The Hunger of the Gods. Its build-up for the conclusion of the series left me wishing that I could pick up the third book as soon as I finished. The series is shaping up to be one of my favourites in recent memory and is well worth the time. Congratulations to John Gwynne for writing another amazing book. I’m looking forward to the future of this series and can’t wait to see what’s to come.

4.5/5 Stars.

Hunger of the Gods was another excellent entry in this saga-tale and sets up what is sure to be an epic conclusion to Gwynne's Norse-inspired fantasy trilogy.

Much of what I loved in the first book, Shadow of the Gods (strong characters, thrilling & fast paced action, themes of found family and friendship) had even bigger payoffs in this middle entry. In addition to the three viewpoint characters from the first book, we have two additional POVs for book 2. Though I remained most invested in the stories of Orka, Varg and Elvar, the inclusion of two (shall we say) less lovable characters adds some valuable context to what is going on in the enemy camps.

I really enjoyed Gwynne's writing style here. He doesn't spend a lot of time describing what everyone looks like, aside from a notable scar or distinguishing feature. These are tough, hard people living in a brutal world - and the prose stays true to that. In spite of - or perhaps because of this - these characters really shine. There are MANY characters in this story and I'll admit that I often had to flip back to the -very helpful - character guide and book one plot overview that was included at the beginning of this DRC to remind myself of who everyone was. Orka, Varg and Elvar continued to deliver with plenty of "hell yeah" moments, but their Bloodsworn and Battle-Grimm companions also delivered plenty of ass kicking and humor. I was actually surprised by how many times I paused in reading for a chuckle.

TLDR version...This book was pure Viking-inspired mayhem with lovable characters, blood soaked action sequences and a fun fantasy world I that really enjoyed exploring. I feel an urgent need to find out how the story ends - so eagerly raising my hand to get an advance copy of Book 3 ASAP!

I was provided with an advanced copy of this book from Net Galley in order to provide an honest review.

I haven’t slept yet. I finished my reread of Shadow of the Gods yesterday at 7pm. It’s 10:20am. I stayed up all night to read this. I couldn’t stop. It was that good.

Gwynne never lets me down. The characters, the story, the tone… everything was so spot on. This is one of my most anticipated releases of the year and I am BEYOND ecstatic that I was allowed access to this ARC.

This is such an epic and wonderful story. I love the way the characters have developed. I love seeing different POV characters interact. The story is amazing. I’m usually someone who can predict twists but Gwynne ALWAYS surprises me in such a good way. That ENDING ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!? So good.

This was better than the first book. I cannot WAIT to see what book 3 holds in store. I’m already rereading this because I feel like the second time around I’ll catch more… and I’m excited for my preorder to come in so I can annotate it!

I am emotionally damaged now (but in a good way). If I could give this 10 stars I would!!!!!!

This was such a wild ride from beginning to end. This book had nonstop action, so many bloody battle scenes, and the character development is consistent throughout. I don't feel this book suffers from middle book syndrome which is a nice change from most trilogies. All too often when you have a book with multiple povs there's one or two that you're not as enthusiastic about but this is not the case here. Every storyline in this is interesting and intriguing and slowly builds on the story as a whole. This series is Gwynne's foray into grimdark and it's just made me love his writing even more. I'm desperate for the final book!

No middle book syndrome here! This was an excellent follow up to Shadow of the Gods. I love how the world continues to expand and I’m glad we learned more about the history and mythology here It’s a lot of fun that our three anchor characters’ journeys are beginning to overlap, I felt like I was waiting for them to meet throughout all of the first book. Chunky sequels can be a tough sell in store, but this will delight Gwynne’s fans.

Mr. Gwynne, my heart needs to have a discussion with you. How do you end a book that way, sir?!?

I should know better after reading The Faithful and the Fallen. Actually, I do know better. I've read in constant fear in both Shadow of the Gods and Hunger of the Gods. John Gwynne certainly knows how to keep you on your toe.

I'd give this book 4.75/5 stars, because I had a small with Elvar's story arc. Teeny tiny really, but it bothers me enough to knock a little off. However, the summary of book one at the beginning was so insanely helpful that we're just making this 5/5! Seriously more epic fantasy writers need to do this.

Overall I loved this entire book. Book twos always seem to be the travel story arcs, but this is a travel book done well. There's a good balance between getting to know the characters and plot/action scenes. I never felt bored reading any of it and my heart is now severely attached to almost all the characters.. minus Gudvarr. But Gwynne writes amazing villian POV so can't really blame me if I hate the character haha.

If you loved Shadow of the Gods, Hunger of the Gods will not disappoint!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Orbit books for the Arc. All thoughts and opinions are my own.