First of all, a big thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for honest feedback.

Now for the honest feedback: I absolutely loved this book. I thought to myself "there's no way John Gwynne can follow up The Shadow of the Gods with something just as good" but he absolutely did. Once again, I was sucked into the world of Orka and Varg (my two favorite characters) and in to this amazing story of revenge and magic. I don't want to give away any spoilers but I literally stayed up until I finished the last 30% of the book. John Gwynne is an amazing storyteller and on a fast track to become an auto-buy author for me.

John Gwynne's follow up to the first book in the Bloodsworn Saga hits the mark in every category. If you are a fan of well executed fantasy with well developed characters and plot that keeps you on the edge of your seat, you need to pick up this series.
This viking fantasy is everything I've ever wanted. This book starts right after the ending of the first and beginnings to tackle the ramifications of a resurrected god hellbent on destroying the world. While we return to our beloved characters from book one, we are also graced with two new points of view that help expand the scope of the story more.
I don't want to say too much in fear I give something away, but this sequel is truly spectacular. The author put a beautiful recap of book one at the start of Hunger of the Gods as well as a list of characters and viking terms you might not be familiar with (as if he read my first review and wanted to please me even more with the sequel).

The Hunger of the Gods is a 10/10 for me. A smash hit that will rest on my bookshelf for as long as I live.

I read a digital copy of this book which I was granted by Orbit Books, through NetGalley. Thank you very much to both parties and the author, John Gwynne!

I had been very much looking forward to continuing this Norse inspired saga and was not disappointed. There is a handy recap included at the beginning of the book, which I found very useful to remind myself of who the main characters were, it having been a year since I read the Shadow of the Gods. The maps were also a helpful addition - the characters do a lot of travelling across Vigrid in this story of mythical shape-shifting gods, fantastic creatures and saga legends. There are also many Norse terms peppered throughout the narrative so the glossary of terms was useful too.

This sequel to The Shadow of the Gods begins where Book 1 left off, after the dragon god, Lik Rifa has been resurrected and is leading her ‘children’, the dragonborn Raven Feeders back to her home, from where they hope to reassert their dominance across the land of Vigrid.

Times have changed since the Fall of the Gods, and Vigrid has become an uncompromising world that treats the descendants of gods as thralls and refers to them as ‘Tainted’. Lik Rifa hopes to turn this around and restore the respect her descendants deserve.

The story has expanded dramatically and so too has the cast of characters. We have the Bloodsworn, the Battle-Grim and now also the Raven Feeders, each band of warriors with its own agenda to fulfill. Queen Helka, her son Hakon and her retinue play a larger part, and also Prince Jaromir of Iskidan. New POV characters within the Raven Feeders and Queen Helka’s company enable us to keep up with these groups and add more rich layers to this epic story.

The Raven Feeders are fiercely loyal to their dragon god, who they resurrected using magic gained from Rotta the dead rat god’s spell book. The Battle Grim resurrect Ulfrir the wolf god (not really a spoiler if you have seen the book’s cover!) and are keeping him in thrall to them - hoping he will help them beat the dragon god when they manage to catch up to the Raven Feeders.
As I mentioned, there are more point of view characters in this book than its predecessor, but the original three Elvar, Orka and Varg, still remain.

Elvar of the Battle-Grim, along with Sighvat and Grend have sworn a blood oath to Uspa the seidr witch to help get her son Bjarn back from the Raven Feeders. To do so they must take on not only the fearsome Raven Feeders but the awe-inspiring dragon god as well. They expect the wolf god, Ulfrir, to help them. Skuld, daughter of Ulfrir is now also thrall to Elvar. She and her sisters were guarding the dragon for 500 years in her underground prison.

Orka Skullsplitter is still on a mission to find her son Breca who was also captured by the Raven Feeders. She was once again my favourite character, driven entirely by vengeance and the most badass warrior around. She also has an endearing, warm motherly side to her in the way she deals with Lif and other allies she encounters, but gods forbid you should get on her bad side, or the wolf within her will rip your face off. She rejoins the Bloodsworn whose leader she once was and who are shocked to discover that she is still alive.

Varg is now a valued member of the Bloodsworn. His days as a thrall are long behind him, but he is still seeking vengeance for his sister’s maltreatment by the slave traders she was sold to. He also hopes to one day track her down and save her.

The world building is also expanded in this sequel, with many more territories traversed and described in wonderful detail as the warrior bands travel far and wide across Vigrid. I particularly enjoyed the magical Galdur Tower which is Skalk’s domain - filled with amazing and horrifying creatures.

The pace of this novel was fairly slow to begin with. There were a lot of travel sequences interspersed with some fantastic action scenes - John Gwynne’s wealth of expert knowledge when it comes to blood-thirsty fighting with swords and other medieval-type weapons was made use of time and again. However things did not really take off completely until two thirds of the way through the book for me. At that point the pace picked up and became much more intense, ramping right up towards the end as the parties all became nearer to their individual goals and various characters’ paths crossed. We are clearly being lead towards an explosive conclusion in the next book which will be the final chapter in the Bloodsworn saga.

Thank you to Orbit and NetGalley for providing me with this review copy.

I was excited to see where The Hunger of the Gods took the Bloodsworn saga after The Shadow of The Gods, which featured the old, dead gods coming to life again, throwing the world into chaos. I was really happy to see some improvements from the first novel, but I found that overall, The Hunger of the Gods just didn’t click for me.

The thing I was happiest to see included in The Hunger of the Gods, which was noticeably absent from the first novel in the series, was the inclusion of a glossary of terms and a character list. Was I still able to keep the characters straight? Heck no, but at least I knew what all of the Nordic terms were this time around. It was a huge help not having to figure out all these terms from context clues. And I wasn’t too concerned about keeping the characters straight, as in the first novel, I was only invested in the character Orka.

Though I was initially really excited about the dragon god Lik-Rifa coming back to life and amassing her followers to take over the world, I found the reality of her very underwhelming. Sure, she threatens, yells, and sometimes eats her followers, but I never felt any fear or awe towards her. A god that mainly threatens and scares a bunch of kidnapped children doesn’t really strike fear in my bones. Plus, knowing that a human can come along and slap a thrall collar on a god to make them do their bidding makes them seem inordinately less threatening as a whole. Though the old gods look incredible and awe-inducing on the covers of the Bloodsworn Saga, they meet that larger than life portrayal in the actual books. I felt pretty detached to most things that happened in The Hunger of the Gods, with no real tension or emotion during what should be climactic moments.

Unfortunately, I just found that author John Gwynne’s writing style isn’t to my taste. I can’t help but to find the descriptions very basic, not to mention repetitive. If I took a drink every time someone referred to their inner wolf stirring within them or their “thought cage,” the regrettable term for brain, I’d quite literally be dead and buried. Similarly, character development and dialogue runs no deeper than surface level. Each main character has no more than one defining goal—Varg, to avenge his sister’s death; Orka, to find her kidnapped son; Guðvarr to save his own neck; and Elvar to prove herself as more than a spoiled Jarl’s daughter. Most of the notable side characters are even simpler, being a warcraft trainer, a lifelong protector, or something else.

As such, I just didn’t really care when certain characters fell in battle. Not only does this happen a lot in a Viking culture, but also to me, almost all of the characters were interchangeable. A warrior dies? Replace him with another. It’s a shame because I really love the idea of the story of the Bloodsworn saga, with old gods coming alive and their bloodlines rising up against prejudice and enslavement to follow them, but the execution just doesn’t do it for me. Plus, the Norse setting and Viking feelings are something I’ve always been interested in, but again the reality of it for me is lackluster. I found myself skimming most of the countless fight scenes again. There’s only so many ways to write axes, seaxes, and spears impaling people and inner beasts awakening before it gets dreadfully dull.

Another thing I just couldn’t get over was how cheesy the dialogue was, for lack of a better term. Characters constantly walk around uttering the cringiest lines imaginable with zero irony. These types of lines are probably supposed to be epic or quotable, but I winced or laughed, as I was unable to suspend my disbelief that someone would actually utter these words aloud. It’s like what Harrison Ford said to George Lucas, “you can type this shit, but you can’t say it!” Here are just a few examples:

“The blow not seen is the one that ends the fight.”

“We are Bloodsworn….Death is a companion we are well-used to.”

“Walking away from Ulfrir and the Battle-Grim, she felt his loss, like walking away from the heat of a fire into a winter’s ice-touched night.”

“A new age has dawned, the wolf-god’s voice howled in her thought cage. A wolf age a sword age, and blood will flow in rivers. Remember, I am no dream to blink away with the coming of day; I will see you again, my fierce wolf-child.”

“Orka remembered the words Thorkel had often said to Breca could almost hear his bear-deep voice in her thought-cage. real courage is to feel fear but to stand and face it, not run from it.”

“To grieve is to be trapped in a world of loneliness.”

“Let her go and you will have a quick death. Harm her and your screams will fill the world.”

“I am your death.”

I could not fathom anyone referring to someone directly as their “fierce wolf-child.” Nor did I care for the Norse-ified takes on old sayings such as, “feel the fear, and do it anyways.” Other expressions just seemed to me to be trying too hard to appear wise or quotable. But most of them just seemed unbelievable. If my wife were being threatened with harm or death, would I really take the time to say, “Harm her and your screams will fill the world”? I doubt it. Instead, I’d most likely say something simple in my panicked state, like “let her go,” or “don’t touch her.” What was actually said just feels melodramatic and unrealistic to me. This kind of language also just takes me right out of the moment of the novel to think about how theatrical the writing is.

Despite the Norse-inspired world, giant dragon gods that want to take over the world, and a badass female character, I just really don’t think the Bloodsworn Saga, and maybe John Gwynne’s books at large, are for me. Though I found the novel mildly entertaining, I just couldn’t get past the writing style. I think other fantasy lovers will find a lot to love in The Hunger of the Gods, but they simply don’t work for me and I don’t plan on picking up the other entries in the saga.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book.
This book was an incredible sequel! The multiple points of view for each chapter were amazing and adds so much depth to the story. This series is amazing and I cannot wait for the next book! I am in a book hangover after this one!

I received an ARC of this from Netgalley courtesy of Orbit in exchange for an honest review.

Last year I read Shadow of The Gods which is book 1 in the Bloodsworn Saga, and it was my introduction to John Gwynne as an author. I liked it so much I went out and bought and read the rest of his blacklist bibliography. Needless to say when Hunger was announced I was immediately on board.

Hunger pretty much starts immediately where Shadow left off. That is exactly what I was looking for because the ending of Shadow of The Gods is pretty mindblowing and I wanted more. I was not disappointed. When reading this you definitely get more of everything. More creatures. More magic (which seems to be more prevalent than in any Gwynne book to date). More battles. More gods. And yes most definitely more Orka Skullsplitter. These are all really good things. The action and pacing does not let up. I especially liked the introduction of more of the gods and tainted with more insight to there and how it all works. Gwynne continues to write battle scenes in his trademark visceral style and he doesn't shy away from the violence. It all made for an enjoyable read.

However, I have to say some of that is what kept this from being 5 stars. Yes we got more of what was in book 1, but at times I felt like that was all we were getting. A lot of it felt like repeats of the same plots in the 3 stories with very little overall plot or character development. A lot of the book is chase these people to this place to find this person. Oh we didn't find them yet? Well we need to leave this place and go to this other place. It got old after a bit. I wanted more of the overall developing god war rather than just repeat vengeance plots.

When we got new things it was some of my favorite stuff in the series. For example in this entry we get two completely new POVS and I was a big fan of both of them. One of them felt very different with an inner monologue in an almost Joe Abercrombie style. I loved all the time we spent in his head even though the character is kind of a shit-heel. I also have to give Gwynne credit for adding a really nice series recap, dramatis personae, and list of Norse terms at the start of this book. I struggled with a lot of those things in book 1, but this time I had something to refer back to and I did so many times. The Norse names and terms are tough for me so I really appreciated it.

Overall I would say this is a really good read with just a few things that keep it from being top tier Gwynne. It suffers from just a bit of middle book syndrome, but I know Gwynne can stick a landing so I am still very excited for book 3.
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Another masterpiece by John Gwynne. Perhaps the best "middle book in a trilogy" released this decade.

Hunger of the Gods somehow improves upon Shadow of the Gods which I didn't think would be possible. Some of the fun of fantasy books is exploring a world for the first time, but Gwynne finds a way to keep this world interesting even after it was properly made clear in the first book.

The pacing is wonderful, with frequent high-energy sequences that do not feel forced. There are multiple extra POVs in this book, which was welcomed as they give the perspective of some of the "baddies". This creates a much more appreciated aspect of "morally grey" characters all around, whereas the first book felt more black and white.

There is also a more epic feel to this book as compared to the first one. The first one ended on an epic scale, but it took some working towards that goal. This book started there and ramped it up to 11. Without spoiling anything, it also ends on a note that makes me want to pick up Book 3 yesterday.

Also, I need to mention that other fantasy writers need to take note from what John Gwynne has done in the beginning of this book. Not only does he have a character listing giving a brief description of everyone in the book, but he has a "what happened in book 1" section that makes it so you don't have to go read the first book again to get right back into the series. I wish every author did these two things -- it makes the experience so much more enjoyable.

This is yet another incredible book from John Gwynne, and for me cements him as the best active fantasy author. Every one of his books is a 5/5 for me, which is not true for any other fantasy author. It's frequent for the middle book in a series to be the worst one (looking at you Mistborn), but thankfully this book breaks from that trend.

My thanks to Orbit books, John Gwynne and Netgalley.
I'm not even sure just what to say!
I never properly review a book. If I ever did, then I'd surely skip on this one!
There is so much going on! Which really just makes it my kind of story. I love all the different perspectives!
This second book was nowhere as gung -ho, stones to the wall as the first book.
What it did, "I think" was build up the characters and the world more. " Not that we needed another excuse to love them! " Or hate them too! But it also managed to make this world and all its various inhabitants more real.
This book was slower then the first.
Don't let that dissuade you, because while it may have been slower, I managed to laugh out loud. Chuckle, snicker, smirk 😏 and just be generally amused! Gah! Oh, yeah. I really do adore these people!
I will confess that as much as I'm looking forward to the final book, I'm also scared silly. I know how these things go. Sadly, many will die, and I'm not sure if I'm ready for that.
Also, can Vesli come live with me?

The Hunger of Gods checks every box when it comes to the word EPIC. The Shadow of Gods introduced the potential of this story, and the Hunger of The Gods fulfilled this potential. It was everything I was hoping for in a Viking inspired fantasy book, and I will be first in line to get the next installment in the series.

The POV of this story expanded from our three main character to five, giving us the POV of both characters we root for and root against. This was a great thing to add into this story, giving us an outlook on the mindset of the other side. Elvar, who used to be a POV I skimmed passed, quickly became my favorite character in the series.

The ending, without giving away any spoilers, ended with a bang. The final chapter was one I did not see or expect, making me all the more excited for the next entrance in the series.

Although this book is a sequel to The Shadow of the Gods, The Hunger of the Gods “fixes” the main issues that I had with the first book. First and probably most important, there is a real conclusion to many of the plot conflicts where as I felt the story just ended in the first book (surprise, some bad guys get what they deserved). Ideally I was say that these two should just be one book, but each are already fairly long stories, so unless you have a high tolerance for a long plot build-up (or you DNF’d the first book), don’t feel guilty jumping in here because you will catch up pretty fast. If you are even remotely a fan of Norse history and mythology, you won’t regret it … because that is what this story is all about.
The world building is deep and rich, leveraging the world of the Norsemen/Vikings and is well researched and relatively authentic. That is probably because the author is a self proclaimed member of a viking re-enactment group (which is boss … I so want to do that). Just change up the gods a bit and pick up the story after Ragnarok (or the fall of the gods in this story) and you have the basic milieu found in the Norse sagas so well done the you could feel it (and it is GOT style brutal). The main character introduced in book one continue their adventures here; but the narratives begin with over lap and actually move the plot forward now with a coherence that was hard to find in the first book. Orka is still my favorite as the mama bear in search of her stolen cub, while Varg evolves from his thrall/slave roots into a drengr (norse knight or noble warrior). Even Elvar becomes a lot more interesting and relatable … so where I had a hard time connecting with the main characters in the first book, no such issues remain in this one and I am looking forward to reading book three.

I was given this free advance review copy (ARC) ebook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

#TheHungerOfTheGods #NetGalley

Uhm…I don’t know how to feel at the moment. All I know is that John Gwynne is a master storyteller. I will need some time to process this.

**updated 3/17/22**

Wow! What an amazing 2nd installment. I loved the first book, but love this one even more. It has everything we loved from the 1st. Vikings, old gods, magic, fierce female characters. Orka Skullsplitter could split my skull, and I would say thank-you. She has become one of my all-time favorite female characters!! Do not come between a mother and her bairn!

Varg is also an amazing character. Seeing him grow and realize his worth was really fun to watch.

Elvar surprised me so much in this book!

All the side characters are perfect, even the evil ones. Svik and Sighvat gave much needed laughs. I also enjoyed seeing more from Bloodsworn characters.

I am eagerly waiting for book 3. This book ended in true fashion for a John Gwynne book.

The Hunger of the Gods is just as entertaining, just as atmospheric, and awe-inspiring as the first book in this series, The Shadow of the Gods. It’s rare that a second book will live up to the first — I can think of maybe three off the top of my head — and it’s even rarer that the second book is better.

The Hunger of the Gods picks up literally RIGHT after TSOTG finishes. Seriously, there’s not even like…a day time-jump. Just bam, right back where we left off. Which is good, because some serious stuff had gone down. I didn’t want to skip ANY OF IT, so I’m glad there wasn’t a big leap forward. We’re left in a world where a “dead” god has been released from her prison, and is ready and eager for revenge. Lik-Rifa, the dragon god, has risen to power again. The world is not ready for her, and her unimaginable cruelty. She is terrifying.

I’m not going to give away any huge spoilers, because it would ruin the book for too many people. I’m just going to say this — whatever action you liked from the first book will be once again seen in this one. Not as a rehashing, but in addition to. It’s not repetitive or boring. Not at all. It’s non-stop action from cover to cover in the best way.

What is different in THOTG is that we get two new POV characters, both villains. This helps immensely in rounding out the feel of the book. Instead of just seeing what’s going on through the “good” characters, now we see more motivation and reasoning behind the villains’ actions. All the original POV characters return. We see Elvar grow into herself, and become who she is absolutely supposed to be. Varg realizes he does have a place in the Bloodsworn, and that he belongs there. Orka continues to be the absolute coolest woman in the novel. She deals with some supreme guilt and loneliness, and she too comes to some revelations as well.

The end of the book is a massive cliffhanger and I am NOT OKAY WITH IT AT ALL, JOHN GWYNNE. How dare you.

Where to begin? First off I love John Gwynne’s work. They’re fast paced, well written, imaginative works with characters I grow to enjoy even if I’m supposed to hate them. Once again he has knocked it’s out of the park with Hunger of the Gods. I’m so interested in this world and these characters that I find myself wanting spin-off novels about them and their history or maybe a collection of short stories set in this world. I would give this book more than five stars if I could. Can’t wait for book three!

This book was fantastic. I will admit that I did not like it as much as Shadow of the Gods, as it had some middle book syndrome stuff happening, but there were a lot of exciting developments and the ending was amazing! I just wish there was less travelling and less blood feuds, which got convoluted. I will do a full review closer to the release date.

9/10

John Gwynne is an author that I never want to miss a book that he puts has published. The way he builds his worlds and the interweaving of his characters had me fascinated to continue on from book one “The Shadow of the Gods”.
I rarely am ever surprised by twists and turns in books as I usually pick up on them ahead of time. But this book made me audibly gasp because I really wasn’t expecting that to happen. This made me want to continue reading in even though it was 3 am.
I won’t lie that at first through the first book in this series and this second, for a small amount of time, I did get some characters mixed up. It was hard not to as there is a massive amount of characters in these books. I definitely appreciated the “cast of characters” portion in the front of the book as well as the quick overview of the first book before the beginning. I feel like he sets readers up for success and wish more authors would do this.
Thank you NetGalley and Orbit for letting me view this book in advance for an honest review!

John Gwynne hit this one out of the ball park. Bloody brilliant! Fantastic! Better than the first book.

This a world, a story, a life I would want to live. The characters are painted with a bold brush. They are everything you want in a hero, or a villain. I was kept on the edge of my seat. A rollercoaster ride all the way through!

John Gwynne, hats off to you sir! And THANK YOU for writing an EPIC fantasy! You just set a higher standard for other people to follow.


I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book, so I could give an honest review.

I didn't just run, I booked it to netgalley when I heard they had this ARC! I have yet to read a John Gwynne book that I did not love. This is the second in the Bloodsworn trilogy and by God's this is just good if not better than the first! It was easier to read since we know who the characters are and where they come from and who they associate with. I'm not spoiling anything other than telling you to high tail it to where ever you need to go to get book one if you have not read it so you can prepare for this book! God's I can't wait for book three and I just received this one!

3.5 stars

The Hunger of the Gods is the second installment in John Gwynne's new Norse-inspired series. Lik-Rifa is alive and f***ing terrifying. Orka is ripping through the entire world to find her Breca. Varg No-Sense is embracing his inner beast. Elvar is leading the Battle Grim to glory.

The Battle-Plain is more alive than ever with dead gods and horrific vaesen. It's no surprise that Gwynne continues to bring dark and vivid imagery. You can't read through a single chapter without feeling the grimness seeping into you. Scenes are bloody, dirty, and downright disgusting with violence. I LOVE IT. This series and Gwynne's other series in the Banished Lands are some of my go-to examples for natural worldbuilding. It's the pinnacle of "show, don't tell" in my eyes. There's not an abundance of lore added for the sake of making things complicated. There are no info dumps or little cross-references to keep track of. It's blunt and in your face. Just like Orka Skullspliter.

The characters continue to hold my heart in this series, and we get to spend a lot of quality time with them in this book. We see more of Orka's history come to light. We see Varg and Elvar beginning to embrace who they are in their own ways. And then we get TWO additional POVs. While they seem to be added to have "eyes on the scene" in key areas of the story, I didn't mind it too much. I did have an issue with some of Guðvarr's chapters, particularly his cheesy inner monologues, but I think much of it can be attributed to the fact that he is a complete niðing.

Though I enjoyed returning to this land, this book did not grip me quite as hard as the first one did. The pacing was steady, yet… it felt like nothing was actually happening for much of the book. Gwynne keeps his chapters short and changes POVs often, so it feels like it's moving, but it's not. There were whole chapters I read where I'd finish reading and be like "ok they just partied and played a game" or "oh, they were just sailing and talking". I distinctly remember one of my praises from The Shadow of the Gods was that every single chapter felt like it pushed the story forward. That just didn't feel the case in this one. It was a lot of traveling with some small amounts of action peppered throughout. It served to bring more dimension to the characters, but the plot suffered too much from it. I wanted MORE. More epic clashes. More twists and turns. There is so much potential for this world and I feel a little bit short-changed with the amount of plot movement we received. I think the middle book syndrome really caught up with this one, though I will say we are set up for what will likely be an explosive finale to the trilogy. I'll be there!

As a final note, I still really appreciate Gwynne's storytelling and style. You can tell he (or maybe his editor) actually pays attention to the readers' feedback. Since the first book, he has added a character list, a glossary for the plethora of Viking terms, and a "what happened in the last book" summary. Little things like this go a long way to pleasing readers and giving them the tools to get comfortable in a new world. I'm not done with his current works yet, but there likely won't be a book from Gwynne I don't end up reading. I applaud this one as another step in an ever-expanding collection of epic tales.

Just as good, if not better, than the first. I loved it, kept checking the percentage and getting sadder as the pages kept turning, knowing it was going to end and now I have to wait for the next one!

DNF

I thought this was the first book in the series not the second. However I will most likely be buying both these bookstand then reviewing them sine I love this genre and have heard great things about this series!!