The Shadow of the Gods (The Bloodsworn Saga)

Product Information

To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassingFacebook pageand sign up for our exclusive newsletter. He has delved deep into this mystical world, finally bringing it to life in great detail for the readers. Varg and the Bloodsworn begins their hunt for Skalk, who had abducted Vol, the cheif's wife and finally, Elvar and Battle Grim proceeds to fulfill their blood oath made to Uspa by rescuing her husband and son. Elvar is the daughter of a powerful jarl who gave up a life of comfort and forced marriage to join the Battle-Grim, another notorious mercenary warband who specialise in killing monsters and trapping Tainted to sell them for profit. This is an amazing bit of character work here, and I really appreciated Varg’s impressive personal story.

Before I talk about what worked so well for me in this continuation, it is mandatory for me to give my praises towards the publisher—Orbit Books—and the cover artist: Marcus Whinney. I think this is probably due to Orka’s arc being more precise and classic fantasy than Varg’s and Elvar’s who both find themselves as members of warbands.I think that Gwynne did a good job of introducing all the key elements of his universe throughout the course of the book, and the reader is never unsure or confused about what is going on. Three centuries ago, the gods of the north fought each other in a bloody war, bringing themselves down and leaving behind a devastated and broken land. After the gods warred and drove themselves to extinction, the cataclysm of their fall shattered the land of Vigrið. Now a new world is rising, where power-hungry jarls feud and monsters stalk the woods and mountains. This is yet another incredible book from John Gwynne, and for me cements him as the best active fantasy author.

I think that this was a pretty cool way to start the wider series off, especially as it let the reader see more of the universe, while also expertly establishing the main protagonists and their storylines.But at roughly 210k words and more than 600 pages long, it seems like almost the entirety of the novel revolved around them (all the POV characters) traveling. I was hesitant to go into this just because it is a chunky book and I did not remember everything in book one so it was a challenge. If you’re familiar with shows like Vikingsand The Last Kingdom, or video games like God of War, Skyrimand Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, you may see some very familiar plot points or ideas. It takes place approximately 300-years after the Gods of Vigrið fought and battled themselves to annihilation and follows three distinct point of view perspectives as they traverse Gwynne’s well-realised dark fantasy world.

Check out my new youtube channel where I show my instant reactions to reading fantasy books seconds after I finish the book. This was an epic and action-packed fantasy about vengeance, loyalty, friendship, power, grief and love.The Shadow of the Gods is a spin-off of the War of the Ancients background story and fills in the further stories of what the Noble Titans have attempted throughout the centuries, and is thus a part of the War of the Gods Series. Elvar is an excellent point-of-view character with a complex past, who presents an interesting counterpoint to the other two protagonists. Featuring a powerful narrative and an intricate and grim new fantasy setting, The Shadow of the Gods is an outstanding and addictive novel that is one of the best fantasy books of 2021.