Reviews

The Shadow of the Gods is simply astonishing. I mean, truly, utterly incredible. The world-building alone is enough to leave you speechless. The larger-than-life creatures are INSANE. Some are beautiful, but most are just terrifying. There is a town perched within and on top of a colossal snake god skull —it's like nothing I've ever read before. And let's talk about the characters—Orka, in particular, is a force to be reckoned with, a truly badass female protagonist who steals the show.

In terms of epic fantasy, this book reigns supreme. It's hands down one of the best I've ever had the pleasure of reading. Drawing from the rich tapestry of Norse and Viking mythology, culture, and lore (imagine Vikings and Skyrim meets Elden ring). It crafts an original narrative that feels both familiar and refreshingly innovative. The level of violence and detail is staggering, drawing you in with every turn of the page.

If you're a fan of captivating worlds and immersive storytelling, The Shadow of the Gods is an absolute must-read. Trust me, you won't regret diving into this extraordinary adventure!

sarahmejia42's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.0

ethias's review against another edition

Go to review page

1.0

This entire book should have been condensed to ~100 pages and combined with the second book. Absolutely nonsensical that this book is stretched to nearly 500 pages with no pay off whatsoever. That’s a lot of pages for absolutely nothing to be resolved whatsoever.

I pushed through even though I wanted to quit by like the fifth chapter because I heard that the ending was great and that the book got better as it went. Man was that not accurate.

Orka was cool but very one note and she was massively hindered by the other characters and nonsense happening in her chapters. I ended up being somewhat bored and frustrated with her chapters, wanting so much more that I knew she would have been able to give in a different story/writing style.

Varg was interesting and I wanted to see how his story would go, but basically nothing happened in his chapters beyond just… weapons training? Getting insulted a lot?

Elvar SUCKS. Absolutely nothing interesting or well written about her at all. Her chapters SUCKED. Hated every minute of her part of this slow story.

I will not be reading anything else by Gwynne. I am so very disappointed considering that this book, on paper, should have been right up my alley. Oh well.

Oh and I would rather eat drywall than read or hear the phrase “thought-cage” ever again.

ashleyspehar's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

Pros:

The Norse inspired world seemed very accurate (not that I have any reference besides the dictionary feature I used A LOT on my kindle).

Lots of action.

Lots of different creatures.

Cons:

This felt more like a transition book with lots of set up and no resolution to the story line.

I there were 3 different MCs and plots you’re trying to keep straight. I frequently had to use the x ray feature on my kindle to remember who people were.

The term “thought-cage” was used WAY too much.

Despite the cover of this book, there’s only a dragon in the last 2-3 chapters -_-

I wish I knew there was a glossary at the back that explained pronunciation of common sounds in the language, as well as terms they use without definition in the story. By the time I found the glossary (thanks tiktok) I already had figured out what all the terms meant.

I’m still interested enough to probably read the next book. But I don’t understand how this has such rave reviews. It took be way too long to read this book and I wasn’t even given a true ending to the story.

More...