Reviews

The Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne

Only show reviews with written explanations

singalana's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

Maybe I read this book at a bad time, but getting through it felt like a chore. It’s a shame because it’s in no way a bad book!

The Shadow of the Gods is the first instalment in a Norse mythology-inspired fantasy series by John Gwynne. This is not his first series, but I haven’t read this previous work. I’d classify this book as grimdark - if you’re a fan of epic battles, grisly deaths and vengeance-fueled characters, this book might be for you.

In this fantasy world, the gods have killed each other in a fearsome battle and nearly destroyed the world in the process. Those with the gods’ blood in their veins are hunted and enslaved. We follow three main characters; Orka, Varg, and Elvar, who all have their quests and secrets.

Two out of the three main characters are women: Orka, who lives in the wilderness with her family, and Elvar, who is a member of a mercenary group called the Battle-Grim. Varg is trying to find out what happened to his sister. All the characters are interesting, and I found myself caring for them, especially Varg and Orka.

The world is rich and interesting, and it’s revealed bit by bit. I enjoyed the writing in every other aspect except one: the author loved to use the word “thought-cage”, which in this instance refers to the thinking mind. The word appeared in almost every chapter, and every time, it managed to jolt me out of the story.

I had no idea what I was getting into when I started reading this book: the blurb is absolutely useless and tells nothing about the book. If I had seen this in a bookstore, I would not have bought it based on that. Alas, I got it as a gift, so here we are. Perhaps the lack of a blurb hurt my reading experience because I had no idea where we were headed with the story. Since this is a series, the first book was pretty much a set p for the series. Even though a lot happened, I felt the book really started to intrigue me only in the last third or so.

Content Warnings

kezemu's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous tense fast-paced

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

3.25

_ottavia_'s review against another edition

Go to review page

2.0

Non so mai bene come valutare i libri di John Gwynne. Ne capisco l'appeal, davvero, ma non li ho mai trovati particolarmente piacevoli. La scrittura (seppur migliorata da Malice) non mi sembra particolarmente ispirata, i personaggi proprio non mi catturano e la storia diventa un susseguirsi di scene non troppo correlate tra loro per le quali il mio interesse, francamente, è rapidamente diminuito. Insomma, non sono certo brutti libri, quelli di Gwynne, è solo che il mio gusto è completamente diverso.