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4.1 AVERAGE
4.1 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Have no fear… I always get what I want. In the end.
I think I may have a new favourite character. Her name is Gormflaith. More on her in a moment!
With confidence, this book has cemented in my mind the feeling that my favourite genre is now historical fiction with a bit of magic thrown in and if you enjoyed Northern Wrath or Sistersong, there’s probably no reason to read the rest of my review – just buy the book! Now.
The Children of Gods and Fighting Men is a beautiful book and that starts from the second you see it with absolutely stunning cover art that just looks magical.
From the first page, you are drawn into the world Shauna Lawless has created – a real world from the past, with creative licence to spice it up even further. Her flowing prose and way with words makes it so easy to relax and transport yourself to 10th century Ireland and immerse yourself in the surroundings as you read.
As lovely as the locations are, to keep you there, there has to be something to make you want to continue turning the pages. And for me, that was the extraordinary political intrigue Lawless has managed to weave through a tale also full of impressive historical references, Irish mythology that I now really want to learn more about and an interesting conflict between two long-lived groups of magic users.
These are the Formians and the Tuatha Dé Danann (The Descendants of Gods), our two POV characters Gormflaith and Fódla belonging to the former and the latter respectively.
Our story picks up where there are very few Formians left in the world; in fact, the Descendants believe they’ve wiped them all out. Rather than oppressive conquerors however, the Descendants believe they are protecting mortal humanity from the Formians and we learn they punish their own harshly if they try to take advantage of the shorter-lived humans for their own gain.
When Fódla’s sister becomes pregnant with a mortal’s child, she is banished and forced to give up her baby, which is what really kicks off the events of Fódla’s story. I really enjoyed her character and in many respects she’s the more sympathetic of the two POV characters. The pages I found myself charging through even faster though were those belonging to Gormflaith. She’s a match for any Littlefinger, Tywin or Cersei if you’re familiar with A Song of Ice and Fire – and although I’m not usually a huge fan of comparing books to hugely popular series, the political manoeuvrings of Gormflaith are just as mouth watering and exciting.
It’s a marvel really that with her first published novel, Lawless has the skillset to pull this off. For me this was to the extent where I’m metaphorically applauding and physically smiling at the page at Gormflaith’s schemes and how well written and planned out they are. She’s a mother and her mother’s love is the driving force, manoeuvring the pieces around her mortal son Sitric (and of course herself) on the chessboard of life.
In such an aggressively patriarchal society as Europe in the middle ages, Gormflaith has to use her high intellect to navigate diplomacy and tradition in a world of men in positions of power. Her ruthless determination and willingness to achieve her goals through a variety of means makes her such an interesting and exciting character to follow.
On the time period, the author was either already really knowledgeable or did a ton of research, because as far as I can see it is such a fantastic historical representation of the time period; the culture, society, attitudes. The world just feels so much more authentic than many novels set in or inspired by periods in the middle ages because of the craft and care taken to make it so, and I really hope other readers pick up on this too.
If you choose to read it, it’s something you might feel rather than be able to point to something specific, but there were a ton of little nuances and bigger things too that made a great book an absolutely fantastic book. This was a time period in which many followers of the Norse Gods were converting to Christianity, yet still very much had that conflict of cultures and values in which both Christianity and Paganism were jostling with one another or coinciding in an uneasy peace at times. Even this feeling and atmosphere is captured perfectly which is just brilliant to me.
The sheer amount of work Lawless has put in here to write an engaging story whilst incorporating history and mythology and the whole feel of that time period, feeling 100% authentic in every way is awe inspiring. To do this whilst also writing strong, interesting and believable characters that you love is incredible and I’ll be at the front of the queue for any further books the author writes (though I think she deserves a little break first!).
I think I may have a new favourite character. Her name is Gormflaith. More on her in a moment!
With confidence, this book has cemented in my mind the feeling that my favourite genre is now historical fiction with a bit of magic thrown in and if you enjoyed Northern Wrath or Sistersong, there’s probably no reason to read the rest of my review – just buy the book! Now.
The Children of Gods and Fighting Men is a beautiful book and that starts from the second you see it with absolutely stunning cover art that just looks magical.
From the first page, you are drawn into the world Shauna Lawless has created – a real world from the past, with creative licence to spice it up even further. Her flowing prose and way with words makes it so easy to relax and transport yourself to 10th century Ireland and immerse yourself in the surroundings as you read.
As lovely as the locations are, to keep you there, there has to be something to make you want to continue turning the pages. And for me, that was the extraordinary political intrigue Lawless has managed to weave through a tale also full of impressive historical references, Irish mythology that I now really want to learn more about and an interesting conflict between two long-lived groups of magic users.
These are the Formians and the Tuatha Dé Danann (The Descendants of Gods), our two POV characters Gormflaith and Fódla belonging to the former and the latter respectively.
Our story picks up where there are very few Formians left in the world; in fact, the Descendants believe they’ve wiped them all out. Rather than oppressive conquerors however, the Descendants believe they are protecting mortal humanity from the Formians and we learn they punish their own harshly if they try to take advantage of the shorter-lived humans for their own gain.
When Fódla’s sister becomes pregnant with a mortal’s child, she is banished and forced to give up her baby, which is what really kicks off the events of Fódla’s story. I really enjoyed her character and in many respects she’s the more sympathetic of the two POV characters. The pages I found myself charging through even faster though were those belonging to Gormflaith. She’s a match for any Littlefinger, Tywin or Cersei if you’re familiar with A Song of Ice and Fire – and although I’m not usually a huge fan of comparing books to hugely popular series, the political manoeuvrings of Gormflaith are just as mouth watering and exciting.
It’s a marvel really that with her first published novel, Lawless has the skillset to pull this off. For me this was to the extent where I’m metaphorically applauding and physically smiling at the page at Gormflaith’s schemes and how well written and planned out they are. She’s a mother and her mother’s love is the driving force, manoeuvring the pieces around her mortal son Sitric (and of course herself) on the chessboard of life.
In such an aggressively patriarchal society as Europe in the middle ages, Gormflaith has to use her high intellect to navigate diplomacy and tradition in a world of men in positions of power. Her ruthless determination and willingness to achieve her goals through a variety of means makes her such an interesting and exciting character to follow.
On the time period, the author was either already really knowledgeable or did a ton of research, because as far as I can see it is such a fantastic historical representation of the time period; the culture, society, attitudes. The world just feels so much more authentic than many novels set in or inspired by periods in the middle ages because of the craft and care taken to make it so, and I really hope other readers pick up on this too.
If you choose to read it, it’s something you might feel rather than be able to point to something specific, but there were a ton of little nuances and bigger things too that made a great book an absolutely fantastic book. This was a time period in which many followers of the Norse Gods were converting to Christianity, yet still very much had that conflict of cultures and values in which both Christianity and Paganism were jostling with one another or coinciding in an uneasy peace at times. Even this feeling and atmosphere is captured perfectly which is just brilliant to me.
The sheer amount of work Lawless has put in here to write an engaging story whilst incorporating history and mythology and the whole feel of that time period, feeling 100% authentic in every way is awe inspiring. To do this whilst also writing strong, interesting and believable characters that you love is incredible and I’ll be at the front of the queue for any further books the author writes (though I think she deserves a little break first!).
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
informative
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Could not get into the story w/ audiobook. Too dramatized. Wilñ try with physical book.
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Not my favourite book. Though it is listed as fantasy, I found it felt more like a historical fiction book. Full of political intrigue and backstabbing, the main characters attempt to embrace their lot in life while trying to get ahead.
Overall, I found it progressed too slowly and was confused about what the actual plot was. I found it to be very high fantasy with very little fantasy element, more like a historical fiction book. By about 50% I was over Gormflaith and dreaded her chapters. I felt like Fódla was the only character who had depth and I enjoyed her.
I will not be continuing this series.
Overall, I found it progressed too slowly and was confused about what the actual plot was. I found it to be very high fantasy with very little fantasy element, more like a historical fiction book. By about 50% I was over Gormflaith and dreaded her chapters. I felt like Fódla was the only character who had depth and I enjoyed her.
I will not be continuing this series.