7.35k reviews for:

The Shadow of the Gods

John Gwynne

4.16 AVERAGE

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated
beatricebmorgan's profile picture

beatricebmorgan's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 30%

I couldn't get into the story. It's very slow paced. 

4.low/5 Strong opener to high fantasy series with interesting takes on Norse mythology. Multiple perspective plotlines tend to take longer to develop, so early pacing does suffer for it in this entry. Back half starts to heat up, so excited to read the second book.
adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

3.5/5

sacrificing world building for more in depth character building should at least mean the characters are all
interesting

To copy the cover "Masterfully crafted and burtally compelling." John Gwynne is a new author to me but I loved this book so much. The characters were all interesting, and had plenty of layers to them. I loved how the book didn't give away characters intentions. Anything outside of dialogue was just describing the moment, which made the world feel as though I was there rather than an omniscient viewer which is something I love. It's messy and bloody, and if you don't like graphic descriptions of violence maybe skip, but easily one of my favorite books immediately.
adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes

True rating 4.5
adventurous dark 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: No

Man, what a powerful ending! Set up wonderfully for book 2, assuming of course that we’re following the same characters.

The only reason this isn’t a 4-star is due to some annoying word choices and over explanation. At some point, it can be implied that the characters are carrying weapons. We don’t necessarily need to hear about how every person has the same axe, seax, and brynja every page. 

Also, for the love of crap, I truly hope that he stops using the term “thought-cage” in the remainder of the trilogy. If someone went through and counted how many times that was written, you’d be my hero!

Really liked this book a lot! Just a few little annoyances drop it to a 3 star read.