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esme_bonner's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Thank you to NetGalley Little, Brown Books Company UK for a galley of this in return for an honest review.
Gods of Wyrdwood is a wholly unique fantasy novel, with a magic system unlike anything I have read before. Barker crafts a novel that is at once fantastical, shot through with earthy folklore, and the optimism of a man finding a home, and conversely a bitter, hard, hate filled world of terrible power, in which the same man is stuck in a cycle of rejection and self-loathing.
Gods of Wyrdwood is as much a story about power, politics, and war, as it is a story about resilience, faith, and community. The village of Harn, and the world of Crua are fully fleshed, the politics considered, and each character realised. Barker has clearly spent a lot of time building this world, things slot together, the behaviour makes sense. By the end of the novel you have not just a sense of Crua at present, but an awareness of what it would have been in the past, and of how it may be in the future. The Gods, although many remain unknown to the reader, feel at once present, and fictitious: there one minute, and the next nothing more than a means of controlling the people. The Forester struggles to believe in any of them, and you struggle alongside him, but then they appear. A lot of this novel is concerned with the interconnectedness of people and nature, and I think that taps into an uncanniness that even we, in our own world, can experience.
Barker is an exceptional writer, and this is an exceptional book. It is almost impossible to compare it to anything else, I have never gone in for this kind of grown-up, male-authored high fantasy novel, but I was drawn in by the blurb on this one, and I am so pleased I gave it a shot! This is a deeply personal tale of epic proportions. I am excited to read the rest of this series.
Gods of Wyrdwood is a wholly unique fantasy novel, with a magic system unlike anything I have read before. Barker crafts a novel that is at once fantastical, shot through with earthy folklore, and the optimism of a man finding a home, and conversely a bitter, hard, hate filled world of terrible power, in which the same man is stuck in a cycle of rejection and self-loathing.
Gods of Wyrdwood is as much a story about power, politics, and war, as it is a story about resilience, faith, and community. The village of Harn, and the world of Crua are fully fleshed, the politics considered, and each character realised. Barker has clearly spent a lot of time building this world, things slot together, the behaviour makes sense. By the end of the novel you have not just a sense of Crua at present, but an awareness of what it would have been in the past, and of how it may be in the future. The Gods, although many remain unknown to the reader, feel at once present, and fictitious: there one minute, and the next nothing more than a means of controlling the people. The Forester struggles to believe in any of them, and you struggle alongside him, but then they appear. A lot of this novel is concerned with the interconnectedness of people and nature, and I think that taps into an uncanniness that even we, in our own world, can experience.
Barker is an exceptional writer, and this is an exceptional book. It is almost impossible to compare it to anything else, I have never gone in for this kind of grown-up, male-authored high fantasy novel, but I was drawn in by the blurb on this one, and I am so pleased I gave it a shot! This is a deeply personal tale of epic proportions. I am excited to read the rest of this series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Violence, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Death, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Abandonment
This is a fantasy novel concerning a hard world, in which magic must be fed by killing others. There are graphic depictions of violence, fire injury / burning, and war. Both the xenophobia and religious bigotry are related to fictitious races / clans / believers, but it is something to be aware of. Abandonment is only discussed in Kirven's POV.ellagidneysantos28's review
adventurous
dark
funny
informative
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
stuffedonion's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-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? Yes
4.25
ashleymccormick99's review
DNF’d at 11%. I think I’m too depressed to read this right now. Maybe will try again in the future (but probably not). I found myself doing anything else but reading this book, which is my sign to put it in the DNF pile. Also - I don’t do well when animals are harmed. Usually an immediate turn-off.
kitvaria_sarene's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
5.0
God's of the Wyrdwood by R.J. Barker is a hard to review book, but I can easily say - I loved it!
It's a slow burn epic fantasy, which enthralled me with its mysteries right from the start. The main character is an outcast, living a solitary life on the edge of society. His POV and voice were really intriguing and captivating, so even though the story takes a good while to really take off, it never felt too slow to me.
Another absolute strong suit of this is the world building! I adored the fantastical creatures, the intimidating forest, the unexpected use people found for nature and the sheer imagination there.
The magic is mysterious enough to still feel mysterious, but also clear enough to not but feel like an emergency solution to every problem.
It felt like I walked off the page right into the forest and village, and coming back to the real world was jarring!
As always I appreciate the inclusive cast, trions for example, who are neither man nor woman, and are using They / Them pronouns. It's also very normal to have a first wife or second husband or whoever / whatever you choose. I love how this isn't made a big deal, it is just the normal setup for this society.
The characters were varied and plausible, and I'll really miss spending time with some of them!
We have two main POV characters, Cahan as our "hero" and Kirven as his opponent in a way - Kirven.
While Cahan tries to avoid bloodshed and violence, he clearly has a very dark past and is not innocent himself.
Kirven in the other hand revels in causing pain, and ruthlessly doing what needs to be done to keep keep her power. Yet both get enough page time, so you can understand their motivations and goals. I always love it when "the bad guys" aren't just bad for the sake of it, but you somehow manage to care for them, while hoping they won't win...
Her child Venn is a trion and meant to be extremely powerful. Yet they refuse to kill to actually activate said power. They are very naive and yet stronger than it seems, and I really enjoyed this counter balance to Cahans world weary way.
Udinny, a monk, is yet another character type, and is very outgoing, optimistic and never shutting up.
I loved the relationship that slowly grew between Cahan, Venn and Udinny, which had a strong found family feel, even though they all just met.
Barker manages to write fantasy that has the magic and fantasy we so much love from the genre, and yet it feels fresh and different. I need more!
It's a slow burn epic fantasy, which enthralled me with its mysteries right from the start. The main character is an outcast, living a solitary life on the edge of society. His POV and voice were really intriguing and captivating, so even though the story takes a good while to really take off, it never felt too slow to me.
Another absolute strong suit of this is the world building! I adored the fantastical creatures, the intimidating forest, the unexpected use people found for nature and the sheer imagination there.
The magic is mysterious enough to still feel mysterious, but also clear enough to not but feel like an emergency solution to every problem.
It felt like I walked off the page right into the forest and village, and coming back to the real world was jarring!
As always I appreciate the inclusive cast, trions for example, who are neither man nor woman, and are using They / Them pronouns. It's also very normal to have a first wife or second husband or whoever / whatever you choose. I love how this isn't made a big deal, it is just the normal setup for this society.
The characters were varied and plausible, and I'll really miss spending time with some of them!
We have two main POV characters, Cahan as our "hero" and Kirven as his opponent in a way - Kirven.
While Cahan tries to avoid bloodshed and violence, he clearly has a very dark past and is not innocent himself.
Kirven in the other hand revels in causing pain, and ruthlessly doing what needs to be done to keep keep her power. Yet both get enough page time, so you can understand their motivations and goals. I always love it when "the bad guys" aren't just bad for the sake of it, but you somehow manage to care for them, while hoping they won't win...
Her child Venn is a trion and meant to be extremely powerful. Yet they refuse to kill to actually activate said power. They are very naive and yet stronger than it seems, and I really enjoyed this counter balance to Cahans world weary way.
Udinny, a monk, is yet another character type, and is very outgoing, optimistic and never shutting up.
I loved the relationship that slowly grew between Cahan, Venn and Udinny, which had a strong found family feel, even though they all just met.
Barker manages to write fantasy that has the magic and fantasy we so much love from the genre, and yet it feels fresh and different. I need more!
lacrymosa's review
4.0
Wow. What have I just witnessed? First time reading Barker and I bow to his talent.
bookswithjk's review
DNF. While the world building is rich, there are too many repetitive details that slow the plot. Cahan is a reluctant stubborn hero who consistently gets knocked out a lot, Udinny is a well traveled monk who doesn’t have common sense, and Venn is a pacifist trion who will ensure that the reader knows that they will not kill.
Additionally, the writing style was too choppy for me to enjoy the story - a lot of fragments, odd comma placement, etc.
Additionally, the writing style was too choppy for me to enjoy the story - a lot of fragments, odd comma placement, etc.
sarahbennett's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
j_milla_04's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0