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A review by sipping_tea_with_ghosts
The Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
While I do like this book, I feel like the issues I see some cite are legitimately prevalent and damning enough to exclude it from the mountain of other great epic fantasies that are coming out now. The lack of a glossary in a fantasy book published by Orbit is truly baffling, and I don't think having to google half the italicized words adds to the reading experience. Even if Norse mythology and wording was as well known as Greek, including a point of reference in the back is just common courtesy nowadays.
Other than that, while the plot is interesting and the characters have some great moments, I found the pacing overall to be frustrating. Sure, do things technically happen? Yes. Does it change the status quo for the chapter's character? No, not really. Revenger is still gonna revenge, pillager still gonna pillage, and dead loved one motivation is still gonna get that one guy up in the morning. It feels like if the action scenes in Rage of Dragons or Game of Thrones gave little fuel to progress the overall story - which stems from the overall plots being intertwined but still fairly simple so there's no way for it to grow substantially. We learn about the world, we spend time with disposable characters but 500 pages later, the plot has only moved by an inch instead of a mile.
I say this out of frustration, not of hate. With the exception being the purposefully unsatisfying ending and a heel turn from one hazy blur of a character to another hazy blur of a character - I enjoyed the parts before when my brain wasn't overanalyzing why some things were happening and then thinking it was just for melodramatic chapter enders. I enjoyed characters such as Elvar and Orka, Varg being my least favorite due to a rather repetitive character motivation and seeming to have no ambition or real thought outside of that for more than two seconds. Here's hoping that the next book will have more memorable side characters, because I often found myself getting confused or detached because there were so many that felt like meager talking heads. The plot will surely expand in the next book due to how this one ends, but I like the first book in a series to still feel satisfying and wrap up some of the smaller conflicts, and even 120 pages from the end, I just knew this was going to do none of that.
Other than that, while the plot is interesting and the characters have some great moments, I found the pacing overall to be frustrating. Sure, do things technically happen? Yes. Does it change the status quo for the chapter's character? No, not really. Revenger is still gonna revenge, pillager still gonna pillage, and dead loved one motivation is still gonna get that one guy up in the morning. It feels like if the action scenes in Rage of Dragons or Game of Thrones gave little fuel to progress the overall story - which stems from the overall plots being intertwined but still fairly simple so there's no way for it to grow substantially. We learn about the world, we spend time with disposable characters but 500 pages later, the plot has only moved by an inch instead of a mile.
I say this out of frustration, not of hate. With the exception being the purposefully unsatisfying ending and a heel turn from one hazy blur of a character to another hazy blur of a character - I enjoyed the parts before when my brain wasn't overanalyzing why some things were happening and then thinking it was just for melodramatic chapter enders. I enjoyed characters such as Elvar and Orka, Varg being my least favorite due to a rather repetitive character motivation and seeming to have no ambition or real thought outside of that for more than two seconds. Here's hoping that the next book will have more memorable side characters, because I often found myself getting confused or detached because there were so many that felt like meager talking heads. The plot will surely expand in the next book due to how this one ends, but I like the first book in a series to still feel satisfying and wrap up some of the smaller conflicts, and even 120 pages from the end, I just knew this was going to do none of that.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence and Gore