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tavern_bard 's review for:
Gods of the Wyrdwood
by R.J. Barker
This book is 2 pounds. I weighed it! Surprisingly didn't take so long to get through nearly 600 pages. I kept waiting..because I pre-ordered this beautiful book. Everyone said, 'don't give up, it gets better!' But I shouldn't have to force myself to read to a point for it to 'get good.' Not saying I didn't enjoy it.
Positive:
+ Relationship displays of both sexes (Firsthusband, Secondwife)
+ The Wyrdwood and it's description, the mystery of what's in it
+ World-Building (Magic system of the cowl, the unique favouring of the gods)
+ Good for those who want a 'siege story.'
Negative:
- Unexplained fantastical terms
- Time jump
- Cahan's reluctance
- Sentence structure
- Confusing third gender
There's so much world-building! If someone was looking for a book about the woods, or a magic forest, this would fill that spot. How it opened, I was so intrigued. About how the world works,and the seasons, and all these strange priests and their competition to be the favored god. BUT then, there's a time jump, and I'm just waiting the whole time to figure out what happened between kid then and adult now. I thought Cahan would be harboring some major secret or plan, but... not really?
It's more about everyone finding an excuse for him to go into the creepy woods, when he really doesn't want to do anything. He wants to be left alone. This is 'reluctant hero,' to the extreme. Up until the end, where he even has to be TRICKED into doing something. It's kind of annoying, because he has the power the whole time to save everyone and make a difference, but just refuses to use it out of 'principal.' On one hand, I understand, but on the other, there's bad guys, and there's innocent people. Refusing is just selfish.
Naturally, the best part was getting to explore the legendary Wyrdwood. It's the scary layer to the woods that no one wants to go into. Everything there is powered by nature, and it's fun to discover more and more of the mystery. The main problem I had (besides Cahan's reluctance), was the language. By that, I mean that so many of the sentences didn't start as sentences. It would intentionally leave out nouns to be dramatic.
"Comes and goes like the tide. Has no idea what it means. Turns around like a whirling wind. The enemy sighs. All is lost."
That's okay once in a while, but it does this a LOT. Sometimes I have to go back and re-read just to make sure I've registered it right. And, I'm someone who LOVES world building. But there's so many made up terms thrown at you without explanations, I was struggling to remember what was what by the middle of it. Eventually I gave up and just took it at face value.
I do however, enjoy how non-chalant it was with how open the world is with their relationships. Everyone has wives, and husbands, sometimes numerous. "Secondwife, Firsthusband" etc. I think that's nice representation. However, there is also a "third gender," and it confuses the narrative entirely by having to address them as 'them/they.' It seems unnecessarily complicated, because it's hard to tell who anyone is referring to when they say 'they,' if it's them, if it's a group of someone else, etc.
Also, there's a map for a story that takes place in like three locations the whole time. I liked it! I just don't think I would re-read it..
Positive:
+ Relationship displays of both sexes (Firsthusband, Secondwife)
+ The Wyrdwood and it's description, the mystery of what's in it
+ World-Building (Magic system of the cowl, the unique favouring of the gods)
+ Good for those who want a 'siege story.'
Negative:
- Unexplained fantastical terms
- Time jump
- Cahan's reluctance
- Sentence structure
- Confusing third gender
There's so much world-building! If someone was looking for a book about the woods, or a magic forest, this would fill that spot. How it opened, I was so intrigued. About how the world works,and the seasons, and all these strange priests and their competition to be the favored god. BUT then, there's a time jump, and I'm just waiting the whole time to figure out what happened between kid then and adult now. I thought Cahan would be harboring some major secret or plan, but... not really?
It's more about everyone finding an excuse for him to go into the creepy woods, when he really doesn't want to do anything. He wants to be left alone. This is 'reluctant hero,' to the extreme. Up until the end, where he even has to be TRICKED into doing something. It's kind of annoying, because he has the power the whole time to save everyone and make a difference, but just refuses to use it out of 'principal.' On one hand, I understand, but on the other, there's bad guys, and there's innocent people. Refusing is just selfish.
Naturally, the best part was getting to explore the legendary Wyrdwood. It's the scary layer to the woods that no one wants to go into. Everything there is powered by nature, and it's fun to discover more and more of the mystery. The main problem I had (besides Cahan's reluctance), was the language. By that, I mean that so many of the sentences didn't start as sentences. It would intentionally leave out nouns to be dramatic.
"Comes and goes like the tide. Has no idea what it means. Turns around like a whirling wind. The enemy sighs. All is lost."
That's okay once in a while, but it does this a LOT. Sometimes I have to go back and re-read just to make sure I've registered it right. And, I'm someone who LOVES world building. But there's so many made up terms thrown at you without explanations, I was struggling to remember what was what by the middle of it. Eventually I gave up and just took it at face value.
I do however, enjoy how non-chalant it was with how open the world is with their relationships. Everyone has wives, and husbands, sometimes numerous. "Secondwife, Firsthusband" etc. I think that's nice representation. However, there is also a "third gender," and it confuses the narrative entirely by having to address them as 'them/they.' It seems unnecessarily complicated, because it's hard to tell who anyone is referring to when they say 'they,' if it's them, if it's a group of someone else, etc.
Also, there's a map for a story that takes place in like three locations the whole time. I liked it! I just don't think I would re-read it..