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A review by onthesamepage
The Hunger of the Gods by John Gwynne
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
ARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Depending on whether you like the specific tropes this book is going for, you're either going to appreciate how long this book is, or tug at your hair in despair because it isn't done yet. Unfortunately, I was in the latter camp.
This book is a traveling book. We follow the same three characters from the first installment, along with two additional POVs: Biórr and Guðvarr. Four of the characters are travelling for pretty much the entire book, and I've come to realize that is something I don't tend to enjoy, especially not when I get 600+ pages of it.
The other trope prevalent in this book is the one I like to call "oops, you just missed them!" It's when two people are searching for each other, and will be in the same street within seconds of each other, or there at the same time but facing the opposite way so they never see each other. This trope has frustrated me for as long as I can remember, and I lost count of the number of times I wanted to throw something as a character, once again, didn't find who they were looking for.
With regards to the plot, I honestly don't feel like much happens until the 85% mark, except for maybe three or four important plot points that can be summed up in four sentences. But the final 15% is fast-paced and interesting, and I enjoyed it so much more than the rest. I also still really enjoyed both Orka and Varg as characters in general, especially Varg and his exploration of what it means to be Tainted.
One thing I really appreciate about this series is the summary of book one provided by the author at the beginning of this second book. I hope he'll do the same thing for the third one. In that case, if you want to read this series but have similar feelings about travelling stories, my recommendation would be: wait for the summary at the beginning of book 3 (or read one provided by fans if you don't want to wait), and then only read the last 15% of this book.
Depending on whether you like the specific tropes this book is going for, you're either going to appreciate how long this book is, or tug at your hair in despair because it isn't done yet. Unfortunately, I was in the latter camp.
This book is a traveling book. We follow the same three characters from the first installment, along with two additional POVs: Biórr and Guðvarr. Four of the characters are travelling for pretty much the entire book, and I've come to realize that is something I don't tend to enjoy, especially not when I get 600+ pages of it.
The other trope prevalent in this book is the one I like to call "oops, you just missed them!" It's when two people are searching for each other, and will be in the same street within seconds of each other, or there at the same time but facing the opposite way so they never see each other. This trope has frustrated me for as long as I can remember, and I lost count of the number of times I wanted to throw something as a character, once again, didn't find who they were looking for.
With regards to the plot, I honestly don't feel like much happens until the 85% mark, except for maybe three or four important plot points that can be summed up in four sentences. But the final 15% is fast-paced and interesting, and I enjoyed it so much more than the rest. I also still really enjoyed both Orka and Varg as characters in general, especially Varg and his exploration of what it means to be Tainted.
One thing I really appreciate about this series is the summary of book one provided by the author at the beginning of this second book. I hope he'll do the same thing for the third one. In that case, if you want to read this series but have similar feelings about travelling stories, my recommendation would be: wait for the summary at the beginning of book 3 (or read one provided by fans if you don't want to wait), and then only read the last 15% of this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery, Violence, and Torture