You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
esmayrosalyne 's review for:
The Children of Gods and Fighting Men
by Shauna Lawless
For the longest time, I thought historical fiction/fantasy wasn’t the genre for me, but The Children of Gods and Fighting Men threw that notion straight out of the window. This story was everything I was hoping it would be, and then so much more.
Just give me two incredibly complex, cunning and bad-ass female leads, throw in some compelling Irish history and mythology, add some cutthroat political intrigue and top it off with a flair of magic. Now, I don’t know about you, but I was sold!
I think what made this story work so well for me is the fact that it’s so character-driven and relatively low in action. Many historical fiction stories focus heavily on the battle scenes, which I just don’t tend to care about. But here, the story is carried by two amazing female leads whose journeys I just couldn’t stop reading about. Both Gormflaith and Fodla are extremely compelling characters who are so different and yet so similar to each other. They are both very strong, cunning, ambitious and morally complex characters and they both have magical abilities that they have to hide from the world for their own reasons. Also, they will stop at nothing to protect their family, even if that means resorting to less than savoury business. I know I am not the first one to say this, but Gormflaith absolutely gives Cersei Lannister a run for her money; she was so cunning and vile, but all for the benefit of her own son. I just loved that there truly are no clear good and bad guys here, it made the story all the more compelling!
Now, even though this isn’t an action-packed or battle heavy book, that doesn’t mean that it’s a boring story. In fact, it’s one of the most engaging and captivating stories I have read in a while. The tension is high from the start and you will just be filled with anticipatory dread the entire way through. This book contains some of the most intense and cutthroat political scheming and there are some brutal back stabbings and betrayals, which I was all here for.
My only quibble with the story would be that I sometimes struggled a bit to distinguish between Gormflaith and Fodla’s POV (even though they are named at the start of each chapter), because their voices occasionally felt a bit similar to me. But luckily that didn't end up hindering my enjoyment all that much, because I was so engrossed in the story overall.
Lawless’ prose was just utterly captivating, not because it’s overly poetic or lush, but because it was so effective and understated in just the right way. And I also simply adored how Irish mythology was seamlessly woven into the story. That magical flair just made the whole thing even more entrancing.
This book really does deserve all the high praise it’s been getting, it was absolutely fantastic and I will forever love it for making me realise that historical fiction is indeed a genre that I can enjoy.
What a way to kickstart your writing career, Lawless is an author to watch for sure. I can’t wait to see where this series goes next! HIGHLY recommend!
Just give me two incredibly complex, cunning and bad-ass female leads, throw in some compelling Irish history and mythology, add some cutthroat political intrigue and top it off with a flair of magic. Now, I don’t know about you, but I was sold!
I think what made this story work so well for me is the fact that it’s so character-driven and relatively low in action. Many historical fiction stories focus heavily on the battle scenes, which I just don’t tend to care about. But here, the story is carried by two amazing female leads whose journeys I just couldn’t stop reading about. Both Gormflaith and Fodla are extremely compelling characters who are so different and yet so similar to each other. They are both very strong, cunning, ambitious and morally complex characters and they both have magical abilities that they have to hide from the world for their own reasons. Also, they will stop at nothing to protect their family, even if that means resorting to less than savoury business. I know I am not the first one to say this, but Gormflaith absolutely gives Cersei Lannister a run for her money; she was so cunning and vile, but all for the benefit of her own son. I just loved that there truly are no clear good and bad guys here, it made the story all the more compelling!
Now, even though this isn’t an action-packed or battle heavy book, that doesn’t mean that it’s a boring story. In fact, it’s one of the most engaging and captivating stories I have read in a while. The tension is high from the start and you will just be filled with anticipatory dread the entire way through. This book contains some of the most intense and cutthroat political scheming and there are some brutal back stabbings and betrayals, which I was all here for.
My only quibble with the story would be that I sometimes struggled a bit to distinguish between Gormflaith and Fodla’s POV (even though they are named at the start of each chapter), because their voices occasionally felt a bit similar to me. But luckily that didn't end up hindering my enjoyment all that much, because I was so engrossed in the story overall.
Lawless’ prose was just utterly captivating, not because it’s overly poetic or lush, but because it was so effective and understated in just the right way. And I also simply adored how Irish mythology was seamlessly woven into the story. That magical flair just made the whole thing even more entrancing.
This book really does deserve all the high praise it’s been getting, it was absolutely fantastic and I will forever love it for making me realise that historical fiction is indeed a genre that I can enjoy.
What a way to kickstart your writing career, Lawless is an author to watch for sure. I can’t wait to see where this series goes next! HIGHLY recommend!