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A review by chingwan7
The Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne
4.5
Actual rating 4.5
#1- The Shadow of the Gods
After reading Malice—the first book of The Faithful and The Fallen—I became more interested to read other books by John Gwynne. Initially, I thought of continuing The Faithful and The Fallen, but the praise of The Shadow of the Gods had me prioritize it. I saw it discussed in different Internet forums and recommended by Youtubers so I wanted to see if the book is worth the praise. After reading it, I am happy to say that the book is worth the praise.
It is also important to note that this series is inspired by Icelandic Sagas and Norse Mythology, and you'll see these influences throughout the book.
Firstly, the worldbuilding is fantastic. Though it is not as complex as other fantasy series like TLOTR, it is engaging, atmospheric, and vivid to understand the brutal world of Vigrid. For the entire book, you are taught that Vigrid is made the way it is because of the violent impact of the pantheon of gods. Offspring of these gods are heavily disdained by people, their violent conflicts are told in sagas, and their treasures are sought by glory seekers.
Second, the plot and the characters were nicely done. We follow 3 characters—Orka, Varg, and Elvar— and their POVs were enjoyable to read, but I found Elvar bit lacking than the first 2. My reason is that I found Elvar weaker than the rest is because I felt she was not fully fleshed out and was overshadowed by her POV's focus on the gods (which pushed me to continue reading solely for more lore on the pantheon)
Overall, I rate this book 4.5/5, and I cannot wait to read the second book into Bloodsworn Trilogy.
#1- The Shadow of the Gods
After reading Malice—the first book of The Faithful and The Fallen—I became more interested to read other books by John Gwynne. Initially, I thought of continuing The Faithful and The Fallen, but the praise of The Shadow of the Gods had me prioritize it. I saw it discussed in different Internet forums and recommended by Youtubers so I wanted to see if the book is worth the praise. After reading it, I am happy to say that the book is worth the praise.
It is also important to note that this series is inspired by Icelandic Sagas and Norse Mythology, and you'll see these influences throughout the book.
Firstly, the worldbuilding is fantastic. Though it is not as complex as other fantasy series like TLOTR, it is engaging, atmospheric, and vivid to understand the brutal world of Vigrid. For the entire book, you are taught that Vigrid is made the way it is because of the violent impact of the pantheon of gods. Offspring of these gods are heavily disdained by people, their violent conflicts are told in sagas, and their treasures are sought by glory seekers.
Second, the plot and the characters were nicely done. We follow 3 characters—Orka, Varg, and Elvar— and their POVs were enjoyable to read, but I found Elvar bit lacking than the first 2. My reason is that I found Elvar weaker than the rest is because I felt she was not fully fleshed out and was overshadowed by her POV's focus on the gods (which pushed me to continue reading solely for more lore on the pantheon)
Overall, I rate this book 4.5/5, and I cannot wait to read the second book into Bloodsworn Trilogy.