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jai_sedai 's review for:
Gods of the Wyrdwood
by R.J. Barker
3.50/5.00
Gods of the Wyrdwood, an atmospheric tale in the forests. A classic fight between good and evil, and the corruption of those in absolute power. I enjoyed a good amount of this book, with the ending being the best part. The worldbuilding is creative and beautiful at times. The plot is brilliantly designed to engage with the themes of this book, which do go beyond a classic good vs evil story. The author also brings in great representation for non-binary people in this story, which is a excellent addition to the fantasy genre.
RJ Barker's prose is disappointing in many ways. While he manages to clearly convey the story and the world, his dialogue is very simplistic and does not evoke a sense of poignant storytelling at any time. His narrative voice also feels very dry and with some characters voices being bland. The main character also falls pretty flat, as his journey in this book is underwhelming. Some characters, such as Udinny stand out very well.
It also feels like RJ Barker is reaching for a theme that has been done before brilliantly and spectacularly (there is a specific movie that this book will remind you of) and this world does not bring that level of vividness, nor does it carry the emotional weight of these prior works. The world of Crua, while being very good, feels like a lot of quantity and less quality.
Overall a good book.
Gods of the Wyrdwood, an atmospheric tale in the forests. A classic fight between good and evil, and the corruption of those in absolute power. I enjoyed a good amount of this book, with the ending being the best part. The worldbuilding is creative and beautiful at times. The plot is brilliantly designed to engage with the themes of this book, which do go beyond a classic good vs evil story. The author also brings in great representation for non-binary people in this story, which is a excellent addition to the fantasy genre.
RJ Barker's prose is disappointing in many ways. While he manages to clearly convey the story and the world, his dialogue is very simplistic and does not evoke a sense of poignant storytelling at any time. His narrative voice also feels very dry and with some characters voices being bland. The main character also falls pretty flat, as his journey in this book is underwhelming. Some characters, such as Udinny stand out very well.
It also feels like RJ Barker is reaching for a theme that has been done before brilliantly and spectacularly (there is a specific movie that this book will remind you of) and this world does not bring that level of vividness, nor does it carry the emotional weight of these prior works. The world of Crua, while being very good, feels like a lot of quantity and less quality.
Overall a good book.