Viking gore with relatable characters

The story is good if a bit confusing, so i really had to focus. It has lots of violent viking fighting but there is a deeper story that carries the plot forward in a meaningful way. If you like norse mythology this one is for you. If not its still not bad.

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Visceral and enchanting!

A grim adventure set in a refreshing setting of not-quite Norse mythology. I enjoyed all three protagonists' stories and the world as a whole, with barely any gripes on my part.

The narrator also perfectly embodies the world!

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I very much enjoyed the book

I like the characters, the worldbuilding and the overall story. If you’re into Fantasy that is almost high Fantasy, then this should be right for you.

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Not my cup of tea but good.

The over use of the word thought cage has ruined the experience for me.

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An Authentic Viking Fantasy Delight

Once again, John Gwynne has whipped up something incredible.
The Bloodsworn Trilogy is off to a good start with this novel, weaving three distinct plotlines with a level of authenticity that warrants applause.

All three point of view characters are memorable, contributing their own spin to the worldbuilding, including the fantasy elements and socio-political landscape. Nothing feels wasted, or pointless, and the hooks for the remainder of the trilogy are numerous. Whichever way things develop from the end of this book, I'm in for the long haul.

Compared to John's previous body of work, the Faithful and the Fallen (4 big books) and its sequel trilogy Of Blood and Bone (3 novels), I'd say that The Shadow of the Gods is both familiar but at the same time more "mature" in its themes and cast. While in previous works, we saw the characters grow throughout their adventures, a lot of that was down to them being rather young, with a limited amount of life experience, or battles fought.
Here, though, we are introduced to characters that already lived through many hardships of their own, or having earned their reputation. We have an ex-slave, a hot-blooded mother and a mid-twenties warrior trying to escape the chains of her family's expectations. All of these have baggage, but also clear-cut goals and needs. And despite their massive differences in personality and life expectations, all three struggles contribute to the others by approaching similar or shared themes from different angles.
As for the fantastical elements, I am pleased to say that they feel deeply rooted in the worldbuilding already - which, in turn, draws heavily on norse mythology, without being a copy & paste interpretation of the myths themselves. You'll see familiar elements, but everything feels fresh and with a cool spin on it.

As for the audiobook production, I am delighted to hear Colin Mace once more; I was a big fan of his narration of Ed McDonald's Raven's Mark trilogy, and he's a perfect pick for the tone of the Bloodsworn trilogy.

I'm thoroughly convinced that John Gwynne's getting up to something special here.

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Sehr zu empfehlen

ein wirklich packendes und spannendes Buch, mit einer interessanten Grundidee. Ich bin mit dem Gefühl mehr wissen zu wollen aus dem Buch gegangen und werde sofort in den zweiten Band eintauchen.

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Great Setting but exhausting story and performance

The mixed volumes sometimes made it difficult to listen and the story was kind of hard to follow as it somehow bored me out 9f it every once in a while. But I really do like the setting.

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Didn't like it

Too monotonous speaker. Everything is spoken as if attending a grim funeral. Perhaps purposely due to the darker world and story, but for my taste too much

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Could not get into the story

As a fantasy and norse lover I thought this might be the best book ever, but sadly after only 5 chapters I couldn't listen to it anymore, the story is not thrilling nor did it captivate me.

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