Book review: The Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne

I have heard so many good things about John Gwynne that it’s a wonder that Shadow of the Gods is the first book of his that I have read. Before even picking up this book I felt like John Gwynne was one of my new favourite authors and this can come with its own pressure, sometimes you can build something up so much that nothing can ever live up to those expectations.

I am happy to say that Shadow of the Gods exceeded all my expectations. I loved it.

Shadow of the Gods is a Norse inspired epic fantasy focusing on three main characters, Varg, Orka and Elvar. The story jumps between those characters view point and as the story progresses to the amazing cliffhanger ending you can help but fall in love with each character and the supporting cast around them.

Varg is a former slave who wins his way into joining a mercenary company in the hopes that it can help him achieve his own personal quest.

Elvar is also a member of a mercenary company, not the same one as Varg, and we follow her story as she struggles to establish her own history and story away from the influence of her parents.

Finally we have Orka, a mother and ferocious warrior who is on her own personal mission to get revenge against her enemies.

All three characters are amazing complex and the interactions with the characters around them are amazingly done. As the characters trouble along their own separate stories we learn the history and about the amazing world that John Gwynne has created. The world is fabulously fleshed out and I can’t wait to see it expanded in future books.

My only slight criticism would be that the jumping from POV to POV occasionally left me frustrated that I couldn’t continue with one characters story, but this is not a critique of John Gwynne’s writing but the exact opposite. Each character and their story was so great that I didn’t want to stop reading it.

I’m summary, this is a fantastic start to a series I have no doubt will go on to be a classic of the fantasy genre and the characters introduced in this book will be on future best characters in fantasy list. If you like action, well drawn out characters and excellent fantasy then this book is for you.