The characters are generally well written and likeable, although I felt they were in some ways a bit too similar, despite outward appearances. In another such band, the Battle-Grim, we find Elvar, a young woman who is looking to make a name for herself through battle fame. Varg quickly ends up involved with the Bloodsworn, a warband of what might normally be considered Viking raiders. With Varg, we are quickly introduced to his motives, he is an escaped thrall looking for a Sieðr-witch or Galdurman to perform an akáll – that’s an invocation that ultimately will put him on his way to avenging his sister’s death.
She is clearly a woman with an interesting buried history, which begins to be unveiled once the catalyst for her story kicks in, at around a third of the way through the book. Orka is a woman living in the wilderness with her husband and son. The book focuses on three main characters: Orka, Varg and Elvar. Other repetition was also prevalent – every tavern smelling of urine, certain people always having snot dripping at the end of their nose and troll testicles (!) being key ones that stick out for their perhaps unusual nature. One thing that caused an issue for me was the repeated use of “thought cage” for brain or mind, which I found quite jarring. While I didn’t feel this detracted from the story much, I can see how it would cause some people an issue. On occasion it wouldn’t be until the second or third mention where we’re given a description of what a word means, so prior to that we are left to use our own best guess based on the scenario. The book is filled with Norse or Norse-inspired terminology, and while much of this is explained, not all of it was done so from the outset. Being a brand-new series, there’s always going to be some extra time required in building the world and here I felt we were given a lot, but perhaps with not enough explanation. The book is set in a new world, the Norse-inspired Vigrið, within the Shattered Realms. The Tainted – descendants of the gods’ children – are kept as slaves in thrall collars, sold to the highest bidder as symbols of status and power. Warbands travel the world searching for relics of the gods for fame and fortune. The gods fought themselves to extinction but their remains still hold power, as does the blood flowing through the veins of their descendants.
I was always going to like this book it was just a question of how much. I loved the Banished Lands books and couldn’t wait to get my hands on this new release, especially after seeing the gorgeous cover design. The Shadow of the Gods, book one of the Bloodsworn by John Gwynne, was my most anticipated release of the year. ** Review copy supplied by Netgalley, with my thanks to them and to the publisher: Little, Brown Book Group / Orbit ** The Shadow of the Gods, Bloodsworn #1, by John Gwynne