Reviews

The Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne

arbitrary_abode's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

alyssa_b_dub's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

keddy4306's review against another edition

I have no problem with the story of this book, I just find it immensely boring to read and don't love how the characters are described. Norse mythology is also not my jam. 

hbeebe97's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

cheezy11's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

izzyrose95's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

irfoxwriter's review against another edition

I loved elements of the writing, but the content was all a bit too grim for me. Glad I gave it a try. 

rebeccareads08's review against another edition

5.0

4.5 Great epic fantasy read! This has been on my shelf for months and one of my reading goals for this year was to branch out more with my fantasy reads and I am so glad I started with this one!!

This book is set in a Norse inspired world and follows three different people on their journeys while navigating this world of old gods and new realities. There are warriors and witches and myths and magic. There are epic fights and battles. Triumphs and some heartbreak.

This book started off a little bumpy for me bc of all the Nordic words and references but once I got past the first few chapters and got a hold of the lingo it was smooth sailing. There are some slower parts but it's mostly due to necessary world building. This book really unfolds itself to the reader which I loved as a writing style choice so much. There were a few surprises that I definitely didn't see coming!

Orka is my absolute favorite character and I am bloodsworn to her now! I may or may not be going to look into viking style wkouts (if that's a thing) for my new gym regimen.

themetal's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

5.0

libertyreads789's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

This was my first John Gwynne and...maybe it was a mistake? It's the first series of his that actually intrigued me. This is a kind of retelling of Norse mythology and that has always been my jam. But most of the time I just didn't care. Reading something this dense over the course of 6 days actually took a lot out of me mentally. Part of that is probably that I haven't been reading a lot of dense stuff lately. Part of that is probably that I just transferred with my job and my new location is both physically and mentally draining. (Probably spiritually as well because I almost lost it today.) Part of it is that I haven't taken 6 days to read a book in the longest time. Which is actually a good thing. I've been saying for years now that I want to slow down with my reading and get more in the 52-104 books a year range instead of 130-175. But, in making that a goal, my intention was to take time to read things I like slower. And, while the ending probably jumped the rating up a bit, I just didn't really like this one.

I think the author did the world building moderately well (some parts could have used some work but was overall pretty good) and I think he obviously put a lot of thought and time into plotting out the story. I think this was probably the best I've seen someone take three different perspectives and storylines and bring them together. But...I just didn't care? For the most part, I wasn't attached to the characters so I didn't really care when someone died suddenly or someone else betrayed one of our characters. The only character that I felt any sort of attachment to was Elvar. (And that's probably only because she's the daughter of a rich land owner who decided to run off and join a war band instead of getting married to the son of a rich land owner.) I think the story just gets lost in the weeds for me. Which is a common complaint within epic Fantasy, I know. I just think there needed to be more humanity here for me to get out of the story what the author intended.

The author obviously wrote a book that was well plotted, well developed, and so on. People love his work. He's constantly being brought up in the Fantasy circles. But I think it's just that he's not an author for me. Which is okay. Not everything is meant for everyone. I think if you're someone who enjoys epic Fantasy novels and getting into the little details then I'm sure you'd enjoy this one. If you haven't already devoured this author's backlist.