Synopsis:
The Hunger of the Gods continues John Gwynne’s acclaimed Norse-inspired epic fantasy series, packed with myth, magic and bloody vengeance
Lik-Rifa, the dragon god of legend, has been freed from her eternal prison. Now she plots a new age of blood and conquest.
As Orka continues the hunt for her missing son, the Bloodsworn sweep south in a desperate race to save one of their own – and Varg takes the first steps on the path of vengeance.
Elvar has sworn to fulfil her blood oath and rescue a prisoner from the clutches of Lik-Rifa and her dragonborn followers, but first she must persuade the Battle-Grim to follow her.
Yet even the might of the Bloodsworn and Battle-Grim cannot stand alone against a dragon god.
Their hope lies within the mad writings of a chained god. A book of forbidden magic with the power to raise the wolf god Ulfrir from the dead … and bring about a battle that will shake the foundations of the earth.
Praise for The Bloodsworn series:
‘A masterfully crafted, brutally compelling Norse-inspired epic’ Anthony Ryan
‘Visceral, heart-breaking and unputdownable’ Jay Kristoff
‘A satisfying and riveting read. The well-realised characters move against a backdrop of a world stunning in its immensity. It’s everything I’ve come to expect from a John Gwynne book’ Robin Hobb
Review:
As you know, if you read my review of The Shadow of the Gods, Book One in the Bloodsworn Saga, you will know just how much I love Gwynne’s writing. There’s no escaping that this review will be positive, and that I will spout about this series until the end of days to any and all, whether fantasy fans or not.
However.
For this review, I wanted to delve into places where others fear to tread. The one and two star reviews on Goodreads. A place of shadows, where lurk two types of people. Those who truly read the book looking for a good time, and left feeling disappointed, and those that came along to nitpick at a superstar and they were always, much-like the Bloodsworn and the Raven feeders, going to have their pound of flesh. It is a place I frequent through splayed fingers when looking at my own books, like watching Dr Who as a child from behind the sofa.
Anyway.
Ignoring those there to stab their seax into the unsuspecting back, it is here I found the root for my review.
Point One. There’s a lot of travelling. Yes, there is. In fact, much of the book tracks Lik-Rifa and her Raven feeders, the Bloodsworn, Elvar, and of course Orka’s journeys. Each with different motivations, goals, and experiences along the way. To that end, we track a reader’s journey as we learn through their trials so much more of their personal histories. In fact, time spent enriching the story, fleshing out the hints and superstitions made in book one. Whereas in the first book, Orka’s arc had more meat on the bones, here we gather muscle and skin much like the gods we are introduced to, upon others. I agree; if you strip it back to plot structure, there are journeys, but when spliced with the character arcs, they are so rich and vivid because those journeys provide purpose.
Point Two. How many POVs? Gwynne does something I love. He gives you the motivations of the antagonists in this book, not only through those around them but also directly with the introduction of Biorr as he travels with Lik-Rifar and the Raven feeders. He lays out starkly the assumptions I made in the first book about the thralls, bringing them front and centre and flaying my opinion about their importance. He gives an ‘enemy’ purpose beyond the usual ‘I’m after power, riches, money, revenge’ couched as revolution and instead, makes something real, visceral out of thralldom and the tainted spawn of the gods. Amid the battles and the blood, it provides a core of reality to the world he has built. Something worth fighting for, where the grey lurks in the shadows. Good and less-good doing the same bloody axe work until you’re not sure who you root for. Love it.
Point Three. Gods. Well, petty individuals carrying their own grievances. I can’t say more, because spoilers. But they are not all-powerful, and how they are woven into the plot, controlled even, is something I’ve rarely seen before. I like it. A lot. More please.
Point Four. No romance. Sorry, what?
Okay. There’s more, but these are the core points. Maybe it’s because I write in multi-POVs that I appreciate what Gwynne has done here. It’s also possible that I want to experience the dark side of a story, that I enjoyed the whole experience of the Raven Feeders. It’s also because he writes a mean battle-scene, visceral combat, and words of survival and loyalty that carry me along. Either way, where Shadow took us from a petty village squabble to the scene of the Gods’ Fall, Hunger fleshes out the bones of the gods, the people, the thralls, and sets its oars towards a final book I cannot wait to read.
Damn, I need the finale to be good.
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