If "The Shadow of the Gods" grabbed me by the scruff of the neck, then "The Hunger of the Gods" grabbed my feet as well and gave me a good spin around a time or two (or twenty!). I love John Gwynne's writing (flows like melted butter), his world building (I'm there! I'm there!), and the absolutely brilliant characters we, as readers, get to walk beside. This is one of those series that feels like a privilege to read.

My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley. This review was written voluntarily and is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.

Thank you NetGalley for a free copy of "The Hunger of the Gods" in exchange for an honest reviw.
John Gwynne is so thoughtfull that he added a character list with background information, prononciation guide and a glosary at the begining of this book.
If you have am excellent memory you can read the book in electronical format, but I prefer to wait for my phisical pre-ordered copy so I can always return to the glosary when needed.

I very much enjoyed this book it really is a satisfying and riveting Norse inspired read. The pacing was perfect and the last 30% full of action. I highly recommend this book and the entire series of course.

Gwynne is one of my most favourite Fantasy Author and he once again proved why he is on that spot with this book.

The Hunger of the Gods is the second book in his "The Bloodsworn" trilogy and it starts right after where we left off at the first book. We are continuing the journey of Orka, Varg and Elvar along with the new POV's of two of the villains in this series. The addition of these two POV's added more depth to the story and we can understand, why they made some of the choices they made.

As usual, the final 30% of the book was very fast and action packed that i cannot concentrate on anything else. but to reach that point, i had to endure a slow paced book. Don't think that this is an issue for me but after that ending on the first book, i expected more from this and the slow start was a little bit disappointing,

I really enjoyed Elvar's POV after the issues i had with her on the first book and i my favourite character thus far on this series is still Varg. For some reason, i cannot connect with Orka that much, She is a favourite character for many people who read this series but for me she comes after Varg and Elvar.

I am really excited and waiting for the final book in this series after that awesome climax but i know after the recent tragedy at Gwynne's home, i can understand if the final book takes time and wait for it.

Gwynne absolutely nails the middle part of this trilogy, elevating The Bloodsworn Saga to the ranks must-read fantasy epic.
If the The Shadow of The Gods was a tasty entrée, then The Hunger of the Gods is the type of main meal that you write home about, and leaves you instantly anticipating desert.
Everything is bigger here, and Gwynne really opens up the world of man and myth, drawing you into the rich tapestry of interwoven storylines where all roads lead to the impending man vs gods showdown.
Its the rare sort of book that consumes your every thought for weeks, with characters you love, monsters you fear and epic action that has you riding every clash of sword and shield.
And that ending! I haven't been affected by an ending like that for a long time.
An early frontrunner for one of the books of 2022.

Chaque sortie d’un roman de John Gwynne est une petite fête dans ma tanière, alors imaginez ce que ça donne quand, en plus, je reçois le bouquin en avance par l’intermédiaire de Netgalley ! Oui, j’ai déjà pu lire The hunger of the gods, second tome de The Bloodsworn, qui sort le 14 avril. Aiguisez vos haches, et n’oubliez pas vos capes, on part vers le nord.

Comme d’habitude, on va essayer de rester un peu vague dans la chronique d’une suite mais ça va quand même dévoiler quelques petits trucs du tome 1, soyez prévenus. Dans ce second tome nous retrouvons Orka qui est toujours sur la trace de son fils kidnappé, et qui va croiser le chemin des Bloodsworns, eux aussi à la poursuite des rustres qui ont enlevé une des leurs. Le kidnapping c’est un sport national à Vigrið. Mais pendant ce temps, les Battle-grim se remettent de leur combat titanesque et de leurs pertes, maintenant il va falloir trouver un moyen de résister aux grandes puissances qui se réveillent.

On appréciera, dès les premières pages, le résumé détaillé du tome 1 sur plusieurs pages, ainsi que le récapitulatif des personnages et un glossaire qui définit les mots du patois viking qui traine dans le bouquin. Et tout ça c’est chouette, on se remémore avec émotion les grands évènements de The shadow of the gods, les combats, les trahisons, les amitiés… Et on y replonge avec joie ! Nous suivons toujours nos trois mêmes protagonistes : Orka, Elvar et Varg, chacun dans leur bande qui sillonnent le continent dans tous les sens alors que les Raven Feeders foutent le bordel partout. Mais seigneur Gwynne nous offre aussi deux nouveaux points de vue qui penchent plutôt du côté obscur de la force, on découvrira ainsi que les méchants ont quelques divergences également.

Le changement d’échelle et de perspective qui a clôturé le tome précédent a lancé une histoire où les humains sont de petits machins qui fourmillent sur ce pays glacé, insignifiants devant les puissances qu’ils ont réveillées, et c’est le sentiment qu’on a pendant The hunger of the gods. On a beaucoup de voyage, puisque chaque bande va suivre son chemin, poursuivre une cible ou un objectif. Les Battle-grim poursuivent les Raven feeders, les bloodsworns vont nous emmener vers le sud où nous découvriront d’autres peuples, tandis qu’Orka et Lif suivent les pistes qui les mèneront peut-être à Breca. Les trajectoires de tout ce petit monde se croiseront plusieurs fois, contrairement au roman précédent, et on se délecte des rencontres entre toutes ces fortes personnalités.

Le roman est donc une multi-course-poursuite, on se poursuit, on se traque, on se fuit, et on révèle petit à petit certains secrets ancestraux. On voit émerger deux camps distincts qui vont se regrouper même si chaque bande a un objectif à soi. Arrivé à la troisième saga de l’auteur, on commence à voir certains schémas, et la manière dont les pièces s’assemblent ressemble beaucoup à Valour ou globalement à Of blood and bone, par exemple. Mais attention, ce n’est pas pour me déplaire, d’autant plus que l’univers est tellement différent des Banished lands qu’on découvre plein de nouvelles choses. L’ambiance inspirée des cultures nordiques est très immersif, avec plein de petits détails sur les équipements, les coutumes, la culture en général. C’est très documenté et précis, et nous permet de savourer des moments de calme, d’immersion, quand on bichonne son matériel, ou on navigue entre deux moments épiques.

Mais oui, on est chez John Gwynne, et la série passe à un tout autre niveau en terme d’épique, de nouvelles forces se réveillent et se déchainent, les couvertures en disent assez long là-dessus. L’auteur a donné une dimension vertigineuse à son univers et propose des moment à couper le souffle, que ce soient de grandes batailles ou des duels sous tension, il accroche le lecteur avec une facilité déconcertante. Il y a bien sûr le talent d’immersion, la description des combats et la tension de l’action, le lecteur s’essouffle avec les guerriers derrière le mur de boucliers. Mais il réussit aussi parce qu’il a mis en place les personnages à la perfection et qu’on sent leurs enjeux personnels derrière chaque rencontre, chaque épreuve. Les drames et les victoires s’enchainent, les monstres dégueulasses et les humains perfides se dressent sur la route de nos héros, tout ça dans une construction magistrale où toutes les pièces bougent et se mettent en place, parfaitement ajustées.

Les personnages évoluent et grandissent, réalisent leur place dans tout ça et s’affirment. Les « tainted » se révèlent, ces humains qui descendent des dieux et ont des pouvoirs en lien avec leur héritage, et ça donne du relief aux différentes troupes et à leurs rapports de force. Orka ne change pas tellement mais on sent ce qui la pousse, c’est un boulet de canon lancé avec un objectif et qui va bourriner la gueule de tout ce qui se met sur son chemin. On a découvert son secret et on voit maintenant l’ombre de son passé dans ses rapports avec les autres. Varg est peut-être celui qui est le moins actif des trois, mais par son intermédiaire on vit au milieu des bloodsworn et on a le plaisir de les voir interagir, se battre et rire (Svik est toujours très drôle avec ses histoires et ses fromages). Elvar va se révéler dans ce tome et va beaucoup évoluer, après la claque qu’elle s’est prise dans le bouquin précédent ça se comprend. Là elle va vraiment s’affirmer et prendre les choses en main. Jusqu’au bout.

C’est difficile de vous donner un aperçu du roman sans trop en dire, il y a tellement de moments qu’on a envie de raconter, de personnages, de détails percutants, de passages drôles aussi, ET DES TRAGEDIES. Mais je vous invite à le découvrir vous-même, ou à attendre une traduction si vous ne lisez pas l’anglais. Seulement, pour ça il faudra faire un triomphe à Malice qui sort chez Leha en Septembre, comme ça l’auteur deviendra incontournable et on aura tous ses bouquins en VF. Ouais, on croise les doigts et on fait du bruit !

Roman reçu en service presse via Netgalley et Little Brown Book (Orbit), merci à eux. Mais ça m’empêche pas d’attendre mon édition limitée Goldsboro avec impatience, hein…

This book is going down on my 2022 favorites list!

This Nordic inspired world feels so luscious and alive. The world building was the highlight for me in the first book and in this book, it only compounded on its goodness. There's a complex history to this world which is filled with ancient malice and vengeance. In lot of ways, this book represent a cycle of power and how fleeting it can be - one moment your are a god and in the next you are a slave.

This remains still very much a travelling book and while it can feel tiresome at times, the plot is filled with enough action and jaw dropping moments, that I wasn't bored. John Gwynn writes the most cinematic action sequences and this book is no different. Apart from the 3 main pov characters from the previous book, there's an additional 2 pov characters in this one and they added so much depth to the story and the overall politics of this world.

I liked all the characters in the previous book but wasn't very invested in their lives, this book changed that. I ended up admiring our three main characters, Orka, Varg and Elvar so much by the end of this book. Especially, Elvar, her character went through a tremendous growth in this book and I am so excited for the role she will play further in the story. The themes of brotherhood, companionship and loyalty are explored so well through these three character and I am loving how all of their respective storylines are coming together.

As for the two other pov characters, Biorr's added a complex perspective on the Dragon's side of the story and it makes you question, whether they are right in wanting their retribution. Its another thing that this book does really well - it cuts a very fine line between vengeance and justice as well as right and wrong.

Guodvaar, on the other hand - is a character whom I hated with all my heart, even though, I immensely enjoyed reading from his perspective. At this point, there's literally nothing redeeming about him, he is literally giving Lykos (one of the author's vilest character from TFATF) a run for his money. My prediction for the next book is that, he is going to meet a very bad end and I am all here for it.

The wait for the final book is going to be so long especially after how this book ended but I am also quite sure that the wait will be totally worth it.

Mira que me gustó la primera entrega de esta serie, The Shadow of the Gods, pero no me esperaba que la segunda entrega me gustara mucho más que la primera. Y es que Gwynne consigue introducir nuevos puntos de vista y personajes que dejan en agua de borrajas la épica del primer libro.


Ni síndrome del segundo libro ni nada, esta novela nórdica de aventuras, de intriga política, de rencores y amor consigue tenerte pegado a sus páginas a lo largo de sus casi 700 páginas. Es también muy de agradecer que el autor prepare un extenso resumen de lo que ha pasado hasta aquí para volver a situar al lector en el grandioso escenario que ha creado, pero cuando los filos de los seax y las hachas empiezan a brillar, no hay marcha atrás.

El libro continúa la acción donde la dejamos en la primera novela, pero añadiendo algunos personajes más que si bien ya aparecían ahora cobran mayor protagonismo. Es admirable la capacidad del autor para llevar adelante tantos hilos en el telar que se entrecruzan en algunas ocasiones pero que por lo general van por separado y ser capaz de mantener el interés en cada una de las líneas. Es que no hay punto de vista malo. Y dar voz también a los personajes despreciables le permite mostrarnos cómo la humanidad es eso, un conjunto de escalas de grises en la que nadie es solo bueno o solo malo, si no un compendio de características que nos podrán resultar más o menos interesantes. Hay ciertas constantes en la historia, en especial el amor maternal que es una fuerza poderosísima, pero también el honor, la avaricia o simplemente el instinto de supervivencia.

El ritmo de la novela es envidiable y creo que el autor lo consigue entre otras razones por la increíble cantidad de combates de los que seremos testigos y por cómo están narrados. Ya sea un duelo entre dos guerreros o una batalla campal entre ejércitos, en ningún momento cae en la confusión y el caos, no se esquivan los detalles sanguinolentos pero no se recrea en ellos y consigue un muy buen equilibrio entre el realismo sucio y la magia que cada vez tiene más relevancia.

También es cierto que hay algunas escenas o planteamientos de batalla que me chirrían, como cuando uno de los bandos coloca en primerísima fila a la bruja que con su magia puede desequilibrar la batalla en lo que a todas luces es una encerrona, dejándola a merced de la puntería de los arqueros. Pero, por lo general, es capaz de que te sumerjas en el frenesí de la batalla de una manera excepcional.

Hay muchas revelaciones a lo largo del libro en las que tampoco debemos entrar para evitar destripar tramas, pero me gustaría hacer hincapié en el aspecto politico de la historia, porque al fin y al cabo la recompensa de los luchadores serán riquezas y poder sin igual o verse subyugados por una fuerza muy superior.

Esto deseando que leáis este libro para poder comentarlo con vosotros y os podréis imagina el ansia viva que tengo por hacerme con la tercera entrega.

Received arc from Little Brown Book Group UK,Orbit and Netgalley for honest read and review,this is my review only.
2nd in a new absorbing series from John Gwynne , and follows on after Book 1.
This was of course another enthralling read, that had me hooked from the beginning, until the very last page.
I have a confession, my two favourite characters are Orka and Varg, and it was so good to read their next chapter in this Norse saga.
I have some reservations however over some of the so called baddies, who i did not fully connect with, but I am looking forward to the next one to find out what happens.
Once again a brilliant story and a fine instalment to this great series.

The Shadow of the Gods was a novel dripping in lore - lore so perfectly crafted, ingrained so deeply within its pages, that you almost felt you were there, battling within the Bloodsworn. I was so elated whilst reading The Hunger of the Gods to see that the lore is still the focus of this incredible novel. As I stated in my review for The Shadow of the Gods, and other reviews I have posted on my blog, a rich lore is becoming the most essential element within any fantasy novel. Gwynne writes with a masterclass on excellent lore writing, showing his high level of understanding and research into his work. This element alone makes these novels an absolute standout within the fantasy realm.

Reading other reviews, my next praise will most likely not be surprising and I am sorry for that. However, Orka is an absolute stand out character and her development is continued within this second novel. Within Shadow of the Gods, her story focused on her tragedy and her mission but Gwynne has done an excellent job of broadening her story. In the Hunger of the Gods we begin to explore her old life and how her current quest, is bringing that life very much to the present. Reading how he adapts to the changes within the Bloodsworn, as well as the familiarity, was engaging throughout the novel. I also find Orka humble in nature, not being changed by her reputation or show-boating as many other lead characters may do in the same position. Orka is exactly as you read her, she is down to earth and relatable, despite her being an absolute bad ass. There are other characters in which I have grown to love more within this sequel, such as Elvar and Varg, whose stories are pushed further, both demonstrating how their stories have changed since the first novel. The Bloodsworn again hold their light-hearted humorous charm, but at the same time have a true sense of honour and brotherhood. I always enjoyed my moments with the Bloodsworn, no matter which members were involved during the scene.

The story itself moves on hugely from Shadows of the Gods, however I couldn't help but feel whilst reading that this book was acting more like a stepping stone to the big finale novel. This isn't to down play any big moments or character developments within its pages, more that I felt Gywnne was holding something back. I was constantly waiting for the huge moments that would leave me in shock, but no true moment arose. Hunger of the Gods felt more like it was written to push the story on, develop the characters as needed and put the pieces into place. I really enjoyed the story and I am very much ready for the final book in the series.

This second volume starts right after the events in the previous one. It's the same action-packed, gore-filled recipe, only it stopped working for me. The exposition gets too long, nothing is left to the imagination, the events and course of action are predictable. I can't tell if it was the same in the previous books, but I didn't have this feeling there, and I loved both his other series.

In this one, nothing feels genuine about the storyline; the setting is different, yes, the Nordic mythology on which is based upon is different from his previous works, but as we say in Romanian, is "aceeasi Marie, cu alta palarie" (Same ol' Mary with a different hat).

I think it will work better for those who did not read his other works, and are new to his style. On the other hand, most of the reviews are glowing, even from those familiar with his other books. So, maybe it's just a "it's me, not you" kind of thing, a matter of tastes, nothing more.

I have been so excited to continue reading the Bloodsworn saga and let me tell you it was even better than I expected it to be. I've read this book in a buddy read and every day I got through the sections so quickly that it felt like I had only read a little but page wise it was a lot. This book proved to me even more that John Gwynne is a master at crafting his fantasy worlds and telling the story about his characters. I cannot explain how many strong emotions I felt for so many characters. I was skeptical about the two new povs in this book but I quickly realized how much they add to the story perspective and storytelling-wise. I really have no single bad thing to say about this book. It was so action-packed that I felt like I could never catch my breath, in a good way of course. The character interactions were incredible and the plot has been an absolute masterpiece from the beginning until the end. Just thinking about it while writing this review makes my heart beat faster. I seriously cannot wait for the next book!

The Hunger of the Gods has been, without doubt, my favourite book of 2022. John Gwynne is one of my favourite authors so I was so excited to continue this journey.

It begins with a recap of The Shadow of the Gods which I truly appreciated and it starts right where it left off. It is told by the multiple points of view of Orka, Varg, Elvar as well as some from the other sides of the battle. I love that there are such complex, ferocious women in the bloodsworn saga.

Orka is on her quest to find her son, while the Bloodsworn and the Battlegrim are on their own journeys. All these paths intertwine in some way, without forgetting that Lik-Rifa the Dragon God has been released and building her own army. There is a lot going on and the tension builds throughout the book.

John Gwynne has a way of creating battle scenes that are so beautifully detailed and intense you feel like you are there in amongst it. I was completely enraptured with every page of this book and every character. They all have a special place in my heart; whilst others I hated venomously.

There is magic, another language, lots of battles and cunning thinkers which will leave you on the edge right to the very last word. There is also laughter and relationships between all the groups which makes it an entertaining read. This review is only a glimpse of what is in this book. It’s brilliant, pick up the series!

5/5 stars and cannot wait for the third instalment.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this arc.

I will share this to goodreads and Instagram nearer publication date.

THIS BOOK SAVED ME FROM A READING SLUMP

The Hunger of the Gods is one of my most anticipated releases of 2022. I loved The Shadow of the Gods and gave it 4.5 stars, and was therefore excited when I received an e-arc of this book. Moreover, the cover art for this series is incredible

Before I start reviewing this book, I have to mention that this book includes a detailed “story so far” section, a glossary and a character list! I am so glad to see more books, including a recap in their sequels, because it can be incredibly challenging to remember all the different plotlines, character names etc. I was planning on rereading The Shadow of the Gods before picking up this book, but that was not necessary due to a recap being included, so thank you, Orbit! ! So, did this book live up to the hype?

Firstly, this series continuously integrates Norse-inspired elements such as lore, legends and using Norse languages, making this book feel like a real Norse epic fantasy! All the spells are spoken in a language that sounds very familiar to my mother tongue, Faroese. I am guessing it is Icelandic, but I couldn’t say for certain. However, the use of language added another layer of enjoyment to this book that most readers will unfortunately not experience. However, Gwynne always explains what the spells mean or their effects!

The Hunger of the Gods is definitely one of my favourite reads of 2022. There are so many things that made this such a memorable and enjoyable read! Firstly, I felt much more invested in the characters in this book! This book follows Orka, Elvar and Varg after the events of the first book. Consequently, Gwynne has added two additional POVs! I enjoyed following every POV in this book! I remember that I didn’t feel as invested in Elvar’s plotline in the first book, but that was not a problem in The Hunger of the Gods. All the characters, and even the side characters, are complex and compelling! Even the new POVs were enjoyable to follow and helped add higher stakes and depth to the world of Vigrið!

I also need to talk about Orka. In my review for The Shadow of the Gods, I mentioned that Orka had “the potential to become one of my all-time favourite characters”, and I can firmly say that she has entered my hall of fame! Orka continues to be fierce, compassionate, compelling and complex. Orka’s sheer will and determination to fight for her loved ones is awe-inspiring. Fantasy books need more badass mothers!

As always, John Gwynne is able to write some of the most vivid and thrilling action sequences. The battles are epic, cinematic, intense and riveting! There are few authors that are able to write such great action scenes as Gwynne – and that is high praise coming from a reader who rarely enjoys battle scenes! Consequently, the themes of loyalty, determination, morality, family, courage and leadership are at the forefront in this book!

John Gwynne has improved on everything that made The Shadow of the Gods great! The stakes are higher, the characters are more compelling, and the world is fleshed out more! However, this book does feel like a middle book in some ways. There is a lot of travelling in this book which does slow the pace of the story down a bit. However, the conclusion is incredible and heartbreaking! It is worth reading this book just to experience the last chapters of this book!

Even though this book does have some slight pacing issues, Gwynne was able to make me enjoy and feel invested in this story throughout this 600+ page tome! I can imagine that my rating might lower the more I think about this book. However, I am giving this book five stars since I enjoyed every page of this book.
The Bloodsworn Saga is quickly becoming one of my all-time favourite series. John Gwynne has once again been able to craft a cinematic, epic and compelling fantasy story! I can’t wait for book 3!

5 / 5 stars

The story in The Hunger of the Gods picks up exactly where we were left at the end of The Shadow of the Gods and this is a good thing. It gives us continuity and leaves out a passage of time passing to move the story forward while not giving us any actual story bar a paragraph or two of what if. John has actually given every reader a huge fist bump by including a ‘story so far’ section which will re-jog the memory of those of you who have read other books since last year. This itself shows that John listens to his fans, knowing that it can be hard to remember all the previous events and understanding that a section like this can really help a person’s enjoyment of the book as they prepare to re-enter Vigrid.

Firstly, I just want to say the cover again has amazing artwork. Orbit and the artist, Marcus Whinney, have executed this one perfectly. It screams something big and bad is going to happen, immediately catches your attention and makes you want to read the blurb. I am already guessing what will be on the cover of the third book and I have it down to one or two options. Whichever it may be, I’m sure it will look ferocious to match the theme the books have going on.

Just like before, we have separate POVs for Orka, Elvar and Varg. Unlike before, we have some new ones but I will keep their names out of this review so it is a surprise for when you get there. I personally love chapter POVs like the ones in this story. They give us different perspectives in a large world and allow us to inevitably have a favourite character (mine is one of the new ones!) so when we get to their chapter we’re excited to find out about them. This concept has worked extremely well for many books before, including one of my favourite series, A Song of Ice and Fire (Jon Snow’s chapters) and it has worked well here.

Of those three Orka is the standout character for her simplistic revenge story. She is still on the hunt for her son, Breca and this continues throughout this story. She doesn’t make much character growth but I think because of her age and status, she is a character who is pretty set-up to go. I liked how she was so focused on this one goal that she took risks that could kill her just to get her son back into her arms. However, Elvar and Varg make large strides in pushing their character arcs forward, especially Elvar who’s story completely changes from where we first met her. Varg also grows a lot and finds his place within his group and develops a strong personality within there. There is a strong found-family vibe going on which is heartwarming and occasionally funny, bringing a smile to my face on numerous occasions. I found these two characters much more interesting than Orka overall since they change more but I still really enjoyed Orka for being the standout, strong (bad bitch) female type this story is selling. There is a difference between her path and the other two that sets her apart. For Elvar and Varg it’s about finding their place in Vigrid, so they share a common goal but for Orka it’s purely about revenge and finding her son.

The story is full of brutal action. As you might expect, there are a lot of fight scenes in this story and John, being someone who is adept at fighting with hand-to-hand weapons as a viking re-enactor, has written them extremely well. They feel real, vibrant, straight to the point and ruthless in their execution. I loved how when reading a scene I thought it would go down in a number of steps but it didn’t, it went straight to a sword in the throat and it’s this kind of ‘shock factor’ that makes this world so dangerous to live in, which of course makes it exciting to read. I like that this has a low number of swords and a higher than-normal number of spears being used. They’re one of my favourite fantasy weapons and I really enjoyed them taking the forefront here alongside axes, shields and seax’s.

One of the biggest and most exciting things in this story is the gods. You’ll be pleased to know they play a much, much bigger role. From the end of The Shadow of the Gods you will know of at least one and from the cover of this book you can guess at a second but there are more which I won’t go into here. They’re big pieces of a moving chess board and I really liked the different ways they’re interacted with depending on who was interacting with them. Their descriptions and the form(s) they take were interesting and gave a new dynamic to them. I love how brutal they are and how their interactions with normal people, and tainted people, changed depending on which god it was you were reading about.

I love the lore and history John has created in this world. The gods have really sculpted a place in history for everyone despite being dead for hundreds of years. They’ve really set the lore from when they were alive and this is evident in every character’s life that you read about, everyone is touched in one way or another by the gods. I love the influence it has on the world and what this means for certain characters, their beliefs and their actions.

There is magic in this story too and it was a cool tool that worked well when needed but didn’t overshadow the realistic fighting you might expect from a Norse-inspired story, giving it a feeling of rarity within the world. This made those who could wield it more valuable and meant that not every problem could be solved with a magic spell.

If you’ve found politics in some fantasy books to be too much then I expect you would love this story. While there are politics in this book, they’re light and minimal but still provide a satisfying conclusion when they come to their end. This doesn’t mean that this isn’t an enjoyable book, far from it, it just means that there are more pacey action parts than chunks of tongue-chess to work through (I enjoy politics in fantasy books). For anyone not sure what I mean, I don’t mean elections and votes, I mean people betraying each other and arguing over goals, people fighting for what they say is theirs but in a vocal space.

Stepping back into this Norse-inspired world was like lighting a firework and waiting for the bang. It has a big bang and a lot of pretty colours, sometimes too many which is where this let me down slightly. There are a lot of secondary characters and the comparisons between them were occasionally too confusing for me to fully enjoy. For example, you have two groups, The Bloodsworn and the Battle-Grim. These two alone are fairly similar in context and then they have multiple characters within them, and there were a few times where I lost track of who was in which group: Agnar, Elvar, Einar, Gudvarr, Varg…Lif, Lief, Svik, Torvik. This might not be a problem for some of you but it was just something that lost me a few times and it was only when I saw the word Bloodsworn or Battle-Grim that I was realised who I was with which is potentially why I really enjoyed the new POVs as they were for the most part, separate to this.

Overall this is a fantastic, amazing, action packed, god filled story about love, revenge, found family and much more. If you’ve read the first one then you can expect this one to improve on everything you loved there. The new POVs are really interesting and probably my favourite addition – the gods, well you’ll have to read for yourself about those. John has crafted an exciting, rich, vibrant story, full of heart-pounding action and colourful characters that will be talked about around hearth fires and internet forums for many years to come.

4.5/5 stars

The Hunger of the Gods tempestuous final chapters have successfully prepared readers for the grand conclusion to come.

So here we are again, another year and another book by John Gwynne, one of my top favorite authors of all time. The Shadow of the Gods was one of the best books released in 2021 for me. The Hunger of the Gods, the second book in The Bloodsworn Saga, is my second most anticipated books—the first one belongs to The Lost Metal by Brandon Sanderson—of 2022. Before I talk about what worked so well for me in this continuation, it is mandatory for me to give my praises towards the publisher—Orbit Books—and the cover artist: Marcus Whinney. If you somehow haven’t seen the cover art of The Shadow of the Gods and The Hunger of the Gods, do it now. Orbit Books and Whinney has created another epic and distinctive cover seller. The scope of Lik-Rifa and Ulfrir in the cover arts is massive, and the realism looks downright stunning.

Also, if it has been a while since you’ve read The Shadow of the Gods, Gwynne has included something handy and helpful for his readers, just proving even further that he cares about his readers. The first few pages of The Hunger of the Gods contained a detailed recap of The Shadow of the Gods, a character list and what happened to them before, plus Norse terminologies and pronunciations guide. These are all always wonderful to me. And I’ve said this repeatedly, a detailed recap should be a norm in a sequel in an SFF series. Any authors who include this section in their books have a bigger chance of me reading their sequel ASAP rather than putting them on a backlog until their series is completed first. Now, did The Hunger of the Gods live up to my high expectation? Mostly yes. Here’s my review on it, and I’m going to keep this review as spoiler-free as possible. Other than the first three main POV characters of The Shadow of the Gods and one new POV or two supporting characters, I won’t mention any other characters’ names.

“When we die, it does not take long for us to go back to the ground, to become what we were, once the spark of life has left us. So I do this to remind me, of where we came from, of where we are headed, and that this life is fleeting. Best to make the most of it. To fight hard and fierce.”

The plotline in The Hunger of the Gods starts immediately from where The Shadow of the Gods ended. The three main POV characters—Orka, Varg, Elvar—from the first book have to deal with the aftermath of their respective conclusion. It is worth noting that the three main POV characters in The Shadow of the Gods didn’t have an intersecting storyline or chapters until literally the last chapter of the book. In The Hunger of the Gods, the story, conflicts, and missions of Orka, Varg, and Elvar converged in several sections. Essentially, the three returning main characters embarked upon their own respective rescue mission. The themes of loneliness, found family, forgiveness, courage, glory, and leadership are still dominant in this brutal Norse-inspired fantasy world and series. However, Gwynne has added two new POV characters into The Hunger of the Gods, and I think they added the extra depth that the series needed. But before we get to that, I will tell you what I loved about Orka, Varg, and Elvar’s POV first.

“Real courage is to feel fear, but to stand and face it, not run from it.”

Orka and her story arc was easily the biggest highlight of The Shadow of the Gods for me. It was a simple revenge and rescue story executed magnificently. With that book alone, Orka has become one of my favorite characters in fantasy. It should not come as a surprise that I continue to enjoy reading Orka's POV chapters immensely. Almost every moment of being inside her head was so delightful. Seeing her incredible strength and determination to protect what she loves remains inspiring. Technically, a few moments aside, Orka did not develop much as a character. Considering her relatively older age, prowess, and expertise in war, she was already ahead in wisdom (when she's not too pissed, at least) compared to many other characters in the series. But I just loved reading about the relationships she built with the other supporting characters. Plus, the battle scenes in her chapters—especially the final few chapters—were utterly breathtaking. Also, I am a big fan of the God of War video games. Whether it's the Greek-mythology original trilogy or the newly released Norse-mythology one, I think they're all masterwork in video games. And I know John Gwynne and his family are all fans of the Norse-mythology God of War video game, too. That's why it genuinely made me happy to see this nod to the video game.

“I am sorry,” Lif said.
“Do not be sorry,” Orka growled, “be better.”

But enough about Orka, you all know how much I loved her chapters already. Let's talk a bit about Varg and the Bloodsworn before we move on to talking about Elvar. If you've read The Shadow of the Gods, then you will know that the theme of friendship and found family shines the most in Varg's and Elvar's chapters. This is still the same case here. Although his chapters were relatively less intense for the majority of the book, I think Gwynne has successfully nailed the balance of see-saw in the calm and the intense moments in Varg's POV chapters. Remember Svik's cheese story in The Shadow of the Gods, another one regarding how life is not fair made a return here, and it was a great chapter, though less humorous, for sure. All of this does not mean that Varg's chapters were devoid of pulse-pounding battle scenes. It's fewer than Gwynne's usual standard, but the Gwynnado in the middle part of the novel that revolved around his chapters were unputdownable.

“Brother. How have I had such good fortune to find these people, after so many years of loneliness and pain?”

Elvar was the main character that took me longer than the other characters to feel invested in The Shadow of the Gods. However, I knew from the last quarter, and the end of the first novel, that she's going to be a crucially important character in The Bloodsworn Saga, and The Hunger of the Gods proved that. Elvar's starting and concluding chapters in this book were impactful. Witnessing how much she has developed since her first chapter in The Shadow of the Gods was undeniably satisfying to me. The theme of leadership was strong in Orka's chapters, but it's even more evident in Elvar and the Battle-Grim's story. Also, following the epic bloodbath in the conclusion of Elvar's story in The Shadow of the Gods, the calamity and destruction displayed in the last few chapters of Elvar's story in this book were Gwynne's epic and thrilling battle scenes at their best.

“Life is a knife’s edge, and all can change with the thrust of a blade.”

As you can probably guess, Orka, Varg, and Elvar's chapters were compelling for me. How about the two new POV characters? Well, I'm glad Gwynne decided to add them into this book. Having villain’s POV chapters was one of the key ingredients that made The Banished Lands Saga brilliant. These two new POV characters added an extra layer to the narrative. And one of the things I appreciate most about one of the new POV characters—Gudvarr—is this, Gwynne is doing something new that he has never done before with Gudvarr’s inner voice. By this, I mean that Gwynne is emulating what one of my favorite authors and series of all time did, and that is Joe Abercrombie's style on Sand dan Glokta and Jezal dan Luthar in The First Law trilogy. The arrogance, pettiness, cowardice, and humor somehow made Gudvarr an intriguing character. This is good, especially considering how much I disliked his actions. But the contrast between his actions and inner thoughts was well done. It may not be Abercrombie's level yet—to be fair, no one can do what Abercrombie did with Glokta—but I am pleased to see Gwynne trying out new things and making it work. Take a look at these two passages, for example:

‘“It’s rude,” Gudvar muttered, “and would not be so brave and foolish as to insult me if those bars were not there to protect it.”
I’m glad those bars are there to protect me, he thought.”’

Or this

“Are you Gudvarr?” the man asked him.
How do you know that? As if I would tell you, you sniveling oaf.
The man’s eyes bored into him with a fierce intensity.
“Yes,” he rasped.

These are the kind of passages you’ll get with Gudvarr’s POV chapters. Reminiscent of Glokta, right?

So now you might wonder, why did I not give a 5 stars rating to The Hunger of the Gods? After all, I gave all of these praises already. And despite it having fewer battle scenes than Gwynne's standard in his sequels, the Gwynnado in the middle section and the final 15% of the novel were excellent as always. However, I also have to admit that The Hunger of the Gods felt like it's filled with the infamous middle book syndrome in several sections. Remember, this is still a superb book for me. I loved all the character's POV chapters. But at roughly 210k words and more than 600 pages long, it seems like almost the entirety of the novel revolved around them (all the POV characters) traveling. They travel to one place, they do something there briefly. And then they travel again to another destination, and then they do something again. I loved all the characters, the battles, and the Norse-mythology world plus creatures, but having these traveling sections repeated until the end of the novel did get tiresome at times. I strongly encourage you to use the map provided at the front of the book. It's easy to forget where each POV character is going because everyone was constantly traveling to a place before moving on to travel again.

“To grieve is to be trapped in a world of loneliness.”

I am grieving. Giving John Gwynne’s newest book anything below 5 stars literally pains me. Other than Malice, which I gave a 4.5 stars rating just like this book, I gave all of his other books a 5 stars rating. But as we all know already, none of our top favorite authors can keep a 5/5 stars track record lasting forever. I still love this book so much. My minor issue with the pacing aside, The Hunger of the Gods have furious battle scenes, savage display of power, intricate world-building, and well-written characters. A new age of gods and swords has dawned on Vigrid. If you are familiar with Norse mythology, I doubt it will be difficult for you to predict where the story will go or end up since The Shadow of the Gods. Despite this, The Hunger of the Gods proved to be another marvel written by Gwynne. I needed the third and final book yesterday. And just for fun, I predict the third book of the trilogy will be titled The Battle of the Gods or The War of the Gods.

“Svik should be more like me… He should make a stone of his heart.”
“I can see that would help avoid the pain of betrayal, true enough, but it also stops you feeling the joy of friendship or love.”

You can pre-order this book from: Amazon UK | Amazon US | Blackwells (Free International shipping)

The quotes in this review were taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication.

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This is a great continuation of the series, a good fantasy/ sci-fi novel with great descriptions and relatable characters that you want to strangle and hug all at the same time. Usually I don't like this genre as it is over populated and doesn't catch me attention but after reading the first book in this series I needed to read the second this was a beautiful continuation in the series

The Hunger of the Gods is book 2 in the Bloodsworn saga and the action continues from where it left off in book 1.
Lik-Rifa - the Dragon God - has been freed from her prison and is planning bloody vengeance.
This is a Norse inspired epic fantasy that just gets better and better. The characters, Orka, Varg, and Elvar, from the first book have really grown and we get new POVs from a couple of other characters, one of which is often humorous in bleak situations.
There's a lot going on in this story and there were a few twists that I didn't see coming.
The cover is fabulous too.
Looking forward to book 3 and hoping that one of my favourites pulls through.
Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for the ARC.

After finished the epic The Shadow of the Gods (SOTG), I needed to jump straight back into the battle, so to speak, so firstly a huge thank must go to the publisher and author for approving my request on NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased honest review.

The Hunger of the Gods (HOTG) start off immediately after the epic conclusion of SOTG.

We have Orka still on the hunt for her missing son. Varg is trying to come to terms with his new life with the Bloodsworn, plus plot his revenge. Finally we have Elvar and the Battle-Grimm continuing with their blood oath task of trying to save Uspa son.

An initial plus point in HOTG compared to SOTG was the extra POVs from the other side of the battle and I for one was so happy to see this.

One such POV was that of Biorr, it was very interesting to see Biorr POV, what were his motives, and how would his time with the Battle-Grimm affect him going forwards.

We also got to see the POV of Gudvarr the snot nosed weasel with his only focus being self-preservation.

Both of these POVs were great to follow.

What you come to expect from a second book in a series is growth in terms of both world building and storytelling. There is no exception with HOTG.

As our cast of POV grows it’s natural the world will grow with it, it was so good to see more of Vigrio.

From a story perspective we really start to see the scope and grand scale come to the fore front. You can easily get sucked into thinking these books are just huge battle scenes with little substance.

Of course, this view is total false, the story telling perfectly grows in line with the other key ingredients of this book, namely pace, world building and action.

It would be remiss of me not to mention the writing in this review. John’s writing style is just so accessible and easy. If anything the writing seems to be getting sharper with ever book.

One of my favourite parts about this book is starting to see some of the POVs storylines starting to converge. Seeing Orka and the Battle-Grimm interact was just awesome.

The pacing in this book is much faster than SOTG. The final 20% of this book was such a thrill ride, If you blinked you will missed it. I really struggled to put this book down, which was a great thing.

The HOTG is explosive, bloody brilliant second book this is series.

John Gwynne has managed to raise the stakes from SOTG and leave the reading wanting more, I’m so excited to read the next book, I have no doubts this will be even more epic than HOTG.

5/5 ⭐️ rating

Again, this book has the most amazing cover art! The hunger of the Gods is the sequel to The Shadow of the Gods and dives in straight where the first novel left us. We're thrown into the aftermath of the dragon God, Lik Rifa's, vengeful release into the world,
We continue to follow Varg as he becomes accustomed to his new life as a tainted warrior in the Bloodsworn, watching as his saga song grows and he manages to make enemies at every turn. Elvar has huge decisions to make as she deals with the death of Agnar, her chief and the betrayal of Biorr, her lover, whilst still ensuring she keeps her blood oath. And of course, the amazing Orka, still hell bent on finding her son and avenging the death of her beloved Thorkel. I didn't think I could be in awe of her anymore after the first novel, but then I read this one!
This book packed with action and bloody battles, norse mythology, betrayal and heartbreak. We're privy to the POV's of two more characters who really help to bring the narrative to life. This was such a fantastic read and I'm ready for the next instalment in the saga.
Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an honest review.