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The Shadow of the Gods

Book One of the Bloodsworn Saga

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The Shadow of the Gods

By: John Gwynne
Narrated by: Colin Mace
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Set in a brand-new, Norse-inspired world and packed with myth, magic and bloody vengeance, The Shadow of the Gods begins an epic new fantasy saga from best-selling author John Gwynne.

After the gods warred and drove themselves to extinction, the cataclysm of their fall shattered the land of Vigrið.

Now a new world is rising, where power-hungry jarls feud and monsters stalk the woods and mountains. A world where the bones of the dead gods still hold great power for those brave - or desperate - enough to seek them out.  

As whispers of war echo across the mountains and fjords, fate follows in the footsteps of three people: a huntress on a dangerous quest, a noblewoman who has rejected privilege in pursuit of battle fame and a thrall who seeks vengeance among the famed mercenaries known as the Bloodsworn. 

All three will shape the fate of the world as it once more falls under the shadow of the gods....

©2021 John Gwynne (P)2021 Hachette Audio UK Action & Adventure Epic Epic Fantasy Fantasy Fiction Historical Scary
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Critic reviews

"John Gwynne is one of the modern masters of heroic fantasy." (Adrian Tchaikovsky)

"John Gwynne writes fantasy with the heart of a hero and the inventiveness of a master mage." (Sebastien de Castell)
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Hard to review in it's entirety as I had to give up during the second chapter due to the poor narration. The voice of the narrator is gravelly and has the potential to add much to the audio but his intonation and pacing is very odd so it sounded stilted and halting. I have however read very good reviews of the story and the content is very promising so I will read the book. But if you're used to a high calibre of narrator such as Tim Gerard Reynolds (Red Rising) or Rupert Degas (Kingkiller Chronicles) or Angele Masters (The Crimson Empire series) then sadly this narrator my disappoint.

Poor narrator

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Brilliant performance of a great book - need to pay attention to who is who or you have to go back.

Great immersing adventure

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The characters are well realised but I was a little bored by the lore and magic system. All viewpoint characters are great but only Orka stands out as one I could really sympathise with and want to continue moving forward. We simply don't learn enough about the other two viewpoint characters to care as much.

John Gwynne's prose is beautiful though.

Very good start but hope it gets better

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This book has been a revelation. It is really hard to put into words just how good it is. The setting is exceptionally realised, the pacing brisk, the characters (mostly) likeable, their dialogue sharp. There is an atmosphere here that truly sucks the reader in and does not let go. Can't wait for the next installment.

The saga begins. The making of a classic?

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Borrowing heavily at times from traditional Norse tales (sagas and eddas I think), this book is still a standalone piece of creative writing, and a pretty decent one at that.

I was happy to discover, when arriving at the end, there's another in the series.

The narration is very well done, and the only confusion I found was where I was with the characters, as I'm not used to Scandanavian type names.

New saga from old saga

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