The Hunger of the Gods: 2 (The Bloodsworn Trilogy)

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Then there’s Gudvarr who is a morally ambiguous character, he leans more towards villainy than goodness, the only person he loves apart from himself is his aunt, I bet he can screw her over if his life is on the line. A satisfying and riveting read. It’s everything I’ve come to expect from a John Gwynne book." —Robin Hobb And it is really good. We got even more in depth worldbuilding, more time with the characters I loved in SotG, the mythology of the first book is expanded. Gwynne remains excellent at writing combat, and developing characters that you root for. Gwynne added two new POVs that gave us perspective on the villains and this added a lot to the brewing conflict. The ending of this book was incredible, even better than book 1! 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.

Special thanks to my Patrons on Patreon for giving me extra support towards my passion for reading and reviewing! The writing was great and it is not really a surprise because Gwynne has that atmospheric prose that makes you dive into the story and enjoy it. I think what makes this book stand up are the characters. The story is told through multiple POVs like the first book and the author makes them all intriguing and intertwined in a way that made me think a bit too much about his writing process. I also wish that I had a big map of the world with statues of he characters that I could move along the map and see how everything come together because that’s simply how much I was submerged in the story. 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!The paths of the Battle-Grim and the Bloodsworn collide, as the dragon-god LIk-Rifa, now awoken, makes her plans for world domination, and only the might of another god can hope to oppose her. But that god is also dead, and will need to be raised by mortal hands, and dark magic, if Lik-Rifa is to be defeated. But gods have their own purposes, and the wolf-god Ulfrir is not one to easily suffer being tamed by humans. 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. Orka is still hunting for Breca, and she is using every lead, person, spell, and scrap of information she can find to help her. It’s incredibly touching because, on the way to fulfilling her vengeance, she takes time to help others in need when she does not have to. These actions set her apart and make me root for her even more! She is so unselfish with her fighting talents and uses every opportunity to push people away who are trying to help her because she does not want them to get hurt, or worse. Elvar, on the other hand, is taking the Battle-Grim across the land to carry out her blood promise, and Varg is helping his team find Vol. It is a fun journey, and I relished every second of it. I was hesitant to go into this just because it is a chunky book and I did not remember everything in book one so it was a challenge. Gwynne made my life much easier by including a recap section at the beginning, a glossary for the characters and even a pronunciation guide. Believe me when I say that without those and specially the recap I would not have enjoyed this series and probably would not have continued it. I am not big into rereads and many readers are like me so I think more authors should be doing this small yet very impactful act of including summaries of the previous books in series. The city of the gods. Once we took over the city from the older gods. We decided to reside here. Still some remnants of the older gods still linger in the city. Time and space do not follow the same rules here. Sun doesn't warm you and death is not the same once you walk these streets." - The New Gods when asked about Ma'habre.

Orka is just one of the best book characters I have ever read, full stop. I thought this woman threw down in the first book but here she takes it to another level. Do we need to talk about the eye?!!! She is the definition of F around and find out! I loved her new crew and of course Lif has a special place in my heart. But the scene stealers for me are Spert and Vessli! I love these little weirdo demons so much! This is an incredible followup to what is fast becoming one of my favorite series of all time. John Gwynne is a master of his craft, and his characters in this story are (in my opinion) the best he's ever created. First of all huge thanks to the publisher and author for approving my request on NetGaMy biggest complaint about this book is in the characters. They all have strong motivations, and this book helps us to understand intellectually what their goals and needs are. However, this book does not seem concerned with helping us feel what the characters are feeling. Many of the characters have revenge quests that should feel emotionally charged, and yet the book prioritized the action of the plot over those emotions. I was delighted by the beginning of the book, which included a character list and a summary of book 1. Very helpful! 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.

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. The player character can explore Ma'habre during their gameplay, and a significant number of game endings hinge on visiting this location. Access to Ma'habre is situated in close proximity to Le'garde's cell, within Level 7 - Catacombs. To enter Ma'habre, the player must possess the Cube of the Depths.Hunger of the Gods is the second book in the epic Bloodsworn trilogy by John Gwynne and is another amazing entry in the series. When I first read Shadow of the Gods, I was blown away and the well written characters and breathtaking action. Hunger of the Gods delivers more of the same great cast (including a new highlight) but suffers from a few pacing issues and middle book syndrome. (some spoilers for the first book follow) A masterclass in storytelling . . . epic, gritty fantasy with an uncompromising amount of heart."— FanFiAddict on The Shadow of the Gods The POVs in this book are slightly expanded. In book one the focus was pretty much on three main characters, however we get a little bit of a wider scope in THE HUNGER OF THE GODS and this makes sense given that the story is expanding considerably as well. That being said, I didn't mind the fact that we experience some other characters' journeys and it wasn't confusing as their stories intersect with the main characters much of the time. So Gwynne has definitely given us a broader view of the players in book two and the results are spectacular. The third POV is that of Elvar, warrior of noble birth, still trying to prove herself, and seek acclaim, among the indomitable Battle-Grim mercenaries. After overcoming challenges to her leadership, Elvar now leads the Battle-Grim, and is discovering the burdens of that leadership. She must lead the Battle-Grim to further riches and glory, and all while accomplishing the mission that binds her to Upsa, which is to rescue Upsa’s son. But all roads seem to lead to Elvar confronting her past, her noble upbringing, and the ruthless father who she spurned, to forge her own path. According to Miro Haverinen, the appearance of the city was inspired by the ancient Mesopotamian cultures. These may include ancient civilizations like Sumer, Akkad, Babylon, and Elam (though the Elamites were situated in the Zagros mountains in Persia or modern day Iran).