The Fury of the Gods by John Gwynne

Review by Samantha M. Siciliano

THIS IS THE THIRD INSTALLMENT IN THE BLOODSWORN SERIES! If you haven’t read my review for the first or second book, they were posted on June 1, 2025 and June 12, 2025 (the post before this one). 

Hey friends! First, before you read this fun review, I would love it if you could push the blue follow button to the right of this review, maybe even add your email address to get updates, and share with a friend you think may enjoy this (or on your social media of choice)! I would greatly appreciate it!

Also, below at the end of the article is a comment box! Feel free to leave comments, let me know what you loved about the book or the review, any questions you might have, or if you have something to add! I love learning and discussing books! Please be positive and friendly to our writers! I try my best to post on the first of the month! Enjoy!

Thank you for reading, sharing, and becoming a part of this reading community!

Quick Summary:

The Fury of the Gods is a POV Norse fantasy that follows the journeys of five main characters: Varg, Orka, Elvar, Biorr, and Gudvarr. Four gods are now alive and free, trying to find their places in the world 300 years after Gudfalla. There are epic battles, characters, and spectacular world building. If you love reading about intense battles, this is the book for you! Welcome, to the Fury of the Gods.

The Review:

I finished this book hours ago and I am still sitting here, trying to figure out how to write a review, without spoiling the ending of the book. John Gwynne did a fantastic job of utilizing his characters to tell the story of what was happening throughout the major battle for Vigrid. It was awesome to read from the perspectives of each warring side to understand the motivations of the POV character as well as what the gods were thinking, the battle plans, and to just hear from some of the secondary characters that we have grown to love. I think Gwynne was really able to weave the characters together in a way that not only enhanced the story, but allowed the reader to feel like they were right there in the moment. 

The battles and the war for Vigrid where beyond impressive. I was grimacing when weapons struck hard against bodies, I felt my stomach lurch when weapons or shields were pulled away, I was tense when the gods were throwing each other around. And at the end, I felt like a warrior rising from behind my book. I read about all the destruction and dead that were surrounding the characters and thanked my lucky stars that I survived, as well as some of the characters I cared most about. Unfortunately, we lost some to the soul road. That made me want to savor what the future would now hold for the survivors. Also, two characters that I wanted to become a couple did and that made me absolutely so happy! If you are not a fan of battles or reading about them, you may find this book a bit boring. But I really enjoyed the fast, heated pace of the battles. 

The best part of the book was that it wrapped up so nicely. The characters were able to avenge family and friends, communities were able to start rebuilding in the new world, and oaths that were made were kept. 

I know this review is short and really doesn’t go into details of the book, I just don’t want to spoil the ending because it really is so satisfying. This book receives the whopping 4.5/5 stars. The only reason for the lower star is because I would have liked more with individual character development. This book was more about actions and planning and being the most cunning which was great. However, I just love little quests and excursions that help characters develop more. Overall, I am so glad that I have read this series. I will have these books in my thought cage for a very long time.

IN CONCLUSION, READ THE FRACKING BOOK!

Up Next: The Egyptian by Mika Waltari

The Hunger of the Gods by John Gwynne

Review by: Samantha M. Siciliano

THIS IS THE SECOND BOOK IN THE BLOODSWORN SERIES! If you haven’t read my review for the first book, it was posted on June 1, 2025 (the post before this one). 

Hey friends! First of all, before you read this fun review, I would love it if you could push the blue follow button to the right of this review, maybe even add your email address to get updates, and share with a friend you think may enjoy this (or on your social media of choice)! I would greatly appreciate it!

Also, below at the end of the article is a comment box! Feel free to leave comments, let me know what you loved about the book or the review, any questions you might have, or if you have something to add! I love learning and discussing books! Please be positive and friendly to our writers! I try my best to post on the first of the month! Enjoy!

Thank you for reading, sharing, and becoming a part of this reading community!

Quick Summary:

The Hunger of the Gods is a POV Norse fantasy that follows the journeys of five main characters: Varg, Orka, Elvar, Biorr, and Gudvarr. Some of the gods are back from the dead, or, released from their prison. There are epic sagas, character developments, and spectacular world building. The one thing I loved about this fantasy was that there were no flashbacks. You were finding out the past of the three main characters when they talked about it with others.

The Review:

I think John Gwynne did an even better job of pulling me into the second book, and I have no idea how that is even possible. I was super hesitant at first when he added two new POVs, but about 100 pages in I loved it. I was getting fresh insight into what was happening all over Varid and Iskidan by first-hand accounts. At the end of every chapter, I was wanting more from that character. At the beginning of every new chapter, I was reminded why I didn’t want that characters last POV to end and reading as fast as I could to find out what was next. Hell, I was even cheering for the anti-hero at some points because I wanted the far more assholish character to pay for what they had done!

Time to discuss characters, and if you don’t want spoilers… well I would stop here! 

Let’s start with Varg. Watching Varg No-Sense grow has been awesome! He is becoming such a skilled team member that really cares about his Bloodsworn brothers and sisters. He has become proficient in controlling the wolf within his blood. Hell, even Svik and Rokia are shocked at how much he has grown throughout the book! I think my favorite chapters included him on the Sea Wolf puking his guts out. I’m just kidding! But seriously, my favorite battle for Varg was between the Bloodsworn and the Tongue Eaters. I was not expecting them! I thought for sure they are going to get into a battle on the sea, but I thought it was going to be with typical humans, not tongue eaters! Varg’s disgust towards them is exactly how I felt when Glornir pulled a tongue eater out of the mouth of one Jaromir’s men. Shock and disgust. I felt that in my soul, ha! Varg and the Bloodsworn spent most of the book chasing after Vol, Glornir’s partner and the seidr witch of the group. They were really going to the ends of the Earth to locate her and save her from her captors throughout the book. Also, my favorite secondary character is in Varg’s POV, Svik. He is just so damn funny and wise. I enjoy reading the love he has for Rokia and Varg. It’s very cute and fun. Also, Svik and his cheese, am I right?

Orka. Man, this woman pulls at my heartstrings. I feel my inner wolf wanting to rise and attack when I am reading from her POV. She has Lif with her and he has grown a lot and has become more confident in himself! Orka also takes on 3 Bloodsworn who want to follow her and help her on her quest to find Breca, her son. I really enjoy how she doesn’t want to be chief, but she does take on the responsibility of a chief and try to protect everyone in her group. Her ability to play mind chess with her opponents is just so damn impressive. There were a few times I went “Oh shit, this is going to go south quickly” to “Holey moley, how in the world did they pull that off?” My favorite battle for them was when Orka and her team took out the Skraeling at the farm in the north. I loved the strategy, the excitement, and the comradery when they meet others on the farm. I hope they show up again in the third book!

Elvar was a freaking star this book! I loved her! I wanted more every chapter. I was impressed by Elvar’s deep cunning and how she had been thinking ahead of me by tenfold. I couldn’t keep up with my predictions! I enjoyed two epic scenes with her that I just cannot stop thinking about. The holmganga between her and Huld to decide who was going to become chief of the Battle-Grim and the encounter with Elvar and her father, Jarl Storr. When Elvar and Huld were battling, I really didn’t want it to happen. In my mind, I thought Elvar was going to die because of her weak shoulder. But she ended up winning and becoming chief because of her deep cunning ability. I was amazed and I am pretty sure I held my breath reading through most of that part. However, this was absolutely NOTHING compared to her encounter with her father! I mean, WOW. I literally read that chapter twice because it was so absolutely good! I knew shit was going to go down, but SHIT WENT DOWN! Also, I did get my wish from my first review, we do learn more about Elvar’s mother.

Like I said, I wasn’t a huge fan of the two added characters at first, but after about 100 pages, I was all in. I knew what the motivations for the characters were and I became less mad at them, and then I hated them both at the end of the book again. Reflecting on this book, these two characters were essential in gaining knowledge of what was happening to Lik Rifa’s, Queen Helka’s, and Skald’s movements. I think it only brought more information, pizzaz, and insights into the book.  

I’m going to start with Biorr. Biorr is a very complicated character. I loathed him entirely at the end of the first book. However, he started to grow on me again in his new role with his community. However, I didn’t like that he was working for Lik Rifa, but I did enjoy seeing how much he was struggling with his earlier decisions and how that impacted him. It really made him seem like a guy who was just caught in a hard place. And then he has to become a real asshole again near the end of the book. I can’t tell if it’s out of fear that he makes his decisions or if it is because he is a sincere asshole. Either way, I’m angry at him… but also let’s be honest, if I was working with a dragon god and a rat god that could read my thoughts, I’d probably be scared shitless and do what they told me and be miserable in my thought cage. 

Gudvarr was an asshole at the beginning. Then turned into my anti-hero. And then he turned into a fucking villain again. I was on such a roller coaster with him. I honestly am sitting here and wondering how the hell I talk about this sleazy asshole without giving his whole story away. The whole book he is just thinking about what is good for himself, not anyone else. He thinks he is almighty and powerful and just deserves the best for himself in life without working for it. He rides on the coattails of others. He starts out by following his jarl of an aunt. Then he thinks he will get more power and fame if he aligns himself with Queen Helka and Skald. Then he is a supreme asshole again (but also called it because he is a dick). I swear he is just the worst! His nose dripping all the time is disgusting, too. But he is so well written and crafted by John Gwynne. 

Seriously, all these characters are so well written and will somehow make you cheer them on at one point. They will make you grab your hair as you read and go OMG, WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED, and HOW did that work!? John Gwynne is a very talented author that just amazes me as I sit back and reflect on what I have just finished. It was amazing!

Prediction for book three: the gods somehow become free and Snaka comes to life…

IN CONCLUSION, READ THE FRACKING BOOK!

Up Next: The Fury of the Gods by John Gwynne

The Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne

Review by: Samantha M. Siciliano

Hey friends! First of all, before you read this fun review that I have worked on, I would love it if you could push the blue follow button to the right of this review, maybe even add your email address to get updates, and share with a friend you think may enjoy this (or on your social media of choice)! I would greatly appreciate it!

Also, below at the end of the article is a comment box! Feel free to leave comments, let me know what you loved about the book or the review, any questions you might have or if you would like more clarity, or if you have something to add! I love learning and discussing books! Please be positive and friendly to our writers! I try my best to post on the first of the month! Enjoy!

Thank you for reading, sharing, and becoming a part of this reading community!

Quick Summary:

The Shadow of the Gods is a POV Norse fantasy that follows the journeys of three main characters: Varg, Orka, and Elvar. It’s kind of an apocalyptic read in the sense that the gods had fought an insane battle and ended up destroying themselves, so those left behind are finding new ways of life (about 300 years later). There are epic sagas, character developments, and world building. The one thing I loved about this fantasy was that there were no flashbacks. You were finding out the past of the three main characters when they talked about it with others.

The Review:

Boy oh boy, where in the hell do I start?! This book was fantastic. I should preface this with the fact that this book was picked out by my wonderful husband as he knows I love Vikings, mythology, and character development. This book had it all! This was my first experience reading John Gwynne and he freaking knocked it out of the park! When I first started reading the book, I kept on forgetting that this was fantasy and there was magic (that wasn’t overpowering in the sense that they could knock out whole armies) both natural born and learned and mythology. 

The first thing that I loved was that he placed me right in the thought- cages of the characters. I was learning about their lives, their motivations, and their pasts as I was reading. At the end of almost every chapter (which were mostly short and great for an ADHD mind), I was wanting more from that character and was upset that I had to read a new character! I loved that I was able to predict quite a few things, but there were some twists that I did not see coming in which my jaw dropped! There were several times I told my husband that I was loving this book and wanted to read more but couldn’t because I was tired and afraid I would miss some important detail. 

The world building was so much fun! I was taken into mead halls and taverns where I could smell the smells and almost taste the foods. Then there are places like Snakavik which is a ginormous head of a skeleton in which a large community lives in! There is an actual city, in the head of a former god. HOW FANTASTIC IS THAT?! Or the Boneback Mountains which is the spine of a former god! I was onboard amazing ships with large crews. I travelled through acres of woods. And there was a map to help me understand where I was relative to each of the characters I was reading about. 

Okay here’s where I talk about the characters, and if you don’t want spoilers… well I would stop here! I really just need to write about them and I want to talk about them to anyone who will listen! I liked how these tropes were not new, but fresh. They weren’t the exact stereotypical tropes you read about in every fantasy book! I have heard that Gwynne likes to pull the rug from underneath you when you least expect it, so I will keep looking to see if one of these characters (please don’t be Orka or Varg) will die. I don’t think my heart will be able to handle it!

We will start with Varg first! Varg is a thrall (slave) that escapes his enslavers and enters into a life of being a Bloodsworn member. First, of all, I had absolutely no idea that the whole time I was reading, the name Varg means wolf. To find out he was part of the Tainted (part human and part descendent of a god). He belongs to clan Ulfrir, which is the wolf god. IT WAS LITERALLY IN FRONT OF MY FACE THE WHOLE TIME!!! But I had figured out he was Tainted before too long when he would talk about his life as a thrall. The thing I loved about Varg is he didn’t know much about being a Viking and life in the Bloodsworn, which was really nice because I was able to learn about Viking customs and traditions as well as the brotherhood/sisterhood of the group. They are fiercely loyal to each other and want to protect each other. Also, I really enjoyed watching Varg go from only having a great relationship with his sister and not trusting others, to learning to embrace others and care about them as they did him. He definitely had the most character growth in my opinion. His motivation to find out what happened to his sister was what drove him into this new life and it was great to see him find a new home.

Then there is Orka. Orka had to be my favorite character, just because I am hot headed and understand a need of protecting those closest to me. Orka is married to Thorkel and they have a son named Breca. They live on a farm, have a few animals, and 2 vaesen. Their names are Spert and Vesli and they help protect the farm. Unfortunately, Orka’s farm is attacked by outsiders, killing Thorkel and kidnapping Breca. Orka’s motivation is to find her son and demolish anybody who stands in her way. But before she parts to find her son, she ends up going into the town nearest to her house and seeing two acquaintances of hers, Mord and Lif, beaten and tied up for trying to kill a person in the Jarl’s guard. She releases them and they join her on her mission even though she really doesn’t want them too. I think the main reason is that she doesn’t want to be responsible for any more people and their fates as she knows how dangerous the mission she is on will be. Orka’s actions are very much guided by her morals and how her son views the world, and I thought that was really cute as it showed her softer side, which wasn’t easy to always see with her aggressive behavior. She is a badass warrior that I just want to keep talking about but won’t as I’m not going to completely spoil the book for the readers!

Then there is Elvar. I would say she was the least interesting out of the three characters to me, but that doesn’t mean that I didn’t like reading about her! Her character motivation wasn’t something I expected. She is a member of the Battle Grim, but she has a royal bloodline. I really appreciate that she wanted to make her own name for herself, not just stay royalty and live a life she wouldn’t have enjoyed. She has a chosen family of Grend and the Battle Grim. Grend is always there protecting her and keeping an eye on her as he had made an oath to Elvar’s mother… I need to know more about Elvar’s mother. She has a close connection to the group’s leader, Agnor who is a very strong, smart, and strategic warrior. Elvar is not a weakling. She fights with her heart and spirit and truly wants to earn her own battle fame. She must make two very difficult decisions in the book and I did appreciate those mental battles and unclear maneuvers. 

I would rate this book a 5/5! I was wanting to read all day and night, urging myself to read just one more chapter! I loved the beautiful character developments of not only the main characters, but the secondary characters as well. The world building was not overwhelming and there weren’t flashbacks that lasted 30 or more pages! None at all. I’m on my next adventure to figure out what the hell happens to all of the characters in book 2! Thanks John Gwynne!

IN CONCLUSION, READ THE FRACKING BOOK!

Up Next: The Hunger of the Gods by John Gwynne