The Shadow of the Gods is the first book in John Gwynne's new Norse-inspired series! It follows the intertwining journeys of three individuals: Orka- the warrior and loving wife and mother on the hunt for answers, Varg - the former slave turned mercenary on a quest for vengeance, and Elvar - the noblewoman seeking battle fame and glory. The dead gods do not get their own points-of-view but they are the driving forces always in the background.

The pacing of The Shadow of the Gods was very steady and compelling with an infinitely more manageable number of points-of-view to follow. For the first half of the story, I was a lot more interested in Orka and Varg's journey but Elvar's eventually becomes more interesting. Orka stole the show for me but I'm pretty invested in the all three character's outcomes.

The world-building is top-notch and I'd expect nothing less from John Gwynne. Magic, mythology, and Viking lore are seamlessly blended into the world of Vigrid and Gwynne manages to depict it masterfully without having any large sections of information dumping.

Overall, this is an excellent to start to what I expect to be a phenomenal fantasy series. 

Thanks so much to the Netgalley and the publisher for the e-arc!