So, ich wollte diesem Buch doch eine zweite Chance geben. Denn, so hatte ich gehört, es solle wohl immer besser werden. Was soll ich sagen: In diesem Buch geht es ums Kämpfen. Wenn es mal drei Seiten ohne Blut oder Tote gab, wurde ich fast schon skeptisch. Und ich wurde auch nicht enttäuscht, spätestens danach musste jemand sein Leben lassen. Wer den Fokus auf Krieg und Kämpfen mag, eingebettet in eine nordische Welt, der ist hier goldrichtig. Es werden Äxte geschwungen, Speere geworfen und im Zweifel auch die Fäuste eingesetzt. Alles ist erlaubt, solange es den Gegner bezwingt. Dabei fand ich die Welt sehr faszinierend - Menschen mit Blut von Göttern, Götter in Bäumen oder Exemplare, die das Haus beschützen, toll gemacht. Nur hatte ich leider kaum etwas von der Welt, weil relativ schnell alles stets in Blut versank. Zu den Charakteren: Auch nach gut 400 Seiten waren sie für mich austauschbar. Sie hatten zwar ihre Story, doch das reichte mir nicht. Ob sie nun ihre Familie befreien/rächen wollten oder ein anderes Motiv hatten für den Kampf - es blieb für mich leider etwas farblos. Von daher, ich habe das erste Buch geschafft und auch nach diesem muss ich feststellen, dass John Gwynne und ich leider keine Freunde werden. 😞

Almost nothing about the story is bad - quite the opposite, actually. But everything moves at a glacial pace, and just when the plot finally starts to get going, the book just ends. In total, 2 out of 3 main characters were a hit. Orca? Compelling. Varg? Yes, please. But Elvar? She’s just boring to me. Literally everything else about her storyline was more interesting than she was.

John Gwynnes "The Shadow of the Gods" entfesselt eine mitreißende Wikinger-Fantasy, inspiriert von nordischer Mythologie - und doch etwas komplett eigenständiges - in der blutige Schlachten und starke Charaktere im Mittelpunkt stehen. In einer Welt, die von den Nachwirkungen gefallener Götter gezeichnet ist, kämpfen Söldner, Überlebende, Krieger und Sklaven ums Überleben und um die Macht, die in den Überresten dieser göttlichen Wesen schlummert. Die Kämpfe sind brutal, taktisch und intensiv beschrieben. Jede Auseinandersetzung fühlt sich roh und authentisch an. Ob Schwertduelle, Schildwälle oder erbarmungslose Überfälle, Gwynne fängt die Härte des Krieges meisterhaft ein. Doch was die Geschichte wirklich trägt, sind die Charaktere: Krieger mit tragischen Vergangenheiten, Suchende mit ungewissen Zielen und Kämpfer, die sich gegen ihr eigenes Schicksal stellen. Jeder von ihnen bringt eine eigene Perspektive in die Geschichte ein, was die emotionale Wucht der Erzählung noch verstärkt. Meine persönliche Favoritin ist eindeutig Orka. Eine Ehefrau und Mutter - gnadenlos, furchtlos und getrieben von der Liebe zu ihrer Familie. Sie kämpft mit brutaler Effizienz gegen alles, was sich ihr in den Weg stellt. Schon lange keinen so gut geschriebenen weiblichen Hauptcharakter mehr gehabt. Wer epische Fantasy mit tiefgründigen Figuren und gnadenlosen Kämpfen sucht, wird hier fündig!

There are tons of books out there, which are titled as "the next game of thrones" and most of them aren´t, they are just good high fantasy books with a dragon and maybe some family issues, but not at all GoT-esque. This Book right here has not a Sticker with this comparison, but IT SHOULD! I only read the first GoT Book and it was quiet good, I was more into the HBO-Series and GoT had a huge Impact on me, because it made me to the Fantasy Fan I am now. Shadow of the Gods doesn´t need to be compared to GoT, all I am trying to say is that after the Finale from GoT lots of people tried to find something similar to the that what GoT gave them. Lots of them grinded the Witcher Series on Netflix and tried to read the books afterwards, yes tried...because in all honor, but Sapkowski is really hard to read for non-fantasy readers. Gwynne isn´t hard to read, Gwynne is Fun to read, it is fast paced, there is tension, twists, awesome fights (I hate fight scenes in books) and brilliant characters and dialogues. I just swallowd this book and never wanted it to end. Finally I have now something in common with George R.R. Martin fans, the urge to read along and the bittersweet pain of waiting for the next book to be released.

4,5/5 STARS [The first part of the review is spoiler-free, the second involves spoilers] The Shadow of the Gods is a norse-mythology inspired, high-fantasy novel and follows three main characters: a thrall, who swore a blood oath to avenge his sister, a huntress who found her peace with the man and kid she loved but finds herself leaving her small paradise and a fierce female drengr, aiming for her battlefame to build a legacy on her own. The viewpoints of these three alternate and draw you in, right from the beginning. The pace felt pretty slow to me, at first, but it picked up, up, up – up until I wasn’t able to tear my eyes away from these chapters. This is high fantasy in its’ finest form: world-building so detailed you will feel overwhelmed at some point, but you’re so intrigued to understand it, that you simply go on thinking “It’ll make sense at some point” and it does. It has to be said, that it is pretty obvious this is the first part of a series that’s aiming for more than a duology. I guess we should buckle up, because those books are going to be a ride, if this one’s an indicator. Anyone looking for romance in this is probably the only reader I’d advise to choose a different book. Okay, also people who have trouble with graphic descriptions of violence. Everyone else? Go read this. But maybe wait, until the sequel is out because this sets up a bigger story. ############# SPOILERS FOLLOWING ############## It took me a while to get a connection to these characters, all three of them fierce and strong, not yielding to their enemies or destinies and ever fighting. I adore characters like these but it was a bit like a slowburn romance for me: I needed a while to understand them, their motives and goals, their doubts and sorrows. But when I did I was a goner for all three of them. I started to really want to see them all succeed, which is rare for me, because I usually tend to like a part of the characters, but never all of them. Orka was the first to draw me in, because her strength was visible and palpable from page one. I think I wanted to like Elvar, as soon as I started reading more of her story, but it took me a little longer than the time, in which Varg had already grown on me. All three have companions, who do annoy sometimes but they became so likeable to me, that some chapters really crushed me. I enjoyed the main plot, though I was always wondering when and how those three storylines would collide or interweave, as well as what united those three characters with all the things dividing them. I expected it to be earlier in the story, but I’m not entirely surprised of the time it took to get to that point either, to be honest. This is a major set-up for the following books and I’m not even mad about it (except for the fact that I’ll have to wait two more months, until I’ll be able to continue this ride). The art of adding little stories, folklore and myths of this world into the main plot was insanely well-done and I’m absolutely here for a “Svik’s Tales”-book, if there ever were one. The side characters all have their respective, well-formed personalities and are consistent throughout the story, which is a nice thing to see and to read about. The companions of the main characters thus make a good portion of the tension and main storyline, all the while also creeping into the reader’s heart (some more than others, go Einar!). I pride myself on being a well-read person, who is able to see through a lot of the typical author’s tricks but boy oh boy, did the betrayal in this book blindside me. I was so happy for my girl Elvar, finding her way and fun and maybe a little bit more and then boom, the utter disappointment, rage and sadness of betrayal hit. Okay, I’m so freaking curious about how this story evolves that I can’t wait for April and the sequel of The Shadow of the Gods.

Irgendwie gelang es mir das ganze Buch über nicht zu folgen beziehungsweise den bereits gelesen Inhalt zu erinnern. Mir fehlte hier komplett die Struktur und der rote Faden. Fand es wirklich schwer dem ganzen zu folgen. Werde dem zweiten Teil dennoch eine Chance geben, da ich ihn schon hier habe und viele Menschen die Reihe zu lieben scheinen.

Die nordisch-geprägte Geschichte bildet eine interessante Grundlage für das Buch. Der Autor schafft es, die Welt in Stil von Vikings zu erschaffen und diese gekonnt mit modernen Aspekten (Weibliche Kriegerinnen) zu verbinden. Das Buch enthält 3 Sichtweisen von Orca, Varg und Elvar, die abwechselnd geschildert werden. Trotz der interessanten Ansätze im Buch (Nordische Sagen gepaart mit Fantasy-Elementen) schafft der Autor es nicht, einen roten Faden durch die drei Sichtweisen zu erstellen. Ich fand die Geschichte teils sehr langweilig, konzeptionslos und nicht wirklich spannend. Leider keine Leseempfehlung.

An epic fantasy book revolving around the Norse mythology. We follow our three protagonists, Orka; a mother on the mission to hunt down the kidnappers who took her son who will strike down everyone and everything standing in her way. Varg; a former thrall, now member of the infamous Bloodsworn, with his only goal being to revenge the murder of his sister. Elvar; she gave up a life of comfort to become a member of a band of mercanaries, the Battle Grim. Every of these three characters grew on me, especially Varg. All of them had their character development, but the growth of Varg's character was the greatest. He started serving his master as a thrall, then being on the run as he is wanted for murder, having nothing, knowing only how to fight with his fists. Then compulsorily joining the infamous mercanary group the Bloodsworn to achieve his seemingly only goal: to revenge his sister. He encounters many hardships and, always only having his sister by his side, suddenly he is surrounded by Bloodsworn members he can call his family. The journeys of our three protagonists seem to be the same, but run parallel to each other. But their seperate paths ultimatively cross, when their goals intertwine. If you're a fan of the Norse mythology, strong characters, found families, mythical beasts like gigantic sea snakes, spiders being as big as boars or enormous wolfes, Norse gods who once roamed the world: this book is for you. Be aware that this book has a slow start, but I don´t necessarily see that as a negative point. The world and the character need their time to be properly introduced.

DNFed at 35%. I was so excited for this book due to its premise and the high-rate reviews. I wanted to like it, but it ended up being a disappointment for me. I will start with the positive aspects, for which this book still deserves a couple of stars. First, it is a well written book, well-thought and with graphic descriptions. Unfortunately, that's it for me. Not even the dragon was a good ground enough to keep going. Why it did not work for me? 1. Plot: absent. Practically, nothing happens. Each chapter is about a battle of some sorts. I can argue of course that something might happen later on in the book and I just missed it. Yes, true. However, even in the hughest-rate reviews the lack of plot is mentioned and that did not give me any hope to go on. 2. Characterization: that's probably the main reason why I abandoned this book. We followed three characters, but they all sound pretty similar and besides for their name at the beginning of each chapter, I could not really say who was talking. Plus, I did not feel any connection for the characters. We are not told their motivations, so that I could get an impression of what the story could lead nor to feel any emotions for their choices. 3. World: the world did not catch my interest. The old gods are now dead and their bones are valuable, dragons feed on teeth. Ah. The author makes use of norse-inspired and partially invented words, of which I could not always find the meaning on the internet and this made my reading experience pretty frustrating. Sometimes, I could figure it out from the context or from viking-inspired TV series but was not always sure if what I imagined matched what the author meant. A glossary would have been of great help. Even if this book did not work out for me, I will still give the author a chance and read his other series. maybe that will work better for me.

Man nehme einige blutrünstige Wikinger, ein wenig nordisches Flair, eine handvoll toter Götter sowie ne gute Portion Schlachtenruhm, Haferbrei und Scramasaxe, mische alles mit ein wenig Videospiel-Atmosphäre et voilà: The Shadow of the Gods (dt. Nordnacht). Wir folgen Orka, Varg und Elvar kapitelweise durch ihre Geschichte, wobei sich die beiden Stränge von Elvar und Varg zunächst sehr ähneln. Beide gehören sie einer Söldnertruppe an und haben einen ähnlichen Zusammenhalt innerhalb dieser. Da kam ich manchmal etwas durcheinander. Die Motivation der beiden ist jedoch unterschiedlich - Elvar kämpft für den ultimativen Schlachtenruhm, Varg aus Rache und Liebe für seine Schwester. Orka hingegen führt ein eigentlich ruhiges Leben mit ihrer kleinen Familie, bis ihr dieses gewaltsam entrissen wird. Jeder der drei Charaktere ist auf seiner ganz eigenen Reise und insbesondere die Geschichten von Varg und Orka haben es mir angetan. Zu Elvar fehlte mir bis kurz vor Ende des Buches schlicht der Zugang. Im Laufe der Handlung werden diese drei Stränge langsam aber sicher zueinander geführt und nach und nach verwoben. Das funktionierte für mich hervorragend und besonders das Ende lässt mich auf einen tollen zweiten Teil hoffen. Ich habe das Buch sehr gerne gelesen und empfehle es jedem, der es mal was blutrünstiger mag und kein Problem mit Scramasaxen, Haferbrei oder riesigen Hoden hat.