Book Review | The Hunger of the Gods by John Gwynne
Wow, it has been a while since I’ve done a book review; I haven’t read anything I was super excited to talk about, recently… in fact, the last time I read something I really wanted to discuss and review, it was the predecessor to today's book (yeah, it was that long ago). So today, I’m excited to talk about the second book in John Gwynne’s Bloodsworn Saga: The Hunger of the Gods. This epic fantasy story is filled with all sorts of things to love and I’m so ready to give my thoughts on it, so let’s dive right into the review.
Spoiler-Free Thoughts
I will begin with my Spoiler-Free thoughts on the book, for those who haven’t yet read The Hunger of the Gods and are just looking for an overview and recommendation. In short: yes, you absolutely should buy this book. What, you want more details than that? You aren’t just going to take what I say at face value? I haven’t earned your trust.
Fine.
John Gwynne’s The Hunger of the Gods is an action-packed fantasy set in a remarkably unique and refreshing fantasy world. The only thing in the story that is more compelling than its setting is its character work. The characters in this story are all unique, with voices you can easily follow. Often, I feel I could follow a conversation among multiple characters even if there weren’t any dialogue tags; that’s how excellently the characters in John Gwynne’s world are written. You know them, which is hard for an author to pull off.
The story is filled with twists, turns, and revelations that will continue to surprise you. In addition to those surprising moments, there are moments you predict or hope will take place that are so masterful when they do finally happen. I distinctly recall saying to myself, “Oh hell yeah!” while reading this story because something I wanted to see happened. John Gwynne’s mastery of payoff continues to shine in this story, and I can’t give it anything less than five stars.
However, I will note that my complaint about the prior book, Shadow of the Gods, does carry over to Hunger of the Gods. There’s quite a bit of repetition in this story. Most notably are the constant need to refer to weapons by their names rather than just say “her weapon” or “his blade,” which gets quite old when people are constantly “drawing their axe and seax”. He also tends to say that people were falling over laughing… often. And often when the joke didn’t really seem to warrant that sort of response. These complaints are really the only nitpicks I have with the book, and they’re hardly worth mentioning, but these repetitions did jump out at me and pull me out of the story a few times.
Next, I’m going to get to my more spoiler-filled thoughts on the story, so if you haven’t yet read The Hunger of the Gods, I’d suggest you do so before you proceed to the next part of my review. You’ve been warned!
Seriously, spoilers are ahead.
Spoiler-Filled Thoughts
I wasn’t entirely sold on this book being as good as Shadow of the Gods at first. I definitely didn’t feel like it would be better than the first book but had the potential to be on par with it. Then, a little over halfway through the book, everything changed. Those of you who have read the book and who know what I like are likely pretty sure what it is that triggered this response in me.
Zombie. Pirates.
Zombie pirates.
And not just zombie pirates, zombie pirates that are superbly unique and incredibly well done. They’re not like typical undead pirates that you’ll see in most zombie pirate tales. Instead, these zombie pirates are sailors who were infested with a tongue-eating, mind-controlling parasite that brings them to a zombie-like state. The parasites are like a bizarre cross between a tapeworm and the zombie-ant fungus (I’m not going to try to pronounce its actual name). They are fascinating and terrifying creatures that resulted in some incredibly tense, high-stress scenes where it felt like everyone was in danger, even one of our main characters. I loved this scene and got so excited when I reached it. I hope that we can see more of these things in the future, but I also know that this is a trilogy that needs to be wrapped up in the next book, so I understand if there isn’t time for more zombie pirate shenanigans.
But still… ZOMBIE PIRATES!
The next thing that led to me deciding that this book was an improvement over the original was the ending. Two specific scenes really sold me on this being an outstanding work. First, Orka’s death. This was shocking and well-earned. The second was the killing of Orna by Lik-Rifa, which I did not expect for even a second. I probably should have, as all the signs were there—masterful foreshadowing by John Gwynne, there—but I just didn’t think it was going to happen, let alone in the last few pages of this book!
But let’s begin with Orka’s death before we dive into Orna’s.
One of the things that I wasn’t enjoying about this series was the sense of safety. Despite the high stakes, I really felt like our main cast was entirely safe from the plot. They seemed nigh-on-invincible. Even Einar Half-Troll suffered a bump on the head rather than being outright killed (though losing him from the crew was still disheartening). Then, right as the story was ending and Orka had found her son, she was killed by a frost spider. A frost spider of all things. It was profound storytelling. Gwynne set up Orka as having a goal and then he allowed her to achieve it… only to have her son swept down a river while she fought to buy him some time with her dying breath. What a well-earned, powerful ending for one of the most well-written, awesome warrior moms in fantasy.
As much as I loved Orka, I hope this isn’t a situation where she is brought back from the dead. I think that her death was earned, and I’d hate to see it cheapened by resurrection (one of my least favorite tropes). Maybe if Gwynne does bring her back it’ll be in a way that doesn’t feel cheap, but I really hope that he allows Orka to remain dead. Her loss is a tragedy, but it is a well-earned and deserved tragedy. I found her death to be poetically written and I don’t want it undone. I want to see people struggle to carry on and find hope without her, only to do so nonetheless.
Maybe that’s just me, though.
Next, Orna’s death. Holy crap, that was excellent. It gave me some strong Storm of Swords or Dark Age vibes with how shocking and plot-changing it was. I am a sucker for these scenes, even though I know that they’re becoming a little tropey in and of themselves (a shame how that happens). I would be exhausted if we had moments like this in every story out there, but I am elated when they happen. Curveballs like this are the sort of things that I live for.
It’s interesting having characters who are cowardly, weak, and slimy elevated to positions of considerable power. This is another trope that I appreciate. Rewarding people who should not be rewarded because they are conniving and sniveling is something that I really enjoy because it creates a villain that you’re going to love watching die. You know they aren’t going to die fighting well; they’re going to die pleading for protection or salvation. That’s something I love, and the cowardice displayed by Gu∂var sets him up to be such a character (as does Rotta’s attitude, which makes me feel much the same way).
I’m excited for these characters to die, but I’m more excited to see how the aftermath of their sleazy betrayal plays out. With so much at stake and so many character arcs coming to an end, I know John Gwynne will deliver something AMAZING with the conclusion to this trilogy. And speaking of conclusions…
Discworld Read-Along Reminder
As a reminder, I'm currently doing a read-along of Terry Pratchett's Discworld series (in its entirety)! Today, October 5th, is the day that we are discussing The Colour of Magic. If you want to participate in the discussion, just read the book and then check out my posts on Instagram and Twitter! If you participate in the discussion on October 5th, then there's a chance I'll discuss your contribution in the upcoming video next Wednesday, which will be more of a deep-dive into The Colour of Magic.
Conclusion
How could I possibly give John Gwynne’s Hunger of the Gods anything less than five stars? It was remarkably well-written, hyper-engaging, and incredibly compelling. I loved every minute of this story and was always excited to return to the tale when I had the opportunity. Hunger of the Gods has everything I want in a fantasy story (and more). Revenge, colossal creatures, talking birds, and (of course) zombie pirates. Seriously, I’m still giddy about that!
Zombie pirates!