On top of my personal little quibbles with the character work, I also just couldn’t seem to figure out what the point of the plot was supposed to be. Every time I thought the inciting incident had happened, it turned out to be just another ‘false start’, if you will. It wasn’t until the 70% mark that the ‘side questing’ was over and the actual main conflict of the story emerged, after which the pacing suddenly just cranked up to eleven. To be fair, I quite enjoyed just plodding along and exploring this alluring world in all its glory, but it did make the story feel rather aimless for a large part of it. The details, I think they are true. But they do not tell everything.’ Galderin scratched his cheek. ‘I can find out, if you wish.’ She ignored that, instead stared at her child. I will greatly enjoy this book more on a reread which I will do when the sequel comes out. If Barker’s prose could be a little more fluid, have better character development in the sequel, and give me a dang glossary, then this series has the potential to be very high on my list of favorites! The respect Cahan gives to said forest is admirable, he was also raised in it for a portion of his life. He knows it so well that the villagers call him the Forester. They're distrustful of him at the beginning, but by the end of the book they accept him as one of their own.

A splendid fantasy work, full of RJ’s trademark invention." —Adrian Tchaikovsky, Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning author The world is a bit Lovecraftian in setup. The flora and fauna are utterly alien, and incredibly weird. There are tentacles galore, along with animals that float via gas bladders and vines that float. These things combined made for a tough world to picture until I finally envisioned an underwater realm, but without the water. The Wyrdwood at the heart of this world is greatly feared, and with good reason. Everything in it seems thirsty for blood. And yet, as it’s described at night, it’s also a place of breathtaking beauty. Think Ferngully, or Avatar’s Pandora. It’s luminous, and seeing it sounds almost worth the risk of death and dismemberment. Gods of the Wyrdwood is a big book with epic themes, but also very personal ones, showing ordinary people forced to step up when their quiet lives are threatened by the games of the powerful. In its exciting finale the people of Harn, tanners, butchers and farmers are forced to defend their village against experienced troops. Like Cahan, they have been drawn into conflict and politics whether they like it (or understand it) or not and they just have to make the best of things. Quiet loyalty, mercy and kindness seem small things compared with armour and powerful magic, but they still, as Barker seems to show, have a value in themselves. As I reach ever closer to my 1000th audiobook, that has become my lodestone. The difference between a good and great fiction author, in my opinion, is allowing for conflict to develop without forcing it with It might be a bit challenging for me to tell how the paths of these three crossed each other. There is a need to slowly start reading to fully understand the tale and the rules in R.J. Barker's fictional world.A sweeping story of destiny and redemption. Weighty, deliberate, tender and brutal, this is a big, wonderful book and an utterly involving read." - Daily Mail They are mostly fine,” he answered, “though some types will kill you if you eat them, and others will kill you if you so much as touch them.” Their personal journey was absolutely harrowing and gut wrenching, but also much more compelling than anyone else’s in this entire book. I honestly wished they would’ve been the focal point of the story, because I think that would’ve established the emotional investment that I was so desperately craving. If you don’t like heavy exposition or large info-dumps, then R.J. Barker is definitely the author for you.

After my stellar reading experience with R.J. Barker’s Tide Child series, I could not wait to dive into his next book. And although I didn’t enjoy Gods of the Wyrdwood quite as much, I was so pleased to see that everything I loved about those books was present here. Barker’s imagination is boundless, and I am once again in awe of his ability to create an unusual, frightening, jaw dropping world.

Editors

Gods of the Wyldwood is the first book in the dark fantasy series Forsaken, written by R.J. Barker, and published by Orbit Books. A novel where Barker has let his imagination fly, taking unexpected paths and showing his ability in the craft; a book that might feel a bit confusing at the start because the author doesn't take the reader by the hand, instead spreading a multitude of details that later will make sense, enhancing the experience and making it really satisfactory. Cahan, once thought of as the new ‘chosen one’ is now living a life of poverty and isolation. This is his choice. As the novel progresses and forces work against him, we see why his position may change, but why this is such a torment to him.Venn is another excellent character – they are also tormented by their power and what they must do to unleash it. Trigger warning for the objectification, dehumanization, and straight-up murder of non-binary people.*** The ending of the book had such a long battle scene that was a blast to read. He’s no John Gwynne but he writes action just fine to me. Not to mention a crazy cliffhanger ending that will make you wanting more! There are also plants that they use like float weed and bind weed, which do exactly what it sounds like they do. While their names are easy enough to figure out, there is nothing in our world that compares. Other times things are obviously the same as our things from our world but with different names, like the crownheads. Crownheads are animals that are raised in Crua. Their fur is sheared off and turned into woolen clothes. So they’re obviously some kind of sheep but Barker felt the need to make them different just to set his world apart I guess. I don’t when authors make completely new things up but it does irritate me a little when authors just rename things to seem different. It makes things difficult for no real reason. Wordy but with a nice payoff in Gods of the Wyrdwood