The characters shone quite brightly in the first book, The Shadow of the Gods, and the same can be said here. Of course, these gods are trying to impose their will upon humans, particularly Lik-Rafa, but they are fully formed characters in their own right.Īlthough the returning gods are active characters in their own right, the human characters take center stage as they did in the previous volume. They are participants in the story and not shadowy overseers. These gods aren’t just pulling the strings of the human characters. In order to combat Lik-Rafa some think unchaining the wolf god, Ulfrir may be enough to counter the powers of the ancient dragon. She’s got her followers in the form of the and she’s looking for vengeance and to take over the world. The ancient Dragon God, Lik-Rafa has been reawakened and she is not happy. The author needs to essentially, “do the same as the first, but some more.” Gwynne more than amply fits that requirement with The Hunger of the Gods. Second books in a series, or any book after the first in a series, present challenges when it comes to reviewing. and bring about a battle that will shake the foundations of the earth. A book of forbidden magic with the power to raise the wolf god Ulfrir from the dead. Their hope lies within the mad writings of a chained god. Yet even the might of the Bloodsworn and Battle-Grim cannot stand alone against a dragon god.

Now she plots a new age of blood and conquest.Īs Orka continues the hunt for her missing son, the Bloodsworn sweep south in a desperate race to save one of their own–and Varg takes the first steps on the path of vengeance.Įlvar has sworn to fulfil her blood oath and rescue a prisoner from the clutches of Lik-Rifa and her dragonborn followers, but first she must persuade the Battle-Grim to follow her. Lik-Rifa, the dragon god of legend, has been freed from her eternal prison. Set in a Norse-inspired world and packed with myth, magic, and vengeance, this epic saga follows a band of warriors as they face the wrath of ancient gods and change the shape of the world.

Cover art by Marcus Whinney, design by Bekki Guyatt Gwynne picks up the story shortly after the ending of the first installment, so this review will contain some mild spoilers.

John Gwynne’s Norse-inspired epic, The Bloodsworn, continues in The Hunger of the Gods, the second installment of the saga ( The Shadow of the Gods, book 1, reviewed here).

Hunger of the gods paperback