Honestly, it’s rather astounding the good luck he has at staying alive when considering the situations he finds himself. Gudvarr and his inner dialogue are just as weaselly as anticipated.

Gwynne adds in two new intriguing perspectives that instantly add complexity and insights to the villains of The Shadow of the Gods.

Varg’s mental struggles between balancing his responsibilities to his new found family and the oath he swore to avenge his sister remains a recurring theme. While this quest seemed never ending at times, Gwynne utilized this time to add significant depth to the cast surrounding Varg, such as Einar Half Troll and Svik. Varg and the Bloodsworn are on their own all consuming mission to rescue Vol, which takes this crew to new corners of this literary realm. Plus she has the absolute best monster/vaesan sidekicks in Spert and Vesli, who both made me physically laugh out loud, usually when least expected. Orka maintains her tunnel vision in her pursuit of her son, and while her blinders lead to less than advisable decisions, her character continues to be one of my favorite female characters of all time. Elvar was arguably the weakest POV from the last book, but her story grows in strength throughout this book until a shocking series of events at the end leaves her potential limitless. Elvar and the Battle-Grim are still reeling, taking stock following Biorr’s betrayal and the freeing of Lik Rifa. The Hunger of the Gods picks up immediately in the aftermath of The Shadow of the Gods. I’ll openly acknowledge that I’m toeing the line into fangirling, but I can’t stop recommending this series.

In addition, I usually listen to my audiobooks at 1.5x to 2x the normal narration speed, however I deliberately dialed back the speed with The Hunger of the Gods in order to fully savor this story. For the first time ever, I yo-yoing between my Kindle and audiobook, utilizing whatever medium is most appropriate at that moment. What if this next installment didn’t live up to the first? Thankfully, my concerns proved unfounded, as I couldn’t put down this second book of The Bloodsworn Saga. Despite being eager and quite impatient to read The Hunger of the Gods, I couldn’t help but harbor a sliver of apprehension. I read Gwynne’s The Shadow of the Gods a few months ago and was blown away.

John gwynne the hunger of the gods