Hell hath no fury like a woman whose husband has been brutally slain and child has been taken from her.Įlvar is a member of a warband named The Battle Grim. As a mother of a thirteen year old boy I know that no one comes near your child to harm them, or you turn into a raging Berserker! This instinct gives her the almost superhuman strength and stamina she needs to beat a whole group of warriors, in order to find out where her son Breca has been taken. Her rage and determination to find her son is relatable by all mothers. This natural instinct of a mother was partly what led to her freeing them. Orka teaching Mord and Lif warcraft, so that they can avenge their father’s death, is done in quite a maternal way. However, a quiet life does not last for long and she can only hope to have taught her son enough that he can survive such a cruel world after she and Thorkel are no longer there to protect him. It is clear Orka was once a warrior who has now settled down with her Beserker husband, Thorkel and son, Breca, hoping for a quiet life. They each have a separate story, but as the narrative progresses it becomes clear that their story arcs must eventually converge, perhaps not all in this book but at some point in the trilogy. There are three main characters with alternating chapters told from each of their points of view: Orka, Varg and Elvar. A cold world filled with many fantastical creatures, witches, Berserker warriors, bloodthirsty battles and strongly protected customs and traditions. The Shadow of the Gods is an epic story set in a Norse inspired world during a time when myths become real, blood oaths are sworn and vengeance is sought. A world where the bones of the dead gods still hold great power, promising fame and fortune for those brave – or desperate – enough to seek them out.Īs whispers of war echo over the plains and across the fjords, fate follows the footsteps of three people: a huntress searching for her missing son, a jarl’s daughter who has rejected privilege in pursuit of battle fame, and a thrall who has cast off his chains and now fights alongside the famed mercenaries known as the Bloodsworn.Īll three will shape the fate of the world, as it once more teeters on the edge of chaos. Now, power-hungry jarls carve out petty kingdoms, and monsters stalk the shadow-haunted woods and mountains. From acclaimed fantasy author John Gwynne comes the first in the Bloodsworn trilogy, an epic of wild lands and wilder magic, where not all monsters fight with tooth and claw…and the treasures of the gods come at a price.Īfter the old gods warred and drove themselves to extinction, the cataclysm of their fall shattered the land of Vigrio.