The Bookish Mum

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I really really enjoyed this book. It was heartbreaking, inspiring and definitely not what I was expecting.

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As a fantasy reader one of the main things that can make or break a book is the world building and this book did not disappoint. Yalma is teaming with life and the differences between how the mortals perceive the Gods and how they perceive themselves is palpable. I enjoyed seeing both sides with the mortals believing that all the other Gods are dead and yet we as a reader see the truth from the Gods perspectives.

One of the things done really well in this book is the way in which the Gods feel so removed emotionally and morally from the lives of mortals and yet as they begin to face the reality of their own mortality, and begin to loose their “godliness” they begin to show more mortal tendencies and become a little more human chapter by chapter. The progress is slow for Thrughfur because of his nature but by the end of the book I am fully routing for him.

All of the characters have a duality to them, neither truly good or truly evil. Even the main antagonist of the book has moments that made me feel so sorry for her, and slightly understand where she is coming from.

There are stories within this story that truly show the thought and imagination that has gone into the creation of ‘When all the gods are dead’.

This is the first book in a series and I’m really looking forward to being able to one day read the sequel and find out what happens to Thrughfur and Dewne.

I recommend this book if you enjoy epic high fantasy, it is less than 400 pages and a very enjoyable read. I think if you enjoy books like ‘The Witcher’ and Godkiller then this book is for you.

There is so much more I wish I could say but honestly I don’t want to give spoilers.

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Just finished reading ‘The Shadow of the Gods’ by John Gwynne with the @wellreadwyvern_bookclub with @wellreadwyvern

I absolutely loved this book. Dripping with Norse inspired mythology, dark, visceral and cinematic in it’s descriptions.

The book follow three point of views in a third person narrative, Orka, Elvar and Varg. The main characters are fleshed out and real, you can feel their emotions and all of their decisions make sense for the types of people they are. This is the first in the series and the three stories are separate for the most part but all help to show the world they are living in. Orka is my favourite point of view character to follow throughout, she is fierce, brave and more than she seems.

The world created in these pages is vivid and real, the characters feel alive. The magic and creatures are easy to imagine.

The Valkyrie by Kate Heartfield is a beautifully poetic retelling of the story of Brynhildr and Gudrun. The story reads as a conversation between two women in love as they discuss their lives before they meet again in the end. There are battles fought, lost and won. There are historical moments mentioned throughout and visceral descriptions of war and the battlefield. When we first meet the two narrators of the story, Brynhildr is an exiled Valkyrie, punished for not following Odin’s orders and Gudrun is a princess off to marry Atilla’s brother Bleda in an attempt to garner peace. ‘The Valkyrie’ is bathed in Norse mythology with Odin, Loki, Freyja and Hel appearing throughout.

There was a reflective tone to the story, as two people who are looking back at the end of it all. There were sweet moments but if the characters hadn’t been telling me in their narrative what their feelings for each other were I wouldn’t have thought for a second that they cared for each other at all.

Thank you so much to the Author, Harped Collins and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book as an ARC. I can see that there was a lot of work and love put into the books creation.

Panacea is set in a Greek Mythology inspired world where Hera and her pantheon of goddesses have defeated Zeus and his pantheon of Gods (now known as the ruined) and banished them from Olympus.

Apologies ahead of time for any misspelling below.

Dexios, a Strategos that dreams of retirement) and his son (a newly trained ephebe who has only just been given his spear and apsis) find themselves thrust into a battle against the taurans (minotaurs).

Elena, a Sophestis (teacher), is left behind to put together the pieces of a mystery in the city of Thebes to find out who is murdering people and why..

I absolutely loved this book. It deals heavily with war and conflict, loyalty and betrayal. There is a heavy question of how far would you go for someone you love? Are the gods worthy of loyalty?

Several moments in this book had my heart in my throat and genuinely brought a tear to my eye. It is very viscerally graphic in places, a lot of descriptive gore but I feel that with a book that is heavily portraying battles and war the graphic was a necessity. I look forward to reading book two in the future.

After a series of events he finds himself in the magical Narnia-ish world his grandmother had written about. Except this world isn’t a fairytale for children anymore and he, the heir, must find a way to save it.

‘And put away childish things’ was a fun, short read. I enjoyed the nods to other portal to another world books and the familiar elements that reminded me of children’s books I enjoyed as a kid. The book was a little slow to start and is set during the 2020 uk lockdowns, in a way this made sense as nobody missed Harry when he went missing. Harry was entirely unlikable with only a few redeeming moments, very much a reluctant hero until the very end when he holds on to his ‘saviour destiny’ like a spoiled child who has been told he cannot be the hero after all. Despite this I loved the way the creatures from Underhill were portrayed and I really wish I could go into more detail but I worry it would give spoilers.

I received an arc of this book from NetGalley. All opinions are my own.