This is a world of blood, claws and sharp blades, a world of premature and painful death…
On the battle-plain of Vigrið, where the gods died centuries ago, rumours of war are spreading, and so glory-seeking jarls and self-proclaimed kings are summoning their faithful. And while they form up and hastily forge new alliances, they search for anything that might increase their chances in the coming battles. The bones of dead gods, the magic-soaked blood of the tainted, or the dreaded monsters that poured out of the Vaesen Pit after the fall of Snaka – all these things can give them a considerable advantage in the ensuing chaos, and perhaps even the coveted victory.
Meanwhile, the unyielding Orka is tracking her husband's murderers who have kidnapped her only son, the escaped slave Varg finds himself among the Bloodsworn, whose deeds are sung by skalds at evening fires, and the home of the brave shieldmaiden Elva becomes a longship full of furious warriors. But the threads of fate have long been ruled by a higher power, and it has its own plans for the trio of unusual heroes…
The first volume of an award-winning fantasy saga set in a Norse-inspired world full of myth, magic and violence.
What they’re saying about the book
“A masterfully crafted and brutally compelling epic fantasy inspired by Norse culture.”
Anthony Ryan, author of the Raven’s Shadow trilogy
“A series that promises the same degree of complexity and depth as Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time or George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire.”
Library Journal
“In The Bloodsworn, the voice of heroic fantasy lives again.”
Boris Hokr, iLiteratura.cz
“John Gwynne has proven that the songs of warriors sworn to Valhalla have lost none of their resonance. He has preserved some things, while completely inverting other elements, and served the result alongside mead at a bloody feast.”
Jiří Kábrt, XB-1
“The author writes brilliantly – and his emotive, yet thoughtful storytelling, which combines the language of ancient sagas with modern sensibilities, elevates The Shadow of the Gods, in conjunction with its boundless imagination, to the realm of books that are unforgettable and hard to put down.”
Jiří Popiolek, Pevnost
Author’s note on the book
“I had a lot of fun writing the first book in the Bloodsworn saga. I’ve always been fascinated by Norse mythology and history, and this series is my love letter to them. When I opened a retelling of Beowulf at the age of nine or ten, I was immediately captivated by that unique Norse atmosphere with all its mystery, tragedy, and darkly comic view of both gods and men – and, of course, the pragmatic carnage of an epic scale. That would go some way to explaining why I now take part in Viking battle re-enactments and why I enjoy standing in a shield wall with my sons by my side. This book was essentially inspired by the epic Beowulf and by Ragnarök – the clash at the end of time, when the gods fell and the world was remade.”
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