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The Wyrdwood is an incredible setting. I’m always down for a story set in an ancient forest, and this one delivers 110% on both the beautiful, lush side of traveling through a deep forest, and the terrifying, soul-stealing, what’s-making-that-sound side. There’s deep magic in the Wyrdwood (and the titular gods), and it came across as a really poignant and timely message about how deeply humanity’s relationship with nature runs, and how vital it is to respect and preserve it. Venn is a chosen child, whose destined to be a warrior, but chooses not to be and alters Cahan's too. Gods of the Wyrdwood is book one in a new fantasy trilogy set within the bounds of a forest straight out of darkest folklore - with outlaws fighting an evil empire and warring deities. RJ Barker is the British Fantasy Society Award-winning author of The Bone Ships and Age of Assassins. This is the beginning of something epic. It is true to the style of RJ Barker, being dropped into a world and allowing the reader to figure it out as they go. It is a dark world that has a beautiful setting with Gods that are worshipped in a way that is different than typical. It leads to wars and a magic that is pretty hot to handle. I continually found myself drawn to know more and could not get enough as the reader is pulled into the world of the chosen one, Cahan Du Nahere, who is no longer the chosen one. It proceeds to give us an insight into his life as he has moved on.
The story follows Cahan Du-Nahere, who as a child was whisked away from his family and taken under the wing of a woman named Saradis, who was convinced Cahan would become the new Cowl-Rai, the chosen one able to use powerful magic in the name of the god Zorir. But all did not go as planned, and Cahan ended up one of the clanless, those who do not follow or believe in the gods. Many years later, Cahan has made a comfortable life for himself as a forester, living on his family farm near the great forests of Crua. The biggest issue for me personally was the fact that I just couldn’t connect to the majority of the characters, which I realise is a very subjective quibble of mine. The trion,’ whispered Rai Galderin as he closed with her, ‘will not talk about what happened, and what they do say is not the truth.’ She nodded. ‘Venn walked out of the forest unharmed, while Vanhu, Kyik, and Sorha died. It seems, unlikely.’Cahan, once thought of as the new ‘chosen one’ is now living a life of poverty and isolation. This is his choice. As the novel progresses and forces work against him, we see why his position may change, but why this is such a torment to him.Venn is another excellent character – they are also tormented by their power and what they must do to unleash it.
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own. And I wasn’t surprised at the emotion I felt while reading. Not only did I bond with the characters, but Barker broke my heart whenever one of them was in danger or pain. Each one goes through some type of important transformation, and it wasn’t always easy or comfortable. Finally, even though I knew who the big bad was when they are revealed at the end it is such a crushing blow to know I was write I was genuinely holding out hope that I was wrong and it was just heartbreaking when it turned out I wasn't. And indeed, if you are willing to be patient and put in the time and attention that is necessary to let this story absolutely sweep you off your feet, then this will be an incredibly rewarding reading experience. The slow build up did eventually have great pay-off, which leaves me very excited to see what mind-boggling directions Barker is going to take this story next.Gods of the Wyldwood is the first book in the dark fantasy series Forsaken, written by R.J. Barker, and published by Orbit Books. A novel where Barker has let his imagination fly, taking unexpected paths and showing his ability in the craft; a book that might feel a bit confusing at the start because the author doesn't take the reader by the hand, instead spreading a multitude of details that later will make sense, enhancing the experience and making it really satisfactory. I'm always a fan of journeying in fantasy and the story offers great parts of that. It's a sip a hot cocoa and get cozy sort of read, but something sharper or more cooled a beverage now in the summer will suffice. The point is, it’s a nice book to fall into if you enjoy the natural world and fantasies of the traditional kind. A sweeping story of destiny and redemption. Weighty, deliberate, tender and brutal, this is a big, wonderful book and an utterly involving read."— Daily Mail Udinny is devoted to the goddess of the lost, in her quest to locate a missing child in the Deepforest, accompanied by Cahan. RJ has taken us to a castle filled with assassins hunting other assassins (The Wounded Kingdom Trilogy) and to high seas adventures on ships made of dragon bones (The Tide Child Trilogy). Now he’s heading into the woods. The Wyrdwoods, to be precise.
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