Gods of the Wyrdwood: The Forsaken Trilogy, Book 1: 'Avatar meets Dune - on shrooms. Five stars.' -SFX

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I also have to mention the magic system, it's as interesting as the world building. There were a few times when Cahan used his Cowl in the book, it was fascinating. I really can't wait to see what he does with it next. But in a land where land is won and lost for uncaring gods, where the forest is full of monsters, Cahan will need to choose between his past life and the one leads now—and his choice will have consequences for his entire world.

As said previously, Barker doesn't handhold the reader, and while that can result confusing at the start, once we form our own image, the result is quite satisfactory. The plot is definitely dark, but I would say it is quite justified, as a result of a brutal and complicated world, that gives no opportunities to the weak. Cahan du Nahare is known as the forester – a humble man who can nonetheless navigate the dangerous Deepforest like no-one else. But once he was more. Once he was a warrior. Despite the usage of these popular fantasy tropes, author Barker does a fantastic job portraying this struggle in Cahan and another side character, Venn. I actually found myself frustrated with Cahan many times because even though I knew he swore off his own powers due to the destruction it would cause, I couldn’t help but constantly wish he would utilize it. The character truly did come across as sanctimonious at times and it was hard knowing that he could end more of his struggles if he simply just used his abilities. My irritation at Cahan’s dedication to his pesky morals signifies how skilled the author is at demonstrating the tenuous and insidious nature of power and its corruption, which clearly affected me, the reader as well. The majority of characters are just…there. They’re not shallow, but they’re not deep, either. All of the protagonists make interesting choices and have their own personalities to an extent, but I never really connected with any of them because the lens of the story is always zoomed out and focused on what’s happening to the characters, not what they’re feeling on a deep enough level to satisfy me. That’s totally a personal preference, but it did really hamper my connection to and enjoyment of the characters.I do feel like the book could have been shorter though as there were a lot of moments that felt repetitive especially in the dialogue which added to slowing down and dragging the story out. I also guessed quite early on one of the big reveals but I think I am still intrigued enough to see where the series goes next. On the other hand, I did struggle a bit more with the terms in the novel. While I hate information dumping and tons of exposition, and usually prefer when authors assume I can figure things out through context, it would have been helpful to me to have a bit more explanations for things in the novel like religious systems, certain plot points, and fantasy terms. I would have also appreciated a glossary of terms to reference, but we can’t always have everything. Despite struggling to fully grasp all of these concepts, I will say that keeping things on the vague side only perpetuated the pervasive sense of mystery swirling around protagonist Cahan’s past, the nature of the forest, and more. So this narrative choice to go lighter on explanations really did add to the general atmosphere, which I also liked. 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. A splendid fantasy work, full of RJ's trademark invention." -Adrian Tchaikovsky, Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning author Talking of the plot, for a good portion of the book, I had no idea what the plot was supposed to be. The first half or so had this episodic feel, where the main character, Cahan, went on adventures, making friends and enemies along the way, seemingly without much aim. Although Kirven’s alternative POV chapters shed some light on a bigger picture. Especially as both she and her child, Venn is deeply involved in the main conflict. It also takes a while to find your footing at the beginning with all the terminology thrown in, but you get used to it after a while. Although, a bit more explanation about some things would have been welcome… I spent the majority of the book wondering about why Cowl-Rai is different from the other Rai who also have a cowl – although I realize that I should have paid more attention to the blurb as a Cowl-Rai is a Rai chosen specifically by the god they serve. Or that’s what I’m figuring anyway. I also wanted to learn more about the Rai, rather than just getting snippets from conversations and memories. They just…are, I guess.

Now, where does he get all these eggs to throw into his pudding of stylistic effect? Where did all these periods come from? Well, given Barker’s propensity to comma splices, I’d argue that they were donated from bits like this: He's kinda a hermit, somebody that is not well-accepted among the villagers from Hua, especially because he's a clanless; Cahan only wanted to renounce to his nature, and live peacefully. But when a traumatic event forces him to use his cowl, those powers inside him, he will have to start a journey (partly literal, partly metaphorical), changing in the process.

Describing Gods of the Wyrdwood is tough because, to be honest, it’s plot is not its strongest element. I thought I should state this upfront because Barker’s plot here does meander quite a bit; sometimes the pacing is a bit slow, there are parts in the middle where it drags a bit, and things don’t accelerate until the last little chunk of Power, Udinny, and what can be done with it.’ He took a breath. ‘But it is not something I would speak of now, I have spent so long not being that which I was raised to be that it is painful to even think of it.’ The ending of the book had such a long battle scene that was a blast to read. He’s no John Gwynne but he writes action just fine to me. Not to mention a crazy cliffhanger ending that will make you wanting more! Overall, I think Gods of the Wyrdwood is a promising start to what is no doubt going to be a highly impressive and ambitious fantasy series.

Cahan du Nahare is known as the forester - a humble man who can nonetheless navigate the dangerous Deepforest like no-one else. But once he was more. Once he was a warrior. I think "good" fiction authors work to fill these blanks until the chain of events is "good enough." That chain may allow some plotholes and require some inexplicable decisions to be made, or characters to simply have a character flaw of massive stubbornness to "explain" the inexplicable, but once they've reach what to the undiscerning reader is a likely to be a tolerable level of cohesion, they move on to the next part of the story they were originally planning. Kirven is a cruel woman, manipulative, who won't doubt of going to war and resorting to violence if needed; but for her, all her acts are made to bond with her child.

Editors

An experienced novelist at the top of his game - this is Avatar meets Dune, on shrooms' Five stars from SFX In this land of fear, Cahan Du-Nahere is just trying to survive. He is clanless, which means that the local villagers don’t trust him or respect him in any way. Known only as “Forester”, Cahan just wants to be left alone to run his farm on the outskirts of Harn. But fate wants something more from him. Crua is a land of many gods. The gods enter those with the strength to hold them. These godly companions are called cowls and the people they possess are known as Rais. The Rai are the most powerful people in Crua and the Cowl-Rai is their ultimate leader. Once the cowls were recognized as different gods and there were Cowl-Rai for each of the gods. But a new Cowl-Rai has risen who follows Tarl-an-Gig. This Cowl-Rai will tolerate no other Cowl-Rais or other gods. CW: violence, blood, injury, fire/fire injury, torture, death, animal death, animal cruelty, emotional abuse, child abuse, religious bigotry

We also don’t get to know much about the trion, people who are neither male nor female, they exist to be a bridge between them. I liked the concept of families consisting of more people rather than only husband and wife. There are second and third wives and husbands as well as at least one trion, taking care of the children together. At least, that’s how it worked before the new regime arose in the name of a new god, who also decided to get rid of all of the other gods and their worshippers. Crua, as you might imagine is not a peaceful place in the present. Now the trion are used and abused and massacred for “the greater good”. We can only assume it’s not going to end well for those who took part in that. GODS OF THE WYRDWOOD begins the Forsaken trilogy – a series with great appeal to fans of Jay Kristoff’s Empire of the Vampire, as well as fans of the gruff warrior protagonist and dark folkloric worldbuilding of The Witcher. And fans of RJ’s previous work will have a riotously fantastic time, of course! Gods of the Wyrdwood is the perfect slow-burn book for anyone who is craving a refreshing and imaginative fantasy story that challenges your expectations by defying genre conventions at every possible opportunity. Honestly, what a wild, unpredictable and exciting ride! In the realm filled with Gods, old, new and forgotten, where enchanted and perilous forests abound, Cahan knows that to survive is often to walk away from cruelty. But is that to live? He is running but not fast enough, maybe it's time to stop running.There were also instances where it was challenging to discern who was speaking during dialogue scenes, which created some confusion while reading. It is possible that this is a stylistic choice by the author, but it impacted my reading experience. This book was simultaneously the most frustrating thing I’ve read in quite some time, and also one of the most unique. It has a lot of the "alien" worldbuilding that you’d find in a scifi novel, in a very fantasy setting. I’d call this book a very slow burn (like an ember) and at the halfway point I was starting to question whether Barker was going to be able to pull this off. It feels like the pacing is completely off and the book is going nowhere. It reprises the ‘farm boy becomes the chosen one’ trope until you legitimately wonder just how many times this book can completely start over. All three of them have very important roles to play in the battle at the end of the book, and all the build up was worth it. That last third passed by in a flash and when it was over I wanted more. The strongest point of this book is easily the world and its flora and fauna. It’s familiar enough to settle into initially, giving me vibes of the British Isles in ancient times, before the Romans showed up and ruined everything, but it’s also distinctly alien in a way that reminds me of the world from ‘The Stormlight Archive’ by Brandon Sanderson. Instead of crustacean-based critters, in this world we have many creatures that are mollusk-based, specifically squids - except these aren’t ocean-dwelling squid-things, these ones fly. Lots of interesting animals, both mundane and magical, including a lot of deep-forest dwellers that are somewhat familiar fae-like things, while others are straight out of Slavic folklore nightmares.