Gods of the Wyrdwood
In a world locked in eternal winter and haunted by prophecy, a young boy trains for years to become the Chosen One, only for another to rise and claim his place in the start of an unmissable epic from a rising star in fantasy.
The northlands of Crua are locked in eternal winter, but prophecy tells of the chosen child – who will rule in the name of their God, and take warmth back from the South. Cahal du Nahere was raised to be this person: the Cowl-Rai, the saviour. Taken from his parents and prepared for his destiny.
But his time never came
When he was fifteen he ceased to matter. Another Cowl-Rai had risen, another chosen one, raised in the name of a different God. The years of vicious physical and mental training he had endured, the sacrifice, all for nothing. He became nothing.
Twenty years later, and Cahal lives a life of secrecy on the edges of Crua’s giant forests – hiding what he is, running from what he can do. But when he is forced to reveal his true nature, he sets off a sequence of events that will reveal secrets that will shake the bedrock of his entire world, and expose lies that have persisted for generations.
Title: Gods of the Wyrdwood
Series: The Forsaken #1
Author: R. J. Barker
Genre: Fiction / Fantasy
Paperback: 640 pages
Publication Date: 05/27/2023
Publisher: Orbit
Language: English
My Review
This was my first R.J. Barker novel to read despite the fact that I have several of his previous titles on my shelf. Looking at it now, I am certain I have waited too long to pick up his works.
Gods of the Wyrdwood was such a pleasant surprise. As a fan of the natural world and imagination in fantasy, this story worked so well in combining the perfect woodland settings with intriguing monsters and creatures while the inner workings of the inhabitants/farmers in the story adhered to the very grounded, elemental skills of survival. All the fancy glimmer sat way in the background and the story unfolded in ways of back to basics, back to journeys, back to friendships, back to the underdog heroes...and I was there for it. What a beautiful mesh of the old and the mysterious delusions of deity.
"The forester watched himself die. Not many can say that.
He did not die well."
Cahan the Forester isn't welcome to trade at the market. He is clanless. In a land where the gods sacrificed their link to the world to cut off the Osere and only give power to their chosen ones, the Cowl-Rai and the Rai, it was Iftal that had saved the people but made the land hard because the gods could no longer service it. Cahan is the outsider, the banished one. He is to be chained and cast to the Osere to be burned ever so slowly for his ignorance and indolence, but Cahan has a secret...
He walks the fire.
You are fire.
...everything is burning. He is burning. And you are the fire.
By the order of the Leoric Furin, he isn't welcome anymore, but the story turns as he is posed a preposition: to save a lost child that has gone into the forest. Together with Udinny, the keeper of the small and helpless, they embark on this trip. If there is one person with the most experience in Woodedge and Wyrdwood, it would only be Cahan. And so an unforgettable, wondrous, and perilous journey begins...
Cahan has a past. Mingled in between the chapters are snippets of his consciousness in the works, or excerpts told that help the reader understand where he is coming from. There is an ominous/mysterious way about them and they read strikingly vivid... maybe slightly purple. These snippets build and culminate by the end of the first book in the Forsaken Trilogy with an important clue/cliffhanger, even though the story arc comes to an end...for now as it seems.
The world in The Gods of the Wyrdwood was filled with villages and well-imagined creatures. Monks, trions, monsters, and such with different abilities. I enjoyed the basics behind the weaponry and the attention to detail to the forest surroundings as well as the characters. Cahan himself is the humble, reserved sort, made so by his personal history and abilities, but he holds power inside him with restraint, that becomes clear right away, yet he doesn't abuse it in the story. It makes him very likable for an underdog...almost too kind, but in the end, a redeeming friend of sorts. Considering the built-up in this novel, it gives ample time to get to know him, though Cahan will be challenged by something rather big I fear in the next book (or so I anticipate ;) ).
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.
My first novel by Barker didn't let me down. I liked his intuitive writing that was just set right in prose for this kind of story. There weren't extremely loud moments or rage of a kind, but he kept it intricate, highly readable, and beautifully imagined.
"Those milling around the few stalls were rainbow of color: brown, yellow jerkins of thick felt with pressed-in stripes and whirls of bright colour. They wore conical hats in bright blues or reds or purples dyed from berries and mushrooms. For their trousers and kilts, they tended towards more somber dark blues and blacks. Between the adults ran children in simple one-piece gowns, screeching and laughing. In them was the only merriment to be found in Harn."
As I was finishing this book, I knew immediately that I would want to read his other novels. I'm hoping to jump into The Tide Child Trilogy right quick, because it's been sitting on my shelf for too long, and I am in on this R.J. Barker thing. I really enjoyed what he did here and I can't wait to read the next one.
Happy Reading, friends!
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a review.
All opinions are my own.
Thank you!
