The finale to John Gwynne’s Bloodsworn, The Fury of the Gods, brings the Norse epic to a grand conclusion. The conflagration of warriors, wolf-gods, dragon-gods, rat-gods, and other various and sundry supernatural entities comes to a head as the dragon god, Lik-Rifa, seeks to take over the world and expunge her sibling gods while Varg, Elvar, Orka and the Bloodsworn who support the wolf god Ulfrir look to stop the dragon, and rid the world of this powerful god once and for all.
THE FINAL BATTLE FOR THE FATE OF VIGRIÐ APPROACHES.
Varg has overcome the trials of his past and become an accepted member of the Bloodsworn, but now he and his newfound comrades face their biggest challenge yet: slaying a dragon.
Elvar is struggling to consolidate her power in Snakavik, where she faces threats from within and without. As she fights to assert her authority in readiness for the coming conflict, she faces a surely insurmountable task: reining in the ferocity of a wolf god.
As Biorr and his warband make their way north, eager for blood, Gudvarr pursues a mission of his own, hoping to win Lik-Rifa’s favour and further his own ambitions.
All paths lead to Snakavik, where the lines are being drawn for the final battle – a titanic clash that will shake the foundations of the world, and bear witness to the true fury of the gods.
As with the previous novels in the series, we get multiple points of view, balanced between from the heroic characters (Elvar and Varg) and the antagonists (Biorr, thrall to the Rat God and Guðvarr the cowardly kiss-ass to Lik-Rifa). I found Elvar the most fascinating as she has ascended to the top of her clan as a result of her father’s death. He was a rather rough, strong-armed Jarl and while he was respected, much of it was out of fear. Elvar is determined to be a better, more open leader of her people the Battle-Grim. But leading a band of warriors, while faced by external threats, isn’t free of internal threats. Perhaps those threats are even more dangerous. Her narrative was gripping, potent, and I could feel the emotional struggle she was experiencing as she navigated her newfound leadership.
I appreciated the journey Orka has gone through over the course of these three volumes, fierce powerful warrior with a heart of gold. Her driving force has been finding her son and avenging the murder of her husband Thorkel. She cares about her fellow Bloodsworn and wants to rid the world of Lik-Rafa mainly because it will make for a better world for her son and her allies.
This isn’t to say that Gwynne skimps on concluding the journey of his other featured characters like Varg who just may finally feel accepted by the Bloodsworn. He yearned for that sense of belonging and he finally has it. Tying these three heroes – Varg, Orka, and Elvar – together is their powerful sense of family, loyalty, and love for their companions. Through the darkest times and the pending final battle with a dragon, their faith and love in their family (blood and chosen) is what helps to keep them grounded. Biorr and Guðvarr go through their fair share of ups and downs, too. There’s a layer underneath their sniveling exterior, they show feelings beyond one-dimensional lackeys.
Friendship is nice, important, and often the glue that holds stories like this together. But what elevates Epic Fantasy is the battles and monsters and Gwynne brings his A-game, as he has in the previous two volumes, to this element of the series finale. The conflicts were not limited to the final battle, by any means. There’s a frenetic battle at sea that involves a sea serpent and witches that was very potent, I could almost hear the waves crashing and battle cries, nearly smell the salt of the sea sloshing around the ship that provided an added layer of tension. That was just a precursor to the aforementioned final battle which was a cacophony of glorious chaos involving the two battle groups (Battle-Grim and Bloodsworn), the dragon, as well as monstrous spiders, trolls, and an angry spirit. Gwynne is able to evoke energy and tension very well in these set pieces.
All of that said, there were times as the novel was leading up to the momentous conclusion that the action and pacing lagged a little bit. It felt a little bit like the wheels were just spinning without the powerful drive and momentum that characterized the early two thirds of the novel. This is only a minor issue with the novel, because I enjoyed it overall and the series as a whole.
I’ve called out the glorious covers of the previous two volumes so I must do so again, Marcus Whinney gifted John Gwynne with some seriously Epic covers in fantasy with these books. I love the sense of scale the image conveys – that boat in the lower center isn’t a small boat, but it is absolutely dwarfed by Lik-Rafa’s dragon form.
The Bloodsworn is a grand-scale Fantasy that is the epitome of Epic in every way, larger than life characters, powerful gods, stupendous battles, and worldly stakes.
This series is strongly recommended!
© 2025 Rob H. Bedford
Trade Paperback | 576 pages (with glossary)
Orbit Books | October 2024
Author Website: https://www.johngwynneauthor.co.uk/
