If epic fantasy, Viking and Slavic mythology, and the bonds of family are your thing, you’re gonna wanna read this. I could not be more excited to have the start of a new John Gwynne series in my hands! The Wolves of War by John Gwynne was one of my most anticipated reads of the year, and I feel this one has so much of John himself in it. At the core, this story is about family. The bonds of loyalty and love, or as he likes to say, “head and heart.” Knowing one of the main characters is based on his precious disabled daughter who passed away made this a super emotional read. Not because it was sad, but more so because you could see the love Halia brings out in every character in her family. I absolutely loved her character, and seeing her get a voice, made it even more impactful. If you are a fan of Bran from Game of Thrones, there’s a somewhat similar vibe. That was the first thing her character reminded me of. I can’t imagine being stuck in your head without a way to communicate verbally or physically. That frustration is captured so well. I could go on and on about her character. But there are so many other characters we meet in this novel as well. I do feel like not that much happened, but I know we’re setting things up for the next book (which I can’t wait for). But let’s get into some more of why you might want this on your TBR.
Things to Know:
Book One in a Duology
Multi-POV
Historical fiction with magic (10th Century vibes)
Fae and Creatures
Vikings and Mythology
Family is at the heart of this story
One thing John Gwynne does in his series SO WELL is pacing. When you have such a large cast of characters, it’s easy to get bogged down, but he is masterful at keeping things moving. I’m not saying every chapter ends on a cliff hanger, but kinda. His books are always a page turner because I HAVE to know what happens next. And another thing I love, is he always has all of these different POVs that seemingly have zero connection, and throughout the story, he always brings them into each other’s orbit, and you’re like ahhhhhh. The action and fight scenes are also so detailed, you feel like you’re right there dodging axes. I hope you’re not squeamish because I’d probably even call this book a grimdark fantasy.
There are a lot of creatures in this book. Also, what in the Throne of Glass?! Ironteeth witches?!
Like I said above, I didn’t feel like the overall plot moved forward a whole lot. We still don’t know that much about all these characters and some of their backstories, and it really feels like it’s a big setup for book two. No spoilers, but I actually can’t wait to have that book in my hands!
I was also slightly worried that it was going to be anti-Christian, because of the historical setting, and certain characters’ actions. While I wasn’t thrilled with one of the characters, it didn’t keep me from enjoying the book.
You can’t read a John Gwynne book without the phrase ‘thought cage’, and I was actually cackling when he wrote a little section essentially making fun of himself for using it. That was a nice little Easter Egg for readers of his previous books—especially the Bloodsworn Saga.
Overall, I’d absolutely recommend this epic fantasy for your TBR, and while I do think I like the Bloodsworn Saga story more so far, I absolutely loved the family elements in this story. I can’t wait to read what’s next!
As per usual, I did an immersive read with my physical book and the audiobook, and it’s fantastic. Each character POV chapters have different narrators and accents. If you want to try out the audiobook, you can find it on Audible or Libro.fm (ProTips: Audible is 99 cents/mo for three months (3 books for $2.97) right now AND you can get two free audiobooks on Libro.fm with the code SWITCH right now).
Favorite Quotes from ‘The Wolves of War’:
“To live is to be at a tip of the sword.”
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“idu na vy. I am coming against you.”
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“Besides, what’s the worst that could happen?”
“Death,” Astrid’s crow croaked…
“ I think we should kill that bird.”
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