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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.
In Gods of the Wyrdwood by RJ Barker, the forest rules all. A dangerous land full of old gods, the forest is a place of fear for most people in Crua. But not for Cahan Du-Nahere. He has ventured into the woods many times and gone deeper than almost anyone. He doesn’t fear the woods, but he does have a healthy respect for the dangers within them. This is not the only way that Cahan is different from others. He is clanless, which makes him an outsider, lower than even the crownheads that the villagers raise. And he holds a secret that would set him, the village, and even the world on fire if anyone found it out. There are also plants that they use like float weed and bind weed, which do exactly what it sounds like they do. While their names are easy enough to figure out, there is nothing in our world that compares. Other times things are obviously the same as our things from our world but with different names, like the crownheads. Crownheads are animals that are raised in Crua. Their fur is sheared off and turned into woolen clothes. So they’re obviously some kind of sheep but Barker felt the need to make them different just to set his world apart I guess. I don’t when authors make completely new things up but it does irritate me a little when authors just rename things to seem different. It makes things difficult for no real reason. Wordy but with a nice payoff in Gods of the Wyrdwood 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.The magic system was also fittingly mysterious and elusive, which allowed for some very cool and surprising displays of power. I particularly loved how it is so intricately tied to religion in this world, as that only made the magic feel more mystical. 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. There are a hundred thousand new world-specific terms that are all dumped on you in the first few chapters, and pretty much none of them are explained alongside them. For the first probably 30% of the book, I didn’t know what so many things meant, because they were never given context. There are a lot of animals that are given no description, and I still don’t know what some are supposed to look like. Paradoxically, I felt like there was way too much description of everything, and yet, I still couldn’t visualize what I was being told about. It constantly felt like I was watching the part of Pokemon where they ask “Who’s That Pokemon” and give you just a silhouette of said Pokemon - I could visualize general shapes and vibes, but never in enough detail to know what the hell was going on. Their personal journey was absolutely harrowing and gut wrenching, but also much more compelling than anyone else’s in this entire book. I honestly wished they would’ve been the focal point of the story, because I think that would’ve established the emotional investment that I was so desperately craving. I received a copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own, Thank you!
A truly great fiction author, however, pokes and prods the road and stress-tests it for anything that could POSSIBLY turn into a plothole, then has others do the same, and then doesn't simply fill them, but tears up that portion of the road and rebuilds it so the plothole never existed. This initial effort of the reader does then pay dividends as Gods of the Wyrdwood continues. Barker’s world is stunning and fantastical, with new beasties and botanical wonders. The characters in Gods of the Wyrdwood are also well-formed. The protagonist, Cahan is the reverse of the ‘chosen one’ trope – where events from his childhood prove false and have left adult Cahan leading a life of isolation. He is shunned by society and only tolerated for his ability to navigate the treacherous Wyrdwood. Cahan is a character that grew on me as the novel progressed, but one I liked instantly was the monk Udinny. Like Cahan, Udinny is barely tolerated by the people of Harn. But unlike Cahan, she is instantly likeable and is one of the lightest and most joyful characters in a novel that can get quite dark. Barker has also done something few writers do in Gods of the Wyrdwood, where he has created a character I detest. I found Kirven, the High Leoric of Harnspire, utterly irredeemable. This may not be the case for everyone, as Barker does give Kirven depth as a character, and she is not a soulless psychopath, but to me, the abuse of her child was unforgiveable. 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.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! The new Cowl-Rai is hunting down other Cowl-Rais, labeling them as false Cowl-Rais. Followers of any god other than Tarl-an-Gig are being arrested and executed as well. Crua is a land of fear now.
Udinny serves the goddess of the lost, a keeper of the small and helpless. When Udinny needs to venture into the Wyrdwood to find a missing child, she asks Cahan to be her guide. With this novel, RJ Barker cemented himself in my autobuy list. It is so engrossing and enjoyable, leaving me thinking about the wonders of the story and the world for weeks after I have finished. It has taken me time and I know that this review does not do it justice, but I feel as if every little thing was meticulously placed in the novel, just hinting at what is to come. I eagerly look forward to what the rest of the trilogy has in store for us. It is a story that many will talk about for much time to come. 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.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. The action and buildup are satisfying, but the quieter moments are not as engaging and the story beats sometimes feel repetitive. That said, the ingredients are definitely here for a compelling series. With an opportunity to build upon the groundwork laid down in the book, I’m very intrigued to see where the next books will venture. As I reach ever closer to my 1000th audiobook, that has become my lodestone. The difference between a good and great fiction author, in my opinion, is allowing for conflict to develop without forcing it with
Gods of the Wyrdwood is an interesting and rather dark fantasy novel. I was immediately intrigued by the concept of the novel, which involved competing gods and a malevolent forest, and I was not disappointed. The novel has solid world-building, complex characters, and an amazing twist ending. But of course, we wouldn’t have a story if Cahan’s simple life remained just that. Although he never became the Cowl-Rai, Cahan still has a cowl, a magical life force inside him that he’s been able to suppress all these years. Using his cowl means killing, and he refuses to give in to that power. Unfortunately, he’s drawn the attention of Kirven Ban-Rhun, a ruthless woman whose teenaged son Venn is destined to be the next Cowl-Rai. Venn, like Cahan before him, is refusing to awaken his cowl and kill in the name of his god, but his mother will stop at nothing to make sure her god rises. If the moral dilemma wasn’t interesting enough, there are also other interesting side characters in the novel. Each narrator offers a startlingly different view on the world at large and the juxtaposition of their classes is very apparent and well executed. Cahan is a disgraced outcast with no family, known as a “clanless,” Venn is a reluctant Rai (magic bearer), with extraordinary potential, and High Leoric Kirven is a privileged ruler more out of depth than even she knows. My favorite character, called Udinny, was not a narrator, but a quirky side character. Udinny’s the monk of an unpopular god and a great comedic reprieve from the darker elements of the novel. I snorted at many of her remarks and found her incredibly entertaining. It also doesn’t hurt that Gods of the Wyrdwood has many despicable villains, which readers will also love to hate.
Read Gods of the Wyrdwood by RJ Barker
I loved all three of them equally, maybe Cahan a tiny bit more than the other two because we knew him the longest, but they're all very dear to my heart. Venn is a chosen child, whose destined to be a warrior, but chooses not to be and alters Cahan's too. 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. Cahan is a fascinating protagonist and his moral dilemma around the use of his magical powers is understandable and interesting, but his ‘woe is me’ attitude got a bit much for me after a while. 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.
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