Gods of the Wyrdwood cover art

Gods of the Wyrdwood

The Forsaken Trilogy, Book 1

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Gods of the Wyrdwood

By: RJ Barker
Narrated by: Jude Owusu
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About this listen

 OUR LANDS ARE WILD WITH GODS, OUR WOODS ARE WILD WITH MONSTERS . . .

Cahan du Nahare is known as the forester - a humble man who can nonetheless navigate the dangerous Wyrdwood like no-one else. But once he was more. Once he was a warrior.

Udinny serves the goddess of the lost, a goddess of the small and helpless. When she ventures into the Wyrdwood to find a missing child, Cahan will be her guide.

But in a land at war, in a forest full of monsters - Cahan will need to choose between his past life and the one he leads now - and his choice will have consequences for his entire world.

From one of the most original voices in fantasy comes the start of an epic trilogy of vicious outlaws, warring deities and an evil empire, set within the bounds of a forest out of darkest folklore. The Gods of the Wyrdwood have awoken, and their time is come.

*****

'An experienced novelist at the top of his game - this is Avatar meets Dune, on shrooms'
SFX (rated five stars)

'A splendid fantasy work, full of RJ's trademark invention. Highly recommended'
Adrian Tchaikovsky

'Utterly immersive . . . there's is still so much more left to explore in this world, and I cannot wait to return'
Fantasy Hive

'Barker has created a beautiful world that balances the dark and deadly with just the right amount of hope'
Grimdark Magazine

'A fascinating, compelling novel... with epic themes, epically strange worldbuilding, and excellent action scenes. I'm very much looking forward to the next instalment'
Locus

'A sweeping story of destiny and redemption. Weighty, deliberate, tender and brutal, this is a big, wonderful book and an utterly involving read'
Daily Mail

'A five star reading experience . . . the next book in this series cannot come soon enough'
The Fantasy Review©2023 RJ Barker (P)2023 Hachette Audio UK Action & Adventure Dark Fantasy Epic Epic Fantasy Fantasy Fiction

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All stars
Most relevant  
Excellent and a really fab narrator. I’ll be listening to more of this author. Recommended.

Very good story

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The structure was a bit weird. Kind of like a bunch of short stories shoved together. The protagonist was grumpy and miserable for 99% of the book. And the most likeable character was given a ridiculous jester-like voice by the narrator. The world was interesting and there were some good moments though!

Not many gods turn up, wyrdwood or otherwise.

Like a bunch of short stories

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An interesting setting & satisfying worldbuilding, fleshed out characters, & good pacing. excellent listen.

I would recommend giving this book a listen if your after a solid fantasy tale with an interesting twist.

8/10

An interesting and engaging story

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The book is classic R J Barker, a weird magical middle-ground between Gemmell's Legend and Robin Hood set in a vast and mysterious forest. The reader has a good voice and performs the characters well but has a jarring tendency to phrase some lines completely weirdly so they have an emphasis that doesn't fit at all with the content. It happened often enough to significantly detract from the reading for me.

Strong story, poor reading

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Good story, well read, but a prologue introducing the world would have been useful, though this didn't detract from my enjoyment

solid storytelling

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narrator is good, story is good, the world is very interesting. can't wait for the sequel.

it's just really good

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I liked the story and the characters a lot whilst it's a pretty standard tale of redemption and heroic journeys the setting and the language made it feel unique. I only gave the performance 4 stars, I thought it was good but I can always hear him smacking his lips and breathing in, a minor complaint I know but perhaps better editing would resolve this.

stands out

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Basically seven samurai in the forest except the main character is very annoying and quite dull/dim.

Not much

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I have read other books by RJ Barker, and they were generally good. This one I listened to on Audible. Here's the reality.
The NARRATION is very good. Good accents, pronunciation, emphasis, characerisation.

It's a 22 hour book. I just KEPT listening for 12 hours and then couldn't stand it. Every "page" is a good page, the writing is good etc. etc. but the whole book never WENT anywhere. I was waiting for exposition and character colour to stop and the plot to start, only, it never did
Then I just kept listening because, after all "I've spent this much time on it", and finally I uttered the EIGHT DEADLY WORDS, I don't care what happens to these people. Have applied for a refund. What a waste.

Went on to my next book Taxtopia, and the author captured me in the first 10minutes.

Do not bother

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