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... 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 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. 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 We also don’t get to know much about the trion, people who are neither male nor female, they exist to be a bridge between them. I liked the concept of families consisting of more people rather than only husband and wife. There are second and third wives and husbands as well as at least one trion, taking care of the children together. At least, that’s how it worked before the new regime arose in the name of a new god, who also decided to get rid of all of the other gods and their worshippers. Crua, as you might imagine is not a peaceful place in the present. Now the trion are used and abused and massacred for “the greater good”. We can only assume it’s not going to end well for those who took part in that.

And indeed, if you are willing to be patient and put in the time and attention that is necessary to let this story absolutely sweep you off your feet, then this will be an incredibly rewarding reading experience. The slow build up did eventually have great pay-off, which leaves me very excited to see what mind-boggling directions Barker is going to take this story next.The world of Crua is largely familiar but Barker tries to make his world distinctive in a few ways. Other than the obvious godly avatars that populate Crua, Barker bases his whole world on forests. The people live on the edge of the forest and are in constant fear of the forest. But at the same time, they organize their army by branches and trunks. Everything they have, even their armor, is made of wood. Many of their idioms are based on trees or the woods. The respect Cahan gives to said forest is admirable, he was also raised in it for a portion of his life. He knows it so well that the villagers call him the Forester. They're distrustful of him at the beginning, but by the end of the book they accept him as one of their own. An experienced novelist at the top of his game - this is Avatar meets Dune, on shrooms' Five stars from SFX

GODS OF THE WYRDWOOD is again a change-up in theme and tone as Barker shows off that versatility I just mentioned. The book is aptly named as there are definitely some weird things afoot with both the worldbuilding and characters, but in a very very good way. I always appreciate when an author injects some unusual elements into what can be a somewhat formulaic genre at times. It keeps the reader on their toes and there were quite a few moments where I was like, "where the f--- did he come up with that?" These moments were always welcome though and they created a great deal of mystery, especially when it came to the enigmatic fanatical leaders who set forth the rules regarding who are worthy to be part of society and those "clanless" who are essentially scum and should be discarded.

Founders

After my stellar reading experience with R.J. Barker’s Tide Child series, I could not wait to dive into his next book. And although I didn’t enjoy Gods of the Wyrdwood quite as much, I was so pleased to see that everything I loved about those books was present here. Barker’s imagination is boundless, and I am once again in awe of his ability to create an unusual, frightening, jaw dropping world. 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. Note: While I am reviewing this novel independently and honestly, it should be noted that it has been provided to me by Orbit for the purpose of this review. Warning: My review of Gods of Wyrdwood contains some spoilers! ] A world of many gods, a world of one god 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. Power, Udinny, and what can be done with it.’ He took a breath. ‘But it is not something I would speak of now, I have spent so long not being that which I was raised to be that it is painful to even think of it.’