The Children of Gods and Fighting Men (Gael Song, 1)
SHORTLISTED FOR BEST DEBUT AT THE BRITISH FANTASY AWARDS.
The first in a gripping historical fantasy series intertwining Irish mythology with medieval history, The Children of Gods and Fighting Men is the thrilling debut novel by Shauna Lawless.
They think they've killed the last of us...
981 AD. The Viking King of Dublin is dead. His young widow, Gormflaith, has ambitions for their son – and herself – but Ireland is a dangerous place and kings tend not to stay kings for long.
Gormflaith also has a secret. She is one of the Fomorians, an immortal race who can do fire-magic. She keeps her powers hidden at all costs, for there are other immortals in this world – like the Descendants of the Tuatha Dé Danann, sworn enemies of all Fomorians.
The Descendants dwell in a fortress hidden from the mortal world. With Ireland on the brink of war, Fódla, a Descendant with the gift of healing, agrees to help her kin by entering the retinue of Brian Boru, a powerful man who aims to be High King of Ireland, as a spy.
Fodla is desperate to stop the coming conflict. But preventing the loss of mortal lives will not be easy with Ireland in turmoil... and the Fomorians on the rise.
Readers love The Children of Gods and Fighting Men
'Lawless blends fantasy with historical fiction to great effect.' SFX
'Celebrates the extraordinary history and traditions of Ireland while giving voice to the women who helped shape it.' Lucy Holland
'An excellent read.' Mark Lawrence
'Gripping and beautiful. A Celtic Last Kingdom.' Anna Smith Spark
'Highlander meets The Last Kingdom... I was hooked from page one.' Anthony Ryan
'A beguiling blend of fantasy, history, and politics.' D.K. Fields
'Vividly written... makes the ancient past feel contemporary.' Joseph O'Connor
'Swept me along and refused to be put down.' H.M. Long
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Community Reviews
My overall rating for the series would be 8/10.
I loved the way it blended history and fantasy. These books are were very different than anything I have read, I don’t even know how to really explain it.
It has several different POVs. The author pulls no punches with her talk of war, violence, love, and death. I want to say it almost reads like a history book but it’s like a history book with pizzazz.
The 3rd book drug on for me and I would’ve liked for some quicker pacing but that’s my own preference.
I don’t love the constant hate on Christianity and the interesting take on the afterlife but I am taking into account the historical context of why the characters feel the way they do about Christians.
If you loved The Last Kingdom series on Netflix and have been in mourning since the final season aired - friends, THIS is the book for you. (Or should I say series? Speaking of series, have you seen the cover for the second book yet?!! FIRE! I digress...lol)
Shauna Lawless knocked it out of the park with this book. Factual historical events combined with Irish mythology swirling with magic and fantasy, THE CHILDREN OF GODS AND FIGHTING MEN is historical fiction at its peak. I love when authors write about actual events that occurred, but they create fictional characters to provide some umph to it. These characters are able to immerse me into the time period, help me understand what it was like to live in this time: the culture, religious beliefs, society. Throw in some magic, political scheming and backstabbing and that's all cream on the top!
If you prefer video reviews, I do have a non-spoiler review on my YouTube channel, The Nerdy Narrative, that you can watch here: https://youtu.be/ebwwsGCHGy0
The author has a beautiful map of Ireland included as well as a list of the characters and what tribe/family they belong to. This was extremely helpful to me starting out. If you're an audiobook lover, I encourage you to snag a copy either to be your primary read or to immersion read because the narrator, Aoife McMahon, did an outstanding job. In fact, the audiobook was a huge help to me since I was struggling with pronunciations of places and people.
It's hard to say what I loved most about THE CHILDREN OF GODS AND FIGHTING MEN. The first thing that caught my interest was the magic. We follow two POVs in this book, both women, each with their own type of magic and each hiding their magic from public knowledge for different reasons. Gormflaith is one of the Fomorians, an immortal race that wields fire magic. She keeps her magic hidden for fear she will be discovered by another race of immortals, the Tuatha De Danann, warriors sword to eradicate Fomorians. Our other POV, Fodla, as you may have guessed, belongs to the other immortal race, the Tuatha De Danann. Fodla has the gift of healing, which she keeps secret because her people swore a New Agreement years ago to never help mortals again.
Honestly, just reading about these two women would have been enough to keep me turning the pages, but when you also have the different Kings scheming for each other's lands and thrones, allies who switch sides at the most inopportune times, even family members murdering each other for gain - it just becomes an obsession at that point. I began favoring Fodla's POV, but Gormflaith quickly won me over because this woman would make Cersei Lannister nervous! (I wager Gormflaith was a bit more cunning than Cersei...you'll see why!) Gormflaith was vile and would stop at nothing and Fodla was willing to put herself at risk spying on a mortal king...for the same thing: Love for their family, their children.
We're in Ireland, around 980-999 AD. Another piece of kindling on the fires of turmoil is religion. Christianity is making its way through, converting some while others remain true to the old gods. Which means those that would stay in power or take power must walk a razor's edge to appease those who worship the old gods and those bearing the cross of Christ on their chests. I just eat this type of stuff UP.
A riveting tale full of vivid imagery that brings myth and legend to life - THE CHILDREN OF GODS AND FIGHTING MEN is the start of what I believe will be an excellent series!
I did accept a physical copy of this book from the publisher for review consideration, for which I am so grateful because this book was one of my anticipated reads!
Shauna Lawless knocked it out of the park with this book. Factual historical events combined with Irish mythology swirling with magic and fantasy, THE CHILDREN OF GODS AND FIGHTING MEN is historical fiction at its peak. I love when authors write about actual events that occurred, but they create fictional characters to provide some umph to it. These characters are able to immerse me into the time period, help me understand what it was like to live in this time: the culture, religious beliefs, society. Throw in some magic, political scheming and backstabbing and that's all cream on the top!
If you prefer video reviews, I do have a non-spoiler review on my YouTube channel, The Nerdy Narrative, that you can watch here: https://youtu.be/ebwwsGCHGy0
The author has a beautiful map of Ireland included as well as a list of the characters and what tribe/family they belong to. This was extremely helpful to me starting out. If you're an audiobook lover, I encourage you to snag a copy either to be your primary read or to immersion read because the narrator, Aoife McMahon, did an outstanding job. In fact, the audiobook was a huge help to me since I was struggling with pronunciations of places and people.
It's hard to say what I loved most about THE CHILDREN OF GODS AND FIGHTING MEN. The first thing that caught my interest was the magic. We follow two POVs in this book, both women, each with their own type of magic and each hiding their magic from public knowledge for different reasons. Gormflaith is one of the Fomorians, an immortal race that wields fire magic. She keeps her magic hidden for fear she will be discovered by another race of immortals, the Tuatha De Danann, warriors sword to eradicate Fomorians. Our other POV, Fodla, as you may have guessed, belongs to the other immortal race, the Tuatha De Danann. Fodla has the gift of healing, which she keeps secret because her people swore a New Agreement years ago to never help mortals again.
Honestly, just reading about these two women would have been enough to keep me turning the pages, but when you also have the different Kings scheming for each other's lands and thrones, allies who switch sides at the most inopportune times, even family members murdering each other for gain - it just becomes an obsession at that point. I began favoring Fodla's POV, but Gormflaith quickly won me over because this woman would make Cersei Lannister nervous! (I wager Gormflaith was a bit more cunning than Cersei...you'll see why!) Gormflaith was vile and would stop at nothing and Fodla was willing to put herself at risk spying on a mortal king...for the same thing: Love for their family, their children.
We're in Ireland, around 980-999 AD. Another piece of kindling on the fires of turmoil is religion. Christianity is making its way through, converting some while others remain true to the old gods. Which means those that would stay in power or take power must walk a razor's edge to appease those who worship the old gods and those bearing the cross of Christ on their chests. I just eat this type of stuff UP.
A riveting tale full of vivid imagery that brings myth and legend to life - THE CHILDREN OF GODS AND FIGHTING MEN is the start of what I believe will be an excellent series!
I did accept a physical copy of this book from the publisher for review consideration, for which I am so grateful because this book was one of my anticipated reads!
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