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Forsaken #2
Warlords of Wyrdwood
"You fear the forest.. It is not foolish." His words rang like bells in the clearing, each face reacting to their din. "But the forest does not hate you, it does not hunt you. It simply does not care about you." From British Fantasy Award-winning author RJ Barker comes the second installment in a new epic fantasy trilogy set in a forest straight out of darkest folklore with outlaws fighting an evil empire and warring deities. The Forester known as Cahan led the village of Harn in rebellion against the all-powerful, oppressive forces of the Rai. A great victory was won, but to avoid retaliation he must lead the people of Harn into the Wyrdwood.
Cahan never wanted this responsibility, but fate has its eye on him, and without him the people will be helpless against the terrors of the forest.
But in the ground of Crua, a dark god is growing in power using the strength of decay. It is something new, something worse than the magics of the Rai, and it has its claws in Cahan. The people of Harn need him, and they will need new allies if they are to have any hope of surviving in the depths of the Wyrdwood. Especially if the man they consider a hero, the Forester, Cahan Du-Nahere, is as lost to them as he believes.Praise for Gods of the Wyrdwood "An experienced novelist at the top of his game—this is Avatar meets Dune, on shrooms." —SFX "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 For more from RJ Barker, check The Wounded KingdomAge of Assassins Blood of Assassins King of AssassinsThe Tide Child TrilogyThe Bone Ships Call of the Bone Ships The Bone Ship's Wake
Cahan never wanted this responsibility, but fate has its eye on him, and without him the people will be helpless against the terrors of the forest.
But in the ground of Crua, a dark god is growing in power using the strength of decay. It is something new, something worse than the magics of the Rai, and it has its claws in Cahan. The people of Harn need him, and they will need new allies if they are to have any hope of surviving in the depths of the Wyrdwood. Especially if the man they consider a hero, the Forester, Cahan Du-Nahere, is as lost to them as he believes.Praise for Gods of the Wyrdwood "An experienced novelist at the top of his game—this is Avatar meets Dune, on shrooms." —SFX "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 For more from RJ Barker, check The Wounded KingdomAge of Assassins Blood of Assassins King of AssassinsThe Tide Child TrilogyThe Bone Ships Call of the Bone Ships The Bone Ship's Wake
592 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 10, 2024
191 people are currently reading
1929 people want to read
About the author
R.J. Barker
27 books1,740 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 150 reviews
November 3, 2024
Absolutely loved book one, Gods of Wyrdwood, so I had to dive straight into book two. Warlords of Wyrdwood throws us right into the thick of it, back with the cast of characters (those who survived) who are now facing the dire consequences of the finale of the previous instalment....
In classic Barker fashion, nothing can be taken for granted in this story. Heroes become villains, villains become heroes, the story goes in completely different directions than expected yet the journey is still incredibly satisfying. It is truly an original fantasy series and it feels so fresh and organic in how it does not play into any of the fantasy conventions.
I cannot say anything else at risk of spoiling book one, but Warlords of Wyrdwood is as gripping as book one. It is crazy, with the forest particularly feeling like its own character. R. J. Barker shows just how creative he is, and ties this crazy story in with a lot of heart as well.
In classic Barker fashion, nothing can be taken for granted in this story. Heroes become villains, villains become heroes, the story goes in completely different directions than expected yet the journey is still incredibly satisfying. It is truly an original fantasy series and it feels so fresh and organic in how it does not play into any of the fantasy conventions.
I cannot say anything else at risk of spoiling book one, but Warlords of Wyrdwood is as gripping as book one. It is crazy, with the forest particularly feeling like its own character. R. J. Barker shows just how creative he is, and ties this crazy story in with a lot of heart as well.
September 4, 2025
Hear me out, if you loved Eragon and The Inheritance Cycle as a teen, but you want something more adult, original, and grittier - try this series.
No, there’s no dragons, but there are weird forest creatures, maws that eat you, and an empire that has everyone in their thrall.
So many new revelations, incredible character arcs, and more creepy woods.
We also get more characters and new perspectives and more inner turmoil that drives the plot as much as the enemies hunting our favourites.
”We are like the forest, when one falls, another rises. The Rai stand like a single tree in a field–it may look strong but it is alone, weak. One alone may not fell it, but a people working together can dig out the roots and send it tumbling.”
RJ Barker writes so cinematically that even I, who struggles with visualising most books, can picture some parts of the new location introduced. No spoilers here.
Again, my main complaint is the lacking glossary and my lack of picturing of any of the creatures. The descriptions are not working for my brain which I guess is part of the craziness of the woods, but I want to be as scared as the characters.
Indulge me with the Eragon reference - there is a character arc that slightly reminds me of Sloan. I need to know if anyone else caught this.
Three, maybe four stars?🌟
Arc gifted by Orbit.
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No, there’s no dragons, but there are weird forest creatures, maws that eat you, and an empire that has everyone in their thrall.
So many new revelations, incredible character arcs, and more creepy woods.
We also get more characters and new perspectives and more inner turmoil that drives the plot as much as the enemies hunting our favourites.
”We are like the forest, when one falls, another rises. The Rai stand like a single tree in a field–it may look strong but it is alone, weak. One alone may not fell it, but a people working together can dig out the roots and send it tumbling.”
RJ Barker writes so cinematically that even I, who struggles with visualising most books, can picture some parts of the new location introduced. No spoilers here.
Again, my main complaint is the lacking glossary and my lack of picturing of any of the creatures. The descriptions are not working for my brain which I guess is part of the craziness of the woods, but I want to be as scared as the characters.
Indulge me with the Eragon reference - there is a character arc that slightly reminds me of Sloan. I need to know if anyone else caught this.
Three, maybe four stars?🌟
Arc gifted by Orbit.
Bookstagram
Tiktok
September 30, 2024
3.5 Stars
This is a solid continuation of the fantasy series story that started with Gods of the Wyrdwood. This is a direct continuation of that book so I encourage readers to go back to the beginning.
I enjoy this series because this author has a talent for making otherwise traditional stories feel fresh. However this series is not a personal favourite. I just never found myself engrossed in the story, despite appreciating it.
I encourage fantasy readers looking to try a lesser known series set in a rich world with well rounded characters.
Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.
This is a solid continuation of the fantasy series story that started with Gods of the Wyrdwood. This is a direct continuation of that book so I encourage readers to go back to the beginning.
I enjoy this series because this author has a talent for making otherwise traditional stories feel fresh. However this series is not a personal favourite. I just never found myself engrossed in the story, despite appreciating it.
I encourage fantasy readers looking to try a lesser known series set in a rich world with well rounded characters.
Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.
September 12, 2024
Right! It’s time to go down to the Wyrdwood again to see how Cahan Du Nahere and the folk from Harn are getting on after the events of Book 1.
After the Battle of Harn, it is down to Cahan to lead the survivors to safety, and that means travelling deeper into the Wyrdwood so that they can avoid recriminations of the Cowl -Rai.
It’s without a doubt that R. J. Barker is one of the most original British fantasy writer around at the moment. His world building is vibrant, ethereal and strange, with The Forsaken trilogy being one of his most original yet.
So, how does the second one in the series contend with the first one? Well…….. it’s alright. I know that I am probably going to be in the minority here and that everyone else is going to be loving it, but I just found it a bit of a slog. Especially the first half. I mean, you know that when you are considering chucking it in and thinking about starting something else, all is not well.
Don’t get me wrong, all those things that I loved in the first book were still there, the fantastic world building, Barker’s original prose and his wonderful strangeness. However, what was missing was my ability to care, especially for the first half of the book where it felt like I was trudging through the Wyrdwood myself. In addition to that, I wasn’t overly struck on the inclusion of the additional points of view. I liked some of them, Ont’s in particular, but the rest of them I could take them or leave them to be honest, and I didn’t see any point to Udinny’s pov at all.
Now please don’t think I hated the book because I didn’t. I really liked the second half of the book (although, I did think the ending was predictable) and zipped through that, it’s just that it was a mixed bag for me.
So! All in all, I thought Warlords of Wyrdwood was good, but not as good as I hoped.
After the Battle of Harn, it is down to Cahan to lead the survivors to safety, and that means travelling deeper into the Wyrdwood so that they can avoid recriminations of the Cowl -Rai.
It’s without a doubt that R. J. Barker is one of the most original British fantasy writer around at the moment. His world building is vibrant, ethereal and strange, with The Forsaken trilogy being one of his most original yet.
So, how does the second one in the series contend with the first one? Well…….. it’s alright. I know that I am probably going to be in the minority here and that everyone else is going to be loving it, but I just found it a bit of a slog. Especially the first half. I mean, you know that when you are considering chucking it in and thinking about starting something else, all is not well.
Don’t get me wrong, all those things that I loved in the first book were still there, the fantastic world building, Barker’s original prose and his wonderful strangeness. However, what was missing was my ability to care, especially for the first half of the book where it felt like I was trudging through the Wyrdwood myself. In addition to that, I wasn’t overly struck on the inclusion of the additional points of view. I liked some of them, Ont’s in particular, but the rest of them I could take them or leave them to be honest, and I didn’t see any point to Udinny’s pov at all.
Now please don’t think I hated the book because I didn’t. I really liked the second half of the book (although, I did think the ending was predictable) and zipped through that, it’s just that it was a mixed bag for me.
So! All in all, I thought Warlords of Wyrdwood was good, but not as good as I hoped.
September 13, 2024
The uniqueness of Barker’s worlds are second to none. They are creepy yet fascinating. But also difficult to imagine! There are the most creative flora, fauna, and creatures in this world. At times I’m thoroughly afraid of the Forest, and then I’m comfortable with it. I truly love forest themed stories so this tests my loyalty.
Of course the characters tears are also well thought out. All the main people evolve during this book. People I absolutely despised, I grew to understand their motives even if I still didn’t really like them. One of my favorites is Udinny, who has passed on into this other world. She has an animal companion of sorts called Syerfu, which is part sheep and who knows what else. Ont, who is the butcher turned monk, has quite a personality change!
Although I was confused at times in this amazingly chaotic world, I adored each moment. So many questions have I at the end of this penultimate book!
More readers should discover this terrific author. Wounded Kingdom is one of my most beloved series from any author. This is also turning into a great trilogy.
Thank you to NetGalley for a review copy.
Of course the characters tears are also well thought out. All the main people evolve during this book. People I absolutely despised, I grew to understand their motives even if I still didn’t really like them. One of my favorites is Udinny, who has passed on into this other world. She has an animal companion of sorts called Syerfu, which is part sheep and who knows what else. Ont, who is the butcher turned monk, has quite a personality change!
Although I was confused at times in this amazingly chaotic world, I adored each moment. So many questions have I at the end of this penultimate book!
More readers should discover this terrific author. Wounded Kingdom is one of my most beloved series from any author. This is also turning into a great trilogy.
Thank you to NetGalley for a review copy.
Want to read
October 16, 2024EYE AM READY!!!
December 15, 2024
This book might be even better than the first one! Barker reminds me so much of China Mieville in the sense that he can write the strangest settings and monsters. Their imaginations are so unique.
This story is multi pov instead of just being told through Cahan which I really enjoyed.
Cahan and his people head into the forest to escape from their enemies. Doing this, we see even more monsters and unique qualities of the forest that is of course very deadly. The Forrest dwellers have a bigger part in this and we get to see their culture which was a blast. Sorha is on a mission to kill Cahan for taking her powers away but Cahan is a lot harder to kill than she expected, and in fact he might not even be the real enemy.
This story is multi pov instead of just being told through Cahan which I really enjoyed.
Cahan and his people head into the forest to escape from their enemies. Doing this, we see even more monsters and unique qualities of the forest that is of course very deadly. The Forrest dwellers have a bigger part in this and we get to see their culture which was a blast. Sorha is on a mission to kill Cahan for taking her powers away but Cahan is a lot harder to kill than she expected, and in fact he might not even be the real enemy.
September 28, 2024
This was one of my most anticipated releases of the year, as well as being a release from one of my favorite authors. The story picked up right where we left off in the first book, and I was very thankful for the recap at the beginning of the novel. I was eager to jump back into the unique world of the Wyrdwood. The worlds that Barker is able to create are so unique and I am amazed about how immersive they are, without everything being explicitly explained.
The strength of the novel was still the world as it comes to life in even more ways as the novel progresses. It is a beauty that really impacts the reader and makes them feel surrounded in the woods. The characters really change and propel the story to another level. Unfortunately it took a bit for me to really get invested in it from the beginning. The end is spectacular but I found my mind wandering a few times at the beginning of the novel, but still was eagerly devouring the story as it unwound before my eyes.
This is sure to be a thrilling series for many readers and it definitely has some twists and turns that will keep a reader guessing. There are some big events that unfold and characters that are unlikable become understood in a unique way. I eagerly await the conclusion to an interesting trilogy.
Thank you for taking the time to read my review. As always, happy reading and Stay Great!!
The strength of the novel was still the world as it comes to life in even more ways as the novel progresses. It is a beauty that really impacts the reader and makes them feel surrounded in the woods. The characters really change and propel the story to another level. Unfortunately it took a bit for me to really get invested in it from the beginning. The end is spectacular but I found my mind wandering a few times at the beginning of the novel, but still was eagerly devouring the story as it unwound before my eyes.
This is sure to be a thrilling series for many readers and it definitely has some twists and turns that will keep a reader guessing. There are some big events that unfold and characters that are unlikable become understood in a unique way. I eagerly await the conclusion to an interesting trilogy.
Thank you for taking the time to read my review. As always, happy reading and Stay Great!!
November 24, 2024
This was good. It didn't have the page turning story of book 1, but the character arcs and growth were well done.
Ont really came into his own
This has set us up for a grandstand finale
Ont really came into his own
This has set us up for a grandstand finale
Want to read
January 18, 2024YES! Can't wait for this. RJ Barker is a very under-rated fantasy author. I LOVED the Tide Child trilogy and am very excited to get into Gods of the Wyrdwood next:)
November 2, 2024
Officially an RJ Barker fan girl, will read all of the books
December 21, 2025
I enjoyed this one a lot more than the first book! I'm glad I already have the third book ready to go after that ending 😱
Listening to the audio version was a good call, the narrator was amazing.
Also a really nice detail at least in the audio version, a summary of the first book was included at the beginning, I wish more books did this!
Listening to the audio version was a good call, the narrator was amazing.
Also a really nice detail at least in the audio version, a summary of the first book was included at the beginning, I wish more books did this!
March 3, 2025
I received this book for free from Orbit Books in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
After reading Gods of the Wyrdwood, I was on the fence about wanting to read its sequel, Warlords of Wyrdwood. Though I loved the world building and wanted to know what happened to the characters, the darker tone of the novel made it harder for me to read it. But after some initial hesitation, I decided to continue on with the series, and boy, am I glad I did. Warlords of Wyrdwood ended up topping the first book in the series for me.
The pacing of Warlords of Wyrdwood was so much faster. Unlike the first book, where I struggled to pick the book up, I never wanted to put this sequel book down. From the very beginning of the novel (which thankfully, came with a recap of the events of the first book), there was always something happening. I was never bored. The survivors of Harn, led by Cahan, are forced to seek refuge in the incredibly inhospitable and deadly Wyrdwood.
I really loved everything about the time spent in the Wyrdwood. The forest is a character of its own, with its deadly creatures, mysterious prices, and quickness to punish any that take too much of it. I definitely wouldn't last a second there. Thankfully, the forestals, people who choose to live in the Wyrdwood, step up to help the people of Harn, which was very interesting to see the juxtapositions of their way of life. I really enjoyed every minute spent in this wood, uncovering its secrets. The world-building is truly a standout of this series and I can't wait to see how all of these new discoveries unfold in the next entry in the series.
In Warlords of Wyrdwood, the characters are all tested in new ways and have to figure out an entirely new way of life while fighting off remnants of their old life. Many of these side characters, such as Ont, undergo a lot of growth. Though it's lovely to see this development, especially in the cases of people who were quite awful before, it doesn't always feel earned. I guess under the extreme circumstances these characters all find themselves in, it's only natural for them to undergo drastic changes, but they often feel very quick for my liking.
On the other hand, Cahan doesn't make nearly enough of a change for my liking. I struggled with the character in the first novel, but he is absolutely insufferable in Warlords of Wyrdwood. He is so resistant to using his power to protect people that he won't accept their help and seeks power through other, darker means. Though his intentions are good, he ends up causing way worse problems for himself and putting everyone he cares about at risk all because he is too stubborn and proud to listen to anyone. I wanted to strangle the man for almost the entirety of the novel, but somehow, I always still care about him. If that doesn't tell you how talented of a writer the author, RJ Barker is, I don't know what will.
And though I found Barker's writing style a little off-putting initially during Gods of the Wyrdwood, I really came to appreciate it in this sequel. So much is communicated through what is not said, which I think is perfect for Cahan's reticent and stubborn character. I also really got a kick out of reading from other characters' perspectives and seeing how they viewed Cahan. Though he is the protagonist of the series, he can certainly cut a monstrous figure. I enjoyed seeing other characters intimidated by this mysterious man that I knew intimately from reading through his perspective. it made for a very interesting dynamic.
Outside of Cahan, characters were a bit of a mixed bag for me. Hands down, Udinny was my favorite character in the first novel, but I didn't care much at all for the chapters from her POV in this novel. I had to force myself not to skim her chapters. On the other hand, I found myself actually enjoying reading from Sorha’s perspective. This woman is such a complex and tortured character with more layers than even she, herself, knows. And I can't wait to see what this character does in the next book. I simply love how the author writes all of his villainous, tortured, or morally gray characters. I also really enjoyed seeing all the different types of strong women in this novel, whether they were in positions of powers, partners of men in power, vengeance seekers, servants of gods, mothers, or warriors. No female character is a cookie cutter of another or of a trope, which is fantastic to read. I was disappointed not to have the opportunity to read from Furin’s perspective, but maybe that's something that will happen in the next book in the trilogy.
Since the novel ends with everything coming to a head and on a huge cliffhanger, I am dying to know what happens. After reading Warlords of Wyrdwood, I am completely invested in not only Cahan and his personal journey, but all of the characters and the world too. I will definitely be picking up the next entry in this series as soon as possible.
After reading Gods of the Wyrdwood, I was on the fence about wanting to read its sequel, Warlords of Wyrdwood. Though I loved the world building and wanted to know what happened to the characters, the darker tone of the novel made it harder for me to read it. But after some initial hesitation, I decided to continue on with the series, and boy, am I glad I did. Warlords of Wyrdwood ended up topping the first book in the series for me.
The pacing of Warlords of Wyrdwood was so much faster. Unlike the first book, where I struggled to pick the book up, I never wanted to put this sequel book down. From the very beginning of the novel (which thankfully, came with a recap of the events of the first book), there was always something happening. I was never bored. The survivors of Harn, led by Cahan, are forced to seek refuge in the incredibly inhospitable and deadly Wyrdwood.
"'It is not so strange, to lose people. That is a truth of living in Wyrdwood. The forest takes its due and sometimes it is never explained. It is simply Wyrdwood; the Boughry take what the Boughry take, may they always look away from you.'"
I really loved everything about the time spent in the Wyrdwood. The forest is a character of its own, with its deadly creatures, mysterious prices, and quickness to punish any that take too much of it. I definitely wouldn't last a second there. Thankfully, the forestals, people who choose to live in the Wyrdwood, step up to help the people of Harn, which was very interesting to see the juxtapositions of their way of life. I really enjoyed every minute spent in this wood, uncovering its secrets. The world-building is truly a standout of this series and I can't wait to see how all of these new discoveries unfold in the next entry in the series.
In Warlords of Wyrdwood, the characters are all tested in new ways and have to figure out an entirely new way of life while fighting off remnants of their old life. Many of these side characters, such as Ont, undergo a lot of growth. Though it's lovely to see this development, especially in the cases of people who were quite awful before, it doesn't always feel earned. I guess under the extreme circumstances these characters all find themselves in, it's only natural for them to undergo drastic changes, but they often feel very quick for my liking.
"These people were villagers no longer, but neither were they warriors. They were something else, a people changed by the truth of their land. Like him, they were in the process of becoming, and they were yet to find out what it was they would become."
On the other hand, Cahan doesn't make nearly enough of a change for my liking. I struggled with the character in the first novel, but he is absolutely insufferable in Warlords of Wyrdwood. He is so resistant to using his power to protect people that he won't accept their help and seeks power through other, darker means. Though his intentions are good, he ends up causing way worse problems for himself and putting everyone he cares about at risk all because he is too stubborn and proud to listen to anyone. I wanted to strangle the man for almost the entirety of the novel, but somehow, I always still care about him. If that doesn't tell you how talented of a writer the author, RJ Barker is, I don't know what will.
"'I will protect those people, Venn, it is all I have left.' For a moment the trion held his gaze then nodded, more to themselves than the forester. They looked terribly sad. How could he explain what he knew; that the fire that burned dark and cruel within him was not of the cowl, it was him. The cowl only made him more of what he was.
'If you can delay the fight,' said Venn, voice on the edge of desperation, 'maybe we can find other ways, the Forestals may—
'The Rai are coming.'
'It is not what Udinny would want for you.'
'Udinny is gone.'
Silence.
'Very well,' said Venn. 'I only hope it is still you when you return.'"
And though I found Barker's writing style a little off-putting initially during Gods of the Wyrdwood, I really came to appreciate it in this sequel. So much is communicated through what is not said, which I think is perfect for Cahan's reticent and stubborn character. I also really got a kick out of reading from other characters' perspectives and seeing how they viewed Cahan. Though he is the protagonist of the series, he can certainly cut a monstrous figure. I enjoyed seeing other characters intimidated by this mysterious man that I knew intimately from reading through his perspective. it made for a very interesting dynamic.
Outside of Cahan, characters were a bit of a mixed bag for me. Hands down, Udinny was my favorite character in the first novel, but I didn't care much at all for the chapters from her POV in this novel. I had to force myself not to skim her chapters. On the other hand, I found myself actually enjoying reading from Sorha’s perspective. This woman is such a complex and tortured character with more layers than even she, herself, knows. And I can't wait to see what this character does in the next book. I simply love how the author writes all of his villainous, tortured, or morally gray characters. I also really enjoyed seeing all the different types of strong women in this novel, whether they were in positions of powers, partners of men in power, vengeance seekers, servants of gods, mothers, or warriors. No female character is a cookie cutter of another or of a trope, which is fantastic to read. I was disappointed not to have the opportunity to read from Furin’s perspective, but maybe that's something that will happen in the next book in the trilogy.
Since the novel ends with everything coming to a head and on a huge cliffhanger, I am dying to know what happens. After reading Warlords of Wyrdwood, I am completely invested in not only Cahan and his personal journey, but all of the characters and the world too. I will definitely be picking up the next entry in this series as soon as possible.
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November 25, 2024
This book is a continuation from the first and immediately gets you back into this weird, unique, fascinating world. Within this the world is even expanding and introduces more people and creatures.
Unfortunately it "suffers" from middle book syndrom and wasn't as engaging as the first book. The reader follows the initial characters as well as some new, in order to expand the viewpoints and the dynamics within the world.
Unfortunately it "suffers" from middle book syndrom and wasn't as engaging as the first book. The reader follows the initial characters as well as some new, in order to expand the viewpoints and the dynamics within the world.
May 26, 2025
Review originally on JamReads
Warlords of Wyrdwood is the second book in the epic fantasy trilogy Forsaken, written by R.J. Barker, published by Orbit Books. A challenging and imaginative sequel to the first book that shakes us the foundation of the world in the first half to weave a new layer on top of the story for the second; weird in the Barker fashion, but highly enjoyable, with a creepy but fascinating worldbuilding that reveals part of what the forest hides.
While the first book was quite focused on Cahan and his small group, with a few characters sprinkled here and there, Barker takes the opportunity to not only further develop the Wyrdwood, that creepy, ancient, yet fascinating forest, but also the rest of Cruaa, entering even in the metaphysical plane, outlining a bigger conflict than the rebellion against the oppression of the Rai. As a consequence of this decision, we have a really challenging storyline, that asks the reader to put together the characters' arcs and the secrets of the world, embracing the weirdness in the best of senses.
Cahan continues being at the heart of the story, as he considers himself responsible for the villagers of Harm, but instead of becoming a reluctant hero, we can see him taking a really dark path, partly motivated by a certain moment, that threatens to destroy him if he goes too far; Venn is finally becoming aware of how powerful they is. Sarahis continues trying to manipulate the Rai in order to get the favour of his god, but, I think Sorha is the character that experiences the biggest transformation, tied with the reader's discovery of what lies in the borders of Cruaa.
If the first book of the Forsaken trilogy had the forest as a mystery, this second one excels at worldbuilding, especially as we start discovering the layers that are hidden behind the trees; the plot is of much bigger scope, trying to portray a global conflict rather than the survival story of Cahan, and from the second half of the book, not even the Rai are the most dangerous threat that Cruaa has. The pacing is slower in comparison with the first book, especially as there are more pieces moving in the woods, but you just need to embrace Cruaa as reader, and trust Barker to take you into a dark but awesome novel.
Warlords of Wyrdwood is an excellent example of what an expansive sequel should be, taking the spoils of Gods of Wyrdwood to create something bigger, equally compelling but which is an absolute masterclass on worldbuilding. I can't wait to see what Barker has under the sleeve for Heart of the Wyrdwood, because I need it yesterday!
Warlords of Wyrdwood is the second book in the epic fantasy trilogy Forsaken, written by R.J. Barker, published by Orbit Books. A challenging and imaginative sequel to the first book that shakes us the foundation of the world in the first half to weave a new layer on top of the story for the second; weird in the Barker fashion, but highly enjoyable, with a creepy but fascinating worldbuilding that reveals part of what the forest hides.
While the first book was quite focused on Cahan and his small group, with a few characters sprinkled here and there, Barker takes the opportunity to not only further develop the Wyrdwood, that creepy, ancient, yet fascinating forest, but also the rest of Cruaa, entering even in the metaphysical plane, outlining a bigger conflict than the rebellion against the oppression of the Rai. As a consequence of this decision, we have a really challenging storyline, that asks the reader to put together the characters' arcs and the secrets of the world, embracing the weirdness in the best of senses.
Cahan continues being at the heart of the story, as he considers himself responsible for the villagers of Harm, but instead of becoming a reluctant hero, we can see him taking a really dark path, partly motivated by a certain moment, that threatens to destroy him if he goes too far; Venn is finally becoming aware of how powerful they is. Sarahis continues trying to manipulate the Rai in order to get the favour of his god, but, I think Sorha is the character that experiences the biggest transformation, tied with the reader's discovery of what lies in the borders of Cruaa.
If the first book of the Forsaken trilogy had the forest as a mystery, this second one excels at worldbuilding, especially as we start discovering the layers that are hidden behind the trees; the plot is of much bigger scope, trying to portray a global conflict rather than the survival story of Cahan, and from the second half of the book, not even the Rai are the most dangerous threat that Cruaa has. The pacing is slower in comparison with the first book, especially as there are more pieces moving in the woods, but you just need to embrace Cruaa as reader, and trust Barker to take you into a dark but awesome novel.
Warlords of Wyrdwood is an excellent example of what an expansive sequel should be, taking the spoils of Gods of Wyrdwood to create something bigger, equally compelling but which is an absolute masterclass on worldbuilding. I can't wait to see what Barker has under the sleeve for Heart of the Wyrdwood, because I need it yesterday!
October 7, 2024
A true 4.5 stars, and only because I am relatively stingy with the 5-star ratings. This series is beautiful and unique. I almost stalled out early in this second installment, unsure of where Barker was headed. Our protagonist Cahan, in an homage to Rand in The Shadow Rising, spends so much of the second book in turmoil while the action happens elsewhere. All of a sudden, in the final few acts, all of the various subplots coalesce like Ranya’s web into a full picture of where the final installment is headed, and it’s glorious. Goddamn, Barker can write. This man uses commas like no one else in the game. So many more people should be reading this series.
July 25, 2024
I received an eARC through Netgalley from OrbitbooksUS so thank you to the wonderful crew over there for making this happen
Welcome back to Crua! I had a wonderful blast seeing Cahan our main forester (and others) continue right after the events of God's of the Wyrdwood. I unfortunately had a bit of a hard time adjusting back to the world with the dense terminology and writing structure (and I made a note on my phone with all the MCs and fauna). It took me around the 40% mark to get back into the story but boy did I have a great time. The worldbuilding is still second to none and the story goes to a whole new level. There were elements in the latter half that reminded me a lot of the last book to Shadows of the Apt. The middle of the story picks up a lot and the ending has been insanely unique to something that I haven't read before. I'm so glad I received this ARC and cannot wait for the final installment of the Forsaken trilogy.
Welcome back to Crua! I had a wonderful blast seeing Cahan our main forester (and others) continue right after the events of God's of the Wyrdwood. I unfortunately had a bit of a hard time adjusting back to the world with the dense terminology and writing structure (and I made a note on my phone with all the MCs and fauna). It took me around the 40% mark to get back into the story but boy did I have a great time. The worldbuilding is still second to none and the story goes to a whole new level. There were elements in the latter half that reminded me a lot of the last book to Shadows of the Apt. The middle of the story picks up a lot and the ending has been insanely unique to something that I haven't read before. I'm so glad I received this ARC and cannot wait for the final installment of the Forsaken trilogy.
September 24, 2024
3,5 stars
Thank you to Orbit and Netgalley for the review copy in exchange for an honest review. This does not change my opinion in anyway.
TW/CW Violence | Murder | Mentions of Execution | Kidnapping | Mass Murder
Warlords of Wyrdwood was one of the books I was anticipating this Fall as I quite enjoyed Gods of the Wyrdwood. Somehow I'm a little dissapointed in this book. That doesn't make this a bad book. It just means I have high expectations for R.J. Barker.
We come into the story as Cahan is leading the townfolk through the forest towards the wyrdwood. In true Cahan fashion, he is not being very communicative. He knows where he has to lead them but the townfolk don't understand. The hunt for him and Venn hasn't gone down though and that doesn't make an potential life easier. In the midst of that he is also dealing with his own troubles.
What I struggled with in this book was that the first half was a bit of a slog to get through. Once we pass the midway point the story truly starts going and gains momentum. I'm all for building up a story. But I found this hard to keep my attention. There were more different point of views which made it hard to get into the story again. Especially because I didn't care about some of them. Udinny's story was drawn out for instance.
Another aspect was that I struggled a little with Cahan here. I just wanted to slap him. He is dealing with so much and he is not talking. Not even a little. He's going down such a dark path but nobody seems to be able to truly see what is going on. Nobody really confronts him and he doesn't share one ounce of information. It feels like he took such a step back as a character and I found that hard to see.
However I did enjoy getting the point of view of Venn nearing the end. Through other eyes we see him grown into his role and by the end of this book he is truly standing as his own. I also loved getting Ont's point of view. From that annoying butcher to a supportive and open person to a monk that has a path to follow. He becomes embraced by the Wyrdwood. Something I never thought I'd see from someone like him.
So yes I was a little dissapointed in the first half of this book. The second half makes up for a lot of that though. It starts to unravel the plot and give us more information that is important. I can't wait to see what will happen in this conclusion.
Thank you to Orbit and Netgalley for the review copy in exchange for an honest review. This does not change my opinion in anyway.
TW/CW Violence | Murder | Mentions of Execution | Kidnapping | Mass Murder
Warlords of Wyrdwood was one of the books I was anticipating this Fall as I quite enjoyed Gods of the Wyrdwood. Somehow I'm a little dissapointed in this book. That doesn't make this a bad book. It just means I have high expectations for R.J. Barker.
We come into the story as Cahan is leading the townfolk through the forest towards the wyrdwood. In true Cahan fashion, he is not being very communicative. He knows where he has to lead them but the townfolk don't understand. The hunt for him and Venn hasn't gone down though and that doesn't make an potential life easier. In the midst of that he is also dealing with his own troubles.
What I struggled with in this book was that the first half was a bit of a slog to get through. Once we pass the midway point the story truly starts going and gains momentum. I'm all for building up a story. But I found this hard to keep my attention. There were more different point of views which made it hard to get into the story again. Especially because I didn't care about some of them. Udinny's story was drawn out for instance.
Another aspect was that I struggled a little with Cahan here. I just wanted to slap him. He is dealing with so much and he is not talking. Not even a little. He's going down such a dark path but nobody seems to be able to truly see what is going on. Nobody really confronts him and he doesn't share one ounce of information. It feels like he took such a step back as a character and I found that hard to see.
However I did enjoy getting the point of view of Venn nearing the end. Through other eyes we see him grown into his role and by the end of this book he is truly standing as his own. I also loved getting Ont's point of view. From that annoying butcher to a supportive and open person to a monk that has a path to follow. He becomes embraced by the Wyrdwood. Something I never thought I'd see from someone like him.
So yes I was a little dissapointed in the first half of this book. The second half makes up for a lot of that though. It starts to unravel the plot and give us more information that is important. I can't wait to see what will happen in this conclusion.
September 20, 2024
A great challenging but rewarding sequel to the first book that shakes up the world and characters in the first half but then pulls the threads together in the second half to create a very different story to the one I was expecting
Strongly recommended - https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/bl...
Strongly recommended - https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/bl...
November 26, 2024
This is the second volume of the Forsaken trilogy. The review contains spoilers for the 1st book, Gods of the Wyrdwood. I read it as a Buddy read in November 2024 at SFF Hot from Printers: New Releases group. In January 2024 the 1st volume was read by the same group. It should be noted, that this volume at the start contains “What Has Gone Before”, which gives a brief overview of the main events and characters from the previous volume, so it can be read and understood as a standalone. Still, I nevertheless recommend reading the 1st volume before moving to this one.
So, the protagonist Cahan Du-Nahere, a man who decided to hide from his destiny (he was the Cowl-Rai, the strongest of the Rai, humans bonded with cowls which live beneath their skin and allow them to steal the lives of others to fuel their own magic powers), had to defend the village named Harn against the army of Rai. He was successful in saving many lives, but now they still have to leave and move into the Wyrdwood, an ancient sentient (?) forest filled with dangers. Cahan was able to save Venn, a young trion (Crua’s third sex), who is, unknown to Cahan, Venn is the child of the ruler of Harnspire, and the only trion with a cowl, which bestows on them unique healing powers. Alas, there were losses, among which the talkative monk of a forgotten god Ranya named Udinny, which is one of the brightest characters in this rather grimdark story.
The story, surprisingly starts with a narration of Udinny, as she comes to sentience in an afterlife, which is completely unlike what priest described. She gets a magic gifts from her god and starts on a quest.
Cahan hates the fact that to tap his cowl’s powers he has to suck lives from other people, so he desperately searches for an alternative and possibly finds it, but the cure can be more dangerous than the illness.
Sohra, who was Rai, but whose cowl Cahan negated, turning her not into neuter, but into a potent dampener of cowl’s powers in her vicinity, has sworn to get and kill Cahan at any price. She takes a task from her superiors to deliver Cahan and Venn, but will she?
Dassit, the Trunk Commander (cowlless soldiers of Rai) and a talented strategist, gets an order to defend an undefendable city with a small garrison and without Rai against enemy Rai, an impossible task.
Saradis, who is formally Skua-Rai (a high priestess) of Tarl-an-Gig, is in fact the covert follower of Zorir, the god that will bring the end of the world in a cleansing fire. She is the woman who raised Cahan, to make him Cowl-Rai. Now she is Skua-Rai, high priest of Tarl-an-Gig, and she keeps the Cowl-Rai of her god in a cage…
A great continuation of the story!
So, the protagonist Cahan Du-Nahere, a man who decided to hide from his destiny (he was the Cowl-Rai, the strongest of the Rai, humans bonded with cowls which live beneath their skin and allow them to steal the lives of others to fuel their own magic powers), had to defend the village named Harn against the army of Rai. He was successful in saving many lives, but now they still have to leave and move into the Wyrdwood, an ancient sentient (?) forest filled with dangers. Cahan was able to save Venn, a young trion (Crua’s third sex), who is, unknown to Cahan, Venn is the child of the ruler of Harnspire, and the only trion with a cowl, which bestows on them unique healing powers. Alas, there were losses, among which the talkative monk of a forgotten god Ranya named Udinny, which is one of the brightest characters in this rather grimdark story.
The story, surprisingly starts with a narration of Udinny, as she comes to sentience in an afterlife, which is completely unlike what priest described. She gets a magic gifts from her god and starts on a quest.
Cahan hates the fact that to tap his cowl’s powers he has to suck lives from other people, so he desperately searches for an alternative and possibly finds it, but the cure can be more dangerous than the illness.
Sohra, who was Rai, but whose cowl Cahan negated, turning her not into neuter, but into a potent dampener of cowl’s powers in her vicinity, has sworn to get and kill Cahan at any price. She takes a task from her superiors to deliver Cahan and Venn, but will she?
Dassit, the Trunk Commander (cowlless soldiers of Rai) and a talented strategist, gets an order to defend an undefendable city with a small garrison and without Rai against enemy Rai, an impossible task.
Saradis, who is formally Skua-Rai (a high priestess) of Tarl-an-Gig, is in fact the covert follower of Zorir, the god that will bring the end of the world in a cleansing fire. She is the woman who raised Cahan, to make him Cowl-Rai. Now she is Skua-Rai, high priest of Tarl-an-Gig, and she keeps the Cowl-Rai of her god in a cage…
A great continuation of the story!
October 20, 2024
Good news for everyone who liked Gods of the Wyrdwood: Warlords of Wyrdwood is at least as good.
The surprise ending of Gods plays a big part, obviously, but not in the way I expected at all. There’s a lot going on that Cahan & friends have no idea about; I had no idea either. But I enjoyed figuring it out.
The first book was very limited in perspective: we were almost entirely inside Cahan’s head, with Venn as a secondary protagonist, and occasional interludes elsewhere. This is much more of an ensemble book. We get a lot of Cahan still, and plenty of Venn, but other major perspectives include Ont (the butcher), Sorha (the ex-Rai), Saradis (yes that Saradis), and Udinny (YES!).
My one real disappointment in this book was with Venn. They don’t do all that much in this book; felt like a real stall in their story. But there’s a lot that sets things up for the next one, so I’m prepared to be patient.
Cahan remains frustratingly stubborn. I wanted more development with him & Furin, but I don’t blame RJ Barker for that; I blame Cahan. There’s a lot that goes on that is because of Cahan: his stubbornness, his personal walls, his trying to be responsible for everyone and everything. Irritating to read? Yes. Appropriate for the character he is? Absolutely. But boy do I want to smack the man.
The incredible worldbuilding continues apace. We learned so much in the first book, which led to so very many questions. We learn even more about the world of Crua in Warlords, and I have even more questions. Many guesses, but this is the best part of the books for me. I am so desperate to learn more about this world, its past, present, and future.
And Udinny! I don’t consider her presence a spoiler since the book literally begins with her reflecting on the events at the end of the first book, and her considerable surprise at her present situation. She’s, as always, a delight.
Last point: Thank you, RJ Barker, for including a synopsis of book 1 at the beginning of this. Every fantasy author writing a series should do this. Please?
My blog
The surprise ending of Gods plays a big part, obviously, but not in the way I expected at all. There’s a lot going on that Cahan & friends have no idea about; I had no idea either. But I enjoyed figuring it out.
The first book was very limited in perspective: we were almost entirely inside Cahan’s head, with Venn as a secondary protagonist, and occasional interludes elsewhere. This is much more of an ensemble book. We get a lot of Cahan still, and plenty of Venn, but other major perspectives include Ont (the butcher), Sorha (the ex-Rai), Saradis (yes that Saradis), and Udinny (YES!).
My one real disappointment in this book was with Venn. They don’t do all that much in this book; felt like a real stall in their story. But there’s a lot that sets things up for the next one, so I’m prepared to be patient.
Cahan remains frustratingly stubborn. I wanted more development with him & Furin, but I don’t blame RJ Barker for that; I blame Cahan. There’s a lot that goes on that is because of Cahan: his stubbornness, his personal walls, his trying to be responsible for everyone and everything. Irritating to read? Yes. Appropriate for the character he is? Absolutely. But boy do I want to smack the man.
The incredible worldbuilding continues apace. We learned so much in the first book, which led to so very many questions. We learn even more about the world of Crua in Warlords, and I have even more questions. Many guesses, but this is the best part of the books for me. I am so desperate to learn more about this world, its past, present, and future.
And Udinny! I don’t consider her presence a spoiler since the book literally begins with her reflecting on the events at the end of the first book, and her considerable surprise at her present situation. She’s, as always, a delight.
Last point: Thank you, RJ Barker, for including a synopsis of book 1 at the beginning of this. Every fantasy author writing a series should do this. Please?
My blog
July 6, 2025
A little south of four stars - 3.75ish?
While Barker continued to be innovative with dark and delicious world building, this book didn't quite live up to the expectations I had going in. I had hoped to explore more of the forest, and grow closer to the characters we had met in book one. While plenty of that did happen, we also got several new perspectives and settings that I found myself struggling to care about. There is all the potential here for an excellent story, but something about it is keeping me at arms length.
If I'm being nitpicky, I also noticed the writing got VERY repetitive. Certain phrases and character moments came up over and over, and I can't tell if it was done on purpose, or was a major miss in editing. I know how certain characters feel about using their powers, instead of reminding the reader of that 1000 times, can we actually read about the characters doing something about it?
The world and interesting premise are definitely enough to keep me going. The book left off on a pretty extreme note, and I'm still genuinely interested to see how things wrap up. At this point, I would recommend this series to those who like the idea of untamed forests, eldritch inspired flora and fauna, fanatical religious cults, and those who don't mind a world/plot focused story over a character based one.
While Barker continued to be innovative with dark and delicious world building, this book didn't quite live up to the expectations I had going in. I had hoped to explore more of the forest, and grow closer to the characters we had met in book one. While plenty of that did happen, we also got several new perspectives and settings that I found myself struggling to care about. There is all the potential here for an excellent story, but something about it is keeping me at arms length.
If I'm being nitpicky, I also noticed the writing got VERY repetitive. Certain phrases and character moments came up over and over, and I can't tell if it was done on purpose, or was a major miss in editing. I know how certain characters feel about using their powers, instead of reminding the reader of that 1000 times, can we actually read about the characters doing something about it?
The world and interesting premise are definitely enough to keep me going. The book left off on a pretty extreme note, and I'm still genuinely interested to see how things wrap up. At this point, I would recommend this series to those who like the idea of untamed forests, eldritch inspired flora and fauna, fanatical religious cults, and those who don't mind a world/plot focused story over a character based one.
May 11, 2025
This was amazing! I loved everything about it, so action packed, so fast paced! So many new great characters, twists, battles, more things about world building! Amazing, can’t wait for book 3!
October 21, 2025
3.5 ⭐️
Second half of this really took off and kept me excited for the finale
Second half of this really took off and kept me excited for the finale
September 29, 2024
You can always count on RJ Barker to create unique and fascinating worlds, characters, and stories. I love the way he drops readers into the story and expects them to understand what’s going on through context. There is no hand-holding or info dumps here! Barker’s writing is intelligent and crisp.
This second installment in The Forsaken Trilogy continues the story of Cahan du Nahere (the true Cowl Rai of Zorir) from the first novel. Cahan is one of my favorite characters from fantasy, but I do question some of his decisions throughout this story! Also, we witness the further growth and development of the trion Venn and her understanding of her cowl. We see what happens to the citizens of Harn after the final events of Gods of the Wyrdwood. We also learn more about Cahan’s history, more about his sister Nahac, and meet a couple of new characters from Cahan’s past.
A great middle book and highly recommended!
This second installment in The Forsaken Trilogy continues the story of Cahan du Nahere (the true Cowl Rai of Zorir) from the first novel. Cahan is one of my favorite characters from fantasy, but I do question some of his decisions throughout this story! Also, we witness the further growth and development of the trion Venn and her understanding of her cowl. We see what happens to the citizens of Harn after the final events of Gods of the Wyrdwood. We also learn more about Cahan’s history, more about his sister Nahac, and meet a couple of new characters from Cahan’s past.
A great middle book and highly recommended!
September 30, 2024
Still a very interesting world, and I do like where the story seems to be going, but definitely felt like a bit more of a slog/less engaging than the 1st one. I think this might just have been 'middle book syndrome', as a bridge to the conclusion of this trilogy, but I wasn't super into this book -- especially some of the POV characters weren't that interesting to me (Udinny I'm looking at you). Still enjoyed the book overall and will definitely finish the trilogy next year!
January 31, 2025
A real disappointment after the first book in the series. Rambling, too many uninteresting POVs, and about as fun as a walk through a cemetery.
April 20, 2025
Character: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
Plot: ★ ★ ½ ☆ ☆ ☆
Prose: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
Worldbuilding: ★ ★ ★ ½ ☆ ☆
OVERALL: ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆
I’m disappointed that I feel the way I do about this book. I read the first book in three sittings across three days, and it was exactly the thing I was in the mood for at the time; specifically, I was after a character like Cahan — a failed Chosen One, melancholic, has a temper on him, can snap you in half, is built like a brick shithouse. It was the perfect cocktail at the time and I was happy as a clam. So I was looking forward to reading the second book …
… and I didn’t like it nearly as much as I thought I would. And despite the cliffhanger of an ending, I, at this point, have no plans to read the third book.
One of my favourite parts of Barker’s second trilogy, Tide Child, was the underlying philosophy of anyone can become a better person, and that thread throughout brought the books together. I enjoyed following the characters of the titular ship Tide Child growing into being a trusting and competent crew, because it gave them purpose and something to strive towards in this world that has shunned them. Though there are glimmers of strong threads like this in Forsaken, as well as more of that self-improvement philosophy, they aren’t nearly as defined or strong.
CHARACTERS
Gods of the Wyrdwood felt like a book that was written at the perfect scale it demanded. It was kept to two POVs — the main character Cahan, afore described failed Chosen One and now outcast with a secret, and Kirven, an administrator of a theocratic military dictatorship that wants Cahan dead for the social and religious problems he presents (namely that her position, beliefs, and everything her sacrifices have bought might either be challenged or sabotage her standing). Because of this, Gods felt like a character study centred around Cahan. Warlords shifts the focus from character study to epic, and I don’t know if it was the correct choice to make for this story. I am glad to see more of this weird world, but this book took me as long to read as it did because I found ¾ of the POVs just … boring; Ont was the particular offender here, and whilst I am sure Udinny will have an important part to play in the finale, I did not enjoy seeing her name as the chapter header.
Cahan is still the best and most fleshed out of the characters. After spending most of Gods running away from the title of Cowl-Rai/Chosen One, he has reluctantly taken on the mantle but is determined to stay on the ethical side of things; the magic of the cowls are fed through stealing the lifeforces of other humans, which turns their wielders into sociopathic monsters. Cahan won’t become like this, no matter the cost, and spends the book trying to find an alternate way to use his power, even at the detriment of his health and putting himself at serious risk of being overpowered by Rai and other enemies. His arc in this book is also about embracing his role as a leader, which his personality is ill-suited to; Cahan is a man in the habit and mindset of being alone. I enjoyed watching him come into his budding feelings for Furin, and all the confusing “Arrghhhh intimacy is scary and hard!!” moments that resulted. Other POVs I enjoyed were Saradis, as I do like riding in the mind of a crazy religious despot/someone who is at the centre of political power, and Sorha, to the extent that she was failing upwards. Everyone else I was either lukewarm on, or did not enjoy seeing (hello Ont).
Personally, I would have liked to see the number of POVs condensed, as ones like Dassit felt like unnecessary padding, and longer chapters, with POVs from the same character merged into single chapters rather than split across two or three, or chapters treated as sequences rather than a new one being created for each POV switch.
PLOT
I don’t have issue with the plot in broad swathes, in fact, I like it better than the first book which felt like three episodes of a story smooshed together into something novel length. I too am always interested in a story that wants to focus on geopolitics, so, in theory, I was looking forward to this world expanding out. The end of the book is the most engaging section because all the secrets start coming out, and the threads tying together, whereas the beginning and the middle are … oof, a bit rough.
But I feel like so much of that is down to how the book is presented rather than anything to do with the bullet point version of the plot.
The middle of the book, in particular, was the most difficult part for me to get through, which took me about two weeks to get through/I read a whole other book between me reading the middle of this one. Certainly a lot was happening, but its structure was another of those choices that hindered more than helped. Several action set-pieces happen across our POVs, but so many of these chapters stopped in the middle of the action on cliffhangers, upon which we would change to the next character, only for their chapter to end on a cliffhanger, then we would change again, another cliffhanger, repeat. The effect this had was to sap the tension, because there is all this action happening all at once, not allowing you to catch a breath, and it ends up becoming this … amalgamation of fights and people being afraid, that it’s genuinely difficult to keep those emotions at the heights demanded, and ultimately, make me as the reader care. I would have preferred these chapters to be longer, so having one character’s fight start and resolve in one hit, and then to shift to another fight. For example:
Currently, these points have 2-3 chapters each dedicated to them, but the scenes are spliced in a way I don’t see the reason for.
There is also another scene around the 70% mark that is retold across 3-4 POVs, and I wish it wasn’t. It felt like a waste of page-space, and I don’t see why we couldn’t have had the characters, in their later POVs, thinking back on the event in a more contained word count. It ended up feeling like a “let’s see that again from another angle!” sequence, but I just wanted to move on to the next bit. I don’t need to see this again from the beginning. Thanks.
Overall, the structure lacks focus, and I would be much more interested in this book with a solidly realised structure.
PROSE
Now, let’s talk about the prose. Because this was my second core problem with the book, and it was constantly irritating, like a really tiny stone in my shoe.
Barker’s prose has always put me in mind of a dreamy flow-state. It’s very soft on the soul, and reminds me of how one might tell a story by the campfire. But as much as this is its strength, I thought it a weakness, too. At times, it can be confusingly vague. Actions can be hard to follow, images hard to parse, and there were times I had to go back and re-read sentences and sometimes even paragraphs to get my head around what had just happened. Which is fine, but I have a problem when this happens a bit too much, which is my experience with the book. Take this event, for example.
As the character Ont is running from danger through the trees, he sees a distant vision of “three, tall, thin and terrifying”… what? What did he see? From the context you can surmise he sees figures, but the dreamy language of the prose can leave things a bit on the vague side, so you have to go back to parse basic information.
My second, and biggest, thing was a problem I had with the first book too: how punctuation is used. I am just … confused about it. At first I thought that the book was just full of typos, because that is not how you use punctuation when writing speech, you should have used a semi-colon there, a dash here, why is this a comma instead of a full-stop, etc., etc. But it happens so often, whereas it didn’t happen at all in Tide Child, that I can only conclude that these punctuation choices are specific, and I simply don’t understand why they were made. It became very distracting, and very, very irritating, very fast. All I could think about is how much I wanted to correct these with a red pen. There are also just, straight-up typos like missing words, and Cahan’s name is spelt “Du-Nahere”, “du-Nahere”, and “du Nahere”. Why?
WORLDBUILDING
Barker’s worldbuilding remains delightfully weird. I don’t have much to say about this section because, like I have said in other reviews, I don’t really have much to say about worldbuilding when it is done well (and so nothing sore sticks out to me). But, there are two things I will touch on.
The first is the funny one. This was a thing I had with Tide Child as well, but Barker’s worlds feel like they take place on Flat Earths? Like, there is the world’s Geographical Barrier that dominates all, and that’s kind of the gimmick every time, which makes the worlds feel very small and homogenous, because there just aren’t that many cultures? There are like, three at most.
… Yep.
Secondly, the Forestals. I didn’t know whether to put this in the character section or the worldbuilding section, but it feels like it suits worldbuilding more, and it is: The Forestals are Noble Savages, and it’s Really Goddarn Boring. Listen, they have a perfect, socialist, equalist, and sexually liberated society that lives in harmony with nature, and it just feels …??? Very weird. I think it does such a disservice to how people work, because it flattens things beyond the point of belief, and it just makes the story duller. Like, the biggest source of conflict you find here is between individuals; oh no, Ania did something Tall Sera didn’t like. Oh no, one of the random Forestals went to play outlaw without asking if it was okay. Surely there must be factions. Surely there must be deep relationships between groups and families. I just want like, a sniff of something deeper here. Because right now, the Forestals are people that I do not care about. Give me some friction here.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Warlords feels like a step forward and a misstep at the same time. The structure of the book feels weaker than it should with too many POVs spread across too many short chapters, and the story’s expansion into an epic from a character study may feel like a mistake after the first book was so tightly-focused on Cahan and the village of Harn, and the turmoil within the city of Tilt.
I would have preferred a tighter story just about Cahan and his enemies in Tilt, rather than Cahan, and Saradis the priest who wants to bring the Eldritch apocalypse, and Dassit and the southern armies, and Ont as the village monk, and Udinny in the afterlife, and Sorha doing a revenge plot, and Venn learning about their cowl (and one random chapter from assassin Laha).
Heart of the Wyrdwood releases in a couple of months. I hope it delivers a satisfying conclusion to this trilogy, but as of writing this review, I’m not in a rush/not really planning to check it out.
Plot: ★ ★ ½ ☆ ☆ ☆
Prose: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
Worldbuilding: ★ ★ ★ ½ ☆ ☆
OVERALL: ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆
I’m disappointed that I feel the way I do about this book. I read the first book in three sittings across three days, and it was exactly the thing I was in the mood for at the time; specifically, I was after a character like Cahan — a failed Chosen One, melancholic, has a temper on him, can snap you in half, is built like a brick shithouse. It was the perfect cocktail at the time and I was happy as a clam. So I was looking forward to reading the second book …
… and I didn’t like it nearly as much as I thought I would. And despite the cliffhanger of an ending, I, at this point, have no plans to read the third book.
One of my favourite parts of Barker’s second trilogy, Tide Child, was the underlying philosophy of anyone can become a better person, and that thread throughout brought the books together. I enjoyed following the characters of the titular ship Tide Child growing into being a trusting and competent crew, because it gave them purpose and something to strive towards in this world that has shunned them. Though there are glimmers of strong threads like this in Forsaken, as well as more of that self-improvement philosophy, they aren’t nearly as defined or strong.
CHARACTERS
Gods of the Wyrdwood felt like a book that was written at the perfect scale it demanded. It was kept to two POVs — the main character Cahan, afore described failed Chosen One and now outcast with a secret, and Kirven, an administrator of a theocratic military dictatorship that wants Cahan dead for the social and religious problems he presents (namely that her position, beliefs, and everything her sacrifices have bought might either be challenged or sabotage her standing). Because of this, Gods felt like a character study centred around Cahan. Warlords shifts the focus from character study to epic, and I don’t know if it was the correct choice to make for this story. I am glad to see more of this weird world, but this book took me as long to read as it did because I found ¾ of the POVs just … boring; Ont was the particular offender here, and whilst I am sure Udinny will have an important part to play in the finale, I did not enjoy seeing her name as the chapter header.
Cahan is still the best and most fleshed out of the characters. After spending most of Gods running away from the title of Cowl-Rai/Chosen One, he has reluctantly taken on the mantle but is determined to stay on the ethical side of things; the magic of the cowls are fed through stealing the lifeforces of other humans, which turns their wielders into sociopathic monsters. Cahan won’t become like this, no matter the cost, and spends the book trying to find an alternate way to use his power, even at the detriment of his health and putting himself at serious risk of being overpowered by Rai and other enemies. His arc in this book is also about embracing his role as a leader, which his personality is ill-suited to; Cahan is a man in the habit and mindset of being alone. I enjoyed watching him come into his budding feelings for Furin, and all the confusing “Arrghhhh intimacy is scary and hard!!” moments that resulted. Other POVs I enjoyed were Saradis, as I do like riding in the mind of a crazy religious despot/someone who is at the centre of political power, and Sorha, to the extent that she was failing upwards. Everyone else I was either lukewarm on, or did not enjoy seeing (hello Ont).
Personally, I would have liked to see the number of POVs condensed, as ones like Dassit felt like unnecessary padding, and longer chapters, with POVs from the same character merged into single chapters rather than split across two or three, or chapters treated as sequences rather than a new one being created for each POV switch.
PLOT
I don’t have issue with the plot in broad swathes, in fact, I like it better than the first book which felt like three episodes of a story smooshed together into something novel length. I too am always interested in a story that wants to focus on geopolitics, so, in theory, I was looking forward to this world expanding out. The end of the book is the most engaging section because all the secrets start coming out, and the threads tying together, whereas the beginning and the middle are … oof, a bit rough.
But I feel like so much of that is down to how the book is presented rather than anything to do with the bullet point version of the plot.
The middle of the book, in particular, was the most difficult part for me to get through, which took me about two weeks to get through/I read a whole other book between me reading the middle of this one. Certainly a lot was happening, but its structure was another of those choices that hindered more than helped. Several action set-pieces happen across our POVs, but so many of these chapters stopped in the middle of the action on cliffhangers, upon which we would change to the next character, only for their chapter to end on a cliffhanger, then we would change again, another cliffhanger, repeat. The effect this had was to sap the tension, because there is all this action happening all at once, not allowing you to catch a breath, and it ends up becoming this … amalgamation of fights and people being afraid, that it’s genuinely difficult to keep those emotions at the heights demanded, and ultimately, make me as the reader care. I would have preferred these chapters to be longer, so having one character’s fight start and resolve in one hit, and then to shift to another fight. For example:
Currently, these points have 2-3 chapters each dedicated to them, but the scenes are spliced in a way I don’t see the reason for.
There is also another scene around the 70% mark that is retold across 3-4 POVs, and I wish it wasn’t. It felt like a waste of page-space, and I don’t see why we couldn’t have had the characters, in their later POVs, thinking back on the event in a more contained word count. It ended up feeling like a “let’s see that again from another angle!” sequence, but I just wanted to move on to the next bit. I don’t need to see this again from the beginning. Thanks.
Overall, the structure lacks focus, and I would be much more interested in this book with a solidly realised structure.
PROSE
Now, let’s talk about the prose. Because this was my second core problem with the book, and it was constantly irritating, like a really tiny stone in my shoe.
Barker’s prose has always put me in mind of a dreamy flow-state. It’s very soft on the soul, and reminds me of how one might tell a story by the campfire. But as much as this is its strength, I thought it a weakness, too. At times, it can be confusingly vague. Actions can be hard to follow, images hard to parse, and there were times I had to go back and re-read sentences and sometimes even paragraphs to get my head around what had just happened. Which is fine, but I have a problem when this happens a bit too much, which is my experience with the book. Take this event, for example.
As the character Ont is running from danger through the trees, he sees a distant vision of “three, tall, thin and terrifying”… what? What did he see? From the context you can surmise he sees figures, but the dreamy language of the prose can leave things a bit on the vague side, so you have to go back to parse basic information.
My second, and biggest, thing was a problem I had with the first book too: how punctuation is used. I am just … confused about it. At first I thought that the book was just full of typos, because that is not how you use punctuation when writing speech, you should have used a semi-colon there, a dash here, why is this a comma instead of a full-stop, etc., etc. But it happens so often, whereas it didn’t happen at all in Tide Child, that I can only conclude that these punctuation choices are specific, and I simply don’t understand why they were made. It became very distracting, and very, very irritating, very fast. All I could think about is how much I wanted to correct these with a red pen. There are also just, straight-up typos like missing words, and Cahan’s name is spelt “Du-Nahere”, “du-Nahere”, and “du Nahere”. Why?
WORLDBUILDING
Barker’s worldbuilding remains delightfully weird. I don’t have much to say about this section because, like I have said in other reviews, I don’t really have much to say about worldbuilding when it is done well (and so nothing sore sticks out to me). But, there are two things I will touch on.
The first is the funny one. This was a thing I had with Tide Child as well, but Barker’s worlds feel like they take place on Flat Earths? Like, there is the world’s Geographical Barrier that dominates all, and that’s kind of the gimmick every time, which makes the worlds feel very small and homogenous, because there just aren’t that many cultures? There are like, three at most.
… Yep.
Secondly, the Forestals. I didn’t know whether to put this in the character section or the worldbuilding section, but it feels like it suits worldbuilding more, and it is: The Forestals are Noble Savages, and it’s Really Goddarn Boring. Listen, they have a perfect, socialist, equalist, and sexually liberated society that lives in harmony with nature, and it just feels …??? Very weird. I think it does such a disservice to how people work, because it flattens things beyond the point of belief, and it just makes the story duller. Like, the biggest source of conflict you find here is between individuals; oh no, Ania did something Tall Sera didn’t like. Oh no, one of the random Forestals went to play outlaw without asking if it was okay. Surely there must be factions. Surely there must be deep relationships between groups and families. I just want like, a sniff of something deeper here. Because right now, the Forestals are people that I do not care about. Give me some friction here.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Warlords feels like a step forward and a misstep at the same time. The structure of the book feels weaker than it should with too many POVs spread across too many short chapters, and the story’s expansion into an epic from a character study may feel like a mistake after the first book was so tightly-focused on Cahan and the village of Harn, and the turmoil within the city of Tilt.
I would have preferred a tighter story just about Cahan and his enemies in Tilt, rather than Cahan, and Saradis the priest who wants to bring the Eldritch apocalypse, and Dassit and the southern armies, and Ont as the village monk, and Udinny in the afterlife, and Sorha doing a revenge plot, and Venn learning about their cowl (and one random chapter from assassin Laha).
Heart of the Wyrdwood releases in a couple of months. I hope it delivers a satisfying conclusion to this trilogy, but as of writing this review, I’m not in a rush/not really planning to check it out.
November 23, 2024
I really enjoyed the first book in the series, which back then was likened to Princess Mononoke and thus, obviously, became an instant must-read for me. It's not Mononoke, just to put it out here, but there are certain similarities in parts of the world building, the vibes and some story beats, which are only strenghtened by the second book in the series, Warlords of Wyrdwood.
What I really enjoyed as soon as I opened the first page is - there's a previously on section! It's been a while since I read the first book, and while I did remember most of the bigger story elements, I loved the quick refresher. Honestly, more fantasy series should do this.
Once the story starts, it basically picks up right where we left in book one. The sequel focuses much more on the forestals, which I really enjoyed because Wyrdwood remains to be a fascinating setting and the greatest character in the series. The stakes are amped up, the world building becomes even bigger and the characters develop in at times really unexpected ways.
Cahan is still an amazing protagonist, even though, quite frankly, I could have gone without the (very tiny) romance subplot of his because as badass as Furin is, she's not really a fully fleshed-out, all too interesting character. She felt more like a plot convenience at times to get Cahan to go to a certain place and do a certain thing. Venn still is incredibly intriguing, but I also still feel like they're waiting for their big actual role in the series. What there is and how they develop is interesting, but there's too little time spent on them and the relationships they develop. I can wait, though, because I just know the story is building them up to have some amazing character development and moments that, hopefully, will also allow them more agency. Udinny is also back, and I won't spoil too much but while her part of the story is mostly a secluded one that rarely interacts with the main story, it's amazing and I love her. And then there's Sorha, my beautiful Sorha, who is about to become my favourite character. I'm just a sucker for her kind of character development. There are more characters as well, and maybe there could have been one less pov, but all in all the characters are still a big hit.
Now, I didn't love all of what we got in this sequel. Are there still too many tentacles for my liking? Yes. Are the villains a bit cartoonish in their actions, do the action sequences sometimes veer into more flashy anime-esque vibes? Sure. But it's fun, it's exciting, and it mostly fits the kind of unique world Barker built.
It will most likely take you some time to really get into this series because there's a lot of very dense world building and exposition especially in book 1, but it's worth it. The world is so unique and atmospheric, the characters convincing and actually integral to the plot (as opposed to the plot just happening to the characters, as is often the case), the writing is superb and the ending will leave you frothing at the mouth.
Book 3 when?
Many thanks to Orbit and Netgalley for the arc!
What I really enjoyed as soon as I opened the first page is - there's a previously on section! It's been a while since I read the first book, and while I did remember most of the bigger story elements, I loved the quick refresher. Honestly, more fantasy series should do this.
Once the story starts, it basically picks up right where we left in book one. The sequel focuses much more on the forestals, which I really enjoyed because Wyrdwood remains to be a fascinating setting and the greatest character in the series. The stakes are amped up, the world building becomes even bigger and the characters develop in at times really unexpected ways.
Cahan is still an amazing protagonist, even though, quite frankly, I could have gone without the (very tiny) romance subplot of his because as badass as Furin is, she's not really a fully fleshed-out, all too interesting character. She felt more like a plot convenience at times to get Cahan to go to a certain place and do a certain thing. Venn still is incredibly intriguing, but I also still feel like they're waiting for their big actual role in the series. What there is and how they develop is interesting, but there's too little time spent on them and the relationships they develop. I can wait, though, because I just know the story is building them up to have some amazing character development and moments that, hopefully, will also allow them more agency. Udinny is also back, and I won't spoil too much but while her part of the story is mostly a secluded one that rarely interacts with the main story, it's amazing and I love her. And then there's Sorha, my beautiful Sorha, who is about to become my favourite character. I'm just a sucker for her kind of character development. There are more characters as well, and maybe there could have been one less pov, but all in all the characters are still a big hit.
Now, I didn't love all of what we got in this sequel. Are there still too many tentacles for my liking? Yes. Are the villains a bit cartoonish in their actions, do the action sequences sometimes veer into more flashy anime-esque vibes? Sure. But it's fun, it's exciting, and it mostly fits the kind of unique world Barker built.
It will most likely take you some time to really get into this series because there's a lot of very dense world building and exposition especially in book 1, but it's worth it. The world is so unique and atmospheric, the characters convincing and actually integral to the plot (as opposed to the plot just happening to the characters, as is often the case), the writing is superb and the ending will leave you frothing at the mouth.
Book 3 when?
Many thanks to Orbit and Netgalley for the arc!
Read
September 11, 2024Unfortunately I am DNFing this one at 65%. I lost attention, and I found that I didn't actually care that I'd lost attention. To me, that is a sign of a DNF. It's probably my fault, because I was on my phone while I was listening to this audio, but it just felt very slow and didn't grip me. And when I'm 375/600 pages into a sequel and not interested, that's the sign. I did like the POV changes, and the new POV that we got in this book. I enjoyed Udinny the most because she was like a breath of fresh air, but her chapters felt few and far between. I'll pick up other Barker books, but unfortunately that's it for this series.
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