“981 AD. The Viking King of Dublin is dead. His young widow, Gormflaith, has ambitions for her 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 has kept her powers hidden at all costs, for there are other immortals in this world – like the Tuatha Dé Danann, a race of warriors who are sworn to kill Fomorians.”
Title: The Children of Gods and Fighting Men
Series: Gael Song – Book 1
Author: Shauna Lawless
Page Count: 416
Genre: Fantasy (with a bit of historical fantasy and mythology)
Rating: 5.0/5.0
Date Read: July 3rd, 2022
I heard of this one from some Twitter chatter and mention that it was highlighted on NetGalley. I was lucky enough to get a copy for review through that service.
I really got sucked into this one very early on and it became one of those reads I had trouble putting down and when I did I couldn’t wait to pick it back up. The world and time period just really clicked with me. I mean what’s not to like with fantasy elements (magic) with Irish and Viking cultures battling for control of lands in Ireland!?
World Building 5/5
Pacing 4/5
Character Development 5/5
It didn’t take long to become attached some several of the characters as they were introduced and begin to get fleshed out. We also end up finding some truly annoying characters here as well. The world building was nicely done to make me feel I was truly seeing the time and geographical locations being described. The pacing was really smooth and only seemed to ease a few times but that didn’t last very long at all.
All of this with a sprinkle of magic and the presence of gods among us just created such a great story.
We definitely find some heartache and loss of characters, as well as betrayal. But as I mentioned to the author one of my favorite aspects of the story is the fact as it progresses you begin to see the hypocrisies of those that continually point out the evil of their enemies when they are the deceitful ones themselves.
A really nice touch at the end of the book was the author taking a moment to explain why she didn’t end up making this purely a Historical Fiction or Fantasy Fiction. I’m so glad she didn’t go one extreme or the other because what she’s put together just truly clicked for me and I can’t wait to see what happens from here with the series!
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