The Children of Gods and Fighting Men

About the book

  • Title & Author: The Children of Gods and Fighting Men by Shauna Lawless
  • Publisher: Head of Zeus
  • Page Count: 416 pages
  • Rating: 4 stars

Buy The Children of Gods and Fighting Men by Shauna Lawless : Amazon (US), Bookshop.org (UK), The Book Depository (Global)

The Children of Gods and Fighting Men review

The Children of Gods and Fighting Men is Vikings, Irish mythology, historical fiction, and fantasy combined and I loved every minute of it!

Oh, and this one focuses on the perspective of two mythological and magical women – bonus!

If you’re looking to dip your toe in Irish mythology or want more Viking stories – this is your book. Honestly, it’s on par and maybe even surpasses some of the Greek Mythology books I love – that’s how much I enjoyed it.

What I loved

The story is split into two perspectives. Fódla, one of the Tuatha Dé Danann and a gifted healer is sent to spy on the mortal realm. Gormflaith, one of the Fomorians is living among the mortals, trying to keep her fire magic secret.

Both have the weight of their race’s survival on their backs, but both are on different sides of the struggle.

The Children of Gods and Fighting Men has that really nice balance of historical fiction and fantasy in one. The fantasy elements are kind of minimal in contrast to the story, allowing you to really focus on the personality and character growth of the two women.

If you don’t know your Irish mythology, you do have to initially look up a few words to understand the different mythological species/races within the book. But I guess that goes for any type of mythology, especially when you’re new to it.

It does however have a section right at the start of the book with character names and how to pronounce them which is amazing!

Final thoughts

The Children of Gods and Fighting Men is very well written. Easy to read but descriptive and slow when it needs to be, and fast and action-packed when the story requires.

It’s incredibly well blended and has some brilliant writing that I very much enjoyed.

Disclaimer: Many thanks to Head of Zeus for the copy of The Children of Gods and Fighting Men by Shauna Lawless . All opinions are my own.

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