The Hunger of the Gods – Page 2

Welcome to my second Top Ten Tuesday list of the week, were I look at my most anticipated fantasy novels coming out in the first half of 2022. Traditionally I usually only do one list to represent the top upcoming books for the year, however, I was inspired to separate out the fantasy novels into a second list due to all the awesome and impressive fantasy reads coming out extremely soon.

2022 is shaping up to be one of the absolute best years for fantasy books with a ton of epic and amazing sounding novels set for release throughout the year. I am particularly excited about the next six months as there are some deeply impressive books coming out that I am extremely excited for. This includes some fantastic sounding sequels, continuations to brilliant series, and several cool new novels for some very talented authors. I have already highlighted several of these books in some previous lists and Waiting on Wednesday articles. Indeed, the last three Waiting on Wednesday posts I have published have all highlighted some particularly epic upcoming fantasy novels. This, as well as some other recent novels I have talked about, made me really appreciate just how awesome the upcoming year is going to be fantasy wise, hence this list.

Just like with my other list of the night, I am only featuring books that are set for release in Australia between 1 January 2022 and 30 June 2022 which I have some descent details about. I also excluded one of the top fantasy books of the year, A Practical Guide to Conquering the World by K. J. Parker, because I have already read it (spoiler alert, it is incredibly awesome and hilarious). Despite only being fantasy books, I ended up with a huge collection of exceptional novels that I wanted to feature, which made completing this list surprisingly difficult. I was eventually able to break it down to the best 10 books (with honourable mentions), and I feel that I have capture the books that are going to be the best fantasy reads of 2022. So let us see what made the cut.

Honourable Mentions:

Rise of the Mages by Scott Drakeford – 25 January 2022

Rise of the Mages Cover

An interesting start to a fun new series.

League of Liars by Astrid Scholte – 22 February 2022

League of Liars Cover

A brilliant sounding young adult fantasy book with a great story about a magical prison break. I already have a copy of this book and I look forward to seeing what happens in it.

One Foot in the Fade by Luke Arnold – 26 April 2022

One Foot in the Fade Cover

The third book from Australian author Luke Arnold that follows on from his fantastic first two novels, The Last Smile in Sunder City and Dead Man in a Ditch.

Engines of Empire by Richard S. Ford – 31 May 2022

Engines of Empire Cover

This is a compelling and interesting fantasy novel that I think has a bit of potential. Focusing on a family of industrialists in a fantasy landscape, this sounds like a great start to an awesome new series, and I am very keen to read it. It looks like we have a bit of a later release date here in Australia, but hopefully I will get a chance to read it at some point this year.

Top Ten List:

The Starless Crown by James Rollins – 4 January 2022

The Starless Crown Cover

The first book on this list is the impressive sounding The Starless Crown by James Rollins. Rollins, who is best known for his thrillers, is making an interesting jump back to fantasy with this novel and I like the cool and intriguing plot this book has.

The Justice of Kings by Richard Swan – 22 February 2022

The Justice of Kings Cover

The next entry, The Justice of Kings by Richard Swan, is another awesome fantasy read with a great deal of potential. Set to combine legal thriller elements with a fantasy setting, I love the sound of this amazing sounding novel and it is already receiving some very positive reviews. I have a feeling that this is going to be one of the best books of the year and I can’t wait to check it out.

Age of Ash by Daniel Abraham – 22 February 2022

Age of Ash Cover

One half of the team behind The Expanse series (make sure to check out my review for the last book, Leviathan Falls), Daniel Abraham heads back to the fantasy genre with the epic Age of Ash. An interesting sounding novel filled with political intrigue and a murder mystery, I think this will be an amazing read and I cannot wait to check it out.

The Bladed Faith by David Dalglish – 5 April 2022

Bestselling fantasy author David Dalglish presents a cool and intriguing first novel in a new series with The Bladed Faith. This book follows a deposed prince who takes up a role of a legendary hero and assassin to avenge his parents and gets sucked into a deadly mission of vengeance. I love the sound of this outstanding read and I look forward to seeing how its fantastic story turns out. No cover yet unfortunately, but hopefully that will come out soon.

The Hunger of the Gods by John Gwynne – 7 April 2022

The Hunger of the Gods Cover

After having one of the best books (and audiobooks) of 2021 with The Shadow of the Gods, fantasy author John Gwynne continues his brilliant Bloodsworn Saga with The Hunger of the Gods. This intense and action-packed series had an incredible introduction and I am extremely confident that The Hunger of the Gods will be an exceptional and excellent read, especially with that epic cover.

The Girl and the Moon by Mark Lawrence – 26 April 2022

The Girl and the Moon Cover

The always enjoyable Mark Lawrence continues his great Book of the Ice series with The Girl and the Moon. The previous two novels, The Girl and the Stars and The Girl and the Mountain have been extremely compelling and I cannot wait to see how this cool series continues.

Kagen the Damned by Jonathan Maberry – 10 May 2022

Kagen the Damned Cover

One of my favourite thriller authors, Jonathan Maberry, is diving into the fantasy genre this year with Kagen the Damned. Set to be an intense and brutal revenge read, I really love the sound of Kagen the Damned and have no doubt it will be another exceptional five-star read.

Master of Furies by Raymond E. Feist – 9 June 2022

Master of Furies Cover

One of the best fantasy authors of all-time, the exceeding talented Raymond E. Feist, brings his fantastic Firemane Saga to an end with Master of Furies. Following on from King of Ashes and Queen of Storms, this should be an excellent read and I look forward to seeing how this trilogy concludes.

In the Shadow of Lighting by Brian McClellan – 21 June 2022

In the Shadow of Lightning Cover

After wowing the world with his exceptional Powder Mage novels, Brian McClellan is returning with a brand-new series this year. The first book in this series, In the Shadow of Lighting, sounds like an excellent and captivating read and with the talented McClellan at the helm this will easily be one of the best books of the year.

The Martyr by Anthony Ryan – 28 June 2022

The Martyr Cover

The final entry on this list is The Martyr, the follow up to Ryan’s epic 2021 novel, The Pariah. I had an amazing time reading the first book in this series and I already know I am going to deeply love The Martyr when it comes out later this year.

Well that’s the end of this second list. As you can see, there are some mighty impressive fantasy books coming out the first half of this year. All the above entries on this list have an incredible amount of potential and I have a feeling I am going to deeply enjoy every single of one of these great reads. I honestly think that 2022 is going to be an outstanding year for fantasy, not only with these amazing books, but because of some of the other ones potentially coming out later this year (I’m really hoping Joe Abercrombie, Jim Butcher and R. J. Barker all have new novels this year). I look forward to seeing how all these cool novels turn out and I think I am going to have an incredible time reading fantasy in 2022.

Welcome to my weekly segment, Waiting on Wednesday, where I look at upcoming books that I am planning to order and review in the next few months and which I think I will really enjoy. I run this segment in conjunction with the Can’t-Wait Wednesday meme that is currently running at Wishful Endings. Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them. For my latest Waiting on Wednesday I check out one of the most anticipated fantasy novels of 2022, The Hunger of the Gods by John Gwynne.

The Hunger of the Gods Cover

John Gwynne is an insanely talented author who has been setting the fantasy world on fire for nearly 10 years with his amazing and compelling dark fantasy books. Gwynne debuted back in 2012 with his Norse-inspired The Faithful and the Fallen series, which he later followed up with the sequel Of Blood and Bone series. These novels are very highly regarded, and I have seen some rave reviews about them over the years. I personally became more aware of Gwynne’s work earlier this year when I checked out the first book in his brand new Bloodsworn Saga series of novels.

The Bloodsworn Saga is another Norse inspired dark fantasy series set in a dangerous world filled with monsters, roving warbands and other dark creature. This world was broken generations ago by the gods, whose devastating war rent the land, let demons in, and resulted in the apparent death of every single deity. In the years that followed, men rose to prominence, and Jarls now battle for control, utilising the distant ancestors of the gods, known as the Tainted, as powerful slaves. This is a very rich setting for adventure, and Gwynne used it to full advantage in the first novel in this series, The Shadow of the Gods.

The Shadow of the Gods was an awesome and impressive read that is easily one of the best books I have enjoyed this year. It followed three separate characters as they set out on their own quests throughout the book, only to encounter the same deadly conspiracy that was attempting to unleash evil upon the world. This was an incredibly epic read, and I deeply enjoyed the cool new world, the complex characters, and the exceptional and brutal action sequences. The book ended with some big reveals, including the return of the god, and was such an awesome and outstanding read.

As such, I have been eagerly awaiting the next entry in this series, The Hunger of the Gods, and I was very excited when the full details of the book recently came out, including the epic and stunning cover above. The Hunger of the Gods is currently set for release on 12 April 2022, and if this following plot is anything to go by, this is going to be another amazing read.

Synopsis:

The Hunger of the Gods continues John Gwynne’s acclaimed Norse-inspired epic fantasy series, packed with myth, magic and bloody vengeance.

Lik-Rifa, the dragon god of legend, has been freed from her eternal prison. Now she plots a new age of blood and conquest.

As Orka continues the hunt for her missing son, the Bloodsworn sweep south in a desperate race to save one of their own – and Varg takes the first steps on the path of vengeance.

Elvar has sworn to fulfil her blood oath and rescue a prisoner from the clutches of Lik-Rifa and her dragonborn followers, but first she must persuade the Battle-Grim to follow her.

Yet even the might of the Bloodsworn and Battle-Grim cannot stand alone against a dragon god.

Their hope lies within the mad writings of a chained god. A book of forbidden magic with the power to raise the wolf god Ulfrir from the dead . . . and bring about a battle that will shake the foundations of the earth.

It sounds like The Hunger of the Gods will continue to follow the main character of the first novel, Orska, Varg and Elvar, as they continue their epic and blood-filled quests. I deeply enjoyed all three character arcs in The Shadow of the Gods, especially as each of their storylines were very well-written and contained a fantastic range of adventures and trials. It will be great to see what happens to these characters next, especially after the revelations at the end of the first book. I am particularly keen to learn more of Orska’s backstory, and it will also be extremely cool to see how Elvar, the only non-Tainted main character, will fare going up against a legion of dragonborn and their dark god.

In addition, I am curious to see what happens surrounding the supposedly dead wolf god Ulfrir. The plot strongly indicates that the protagonists are planning to resurrect him to face Lik-Rifa, and if the incredible cover above is anything to go by, they will succeed. While I am really keen to see a battle between giant deities (giant wolf vs giant dragon, yeah that has gotten me pretty hyped), I cannot help but think something is going to go wrong there, and the protagonists will end up in an even worse position. No matter what happens, I am extremely keen to read it, and I am deeply excited to see how this second entry in the Bloodsworn Saga turns out.

Look, in all honestly, The Hunger of the Gods has been of my most anticipated books for 2022 for a very long time, and there is no way I won’t be picking it up the moment it becomes available. This is going to be one of the best fantasy novels of next year, and if Gwynne continues the incredible writing that was featured in The Shadow of the Gods, I know I will have an amazing time with it. The Hunger of the Gods is going to be epic, and I cannot wait to see what chaos, destruction and bloodshed Gwynne has in store for us here.