The Children of Gods and Fighting Men

I went into this with more expectations than the book delivered. My bad I should have read the blurb

Instead of sweeping action this story is told from two female perspectives. While I found these characters okay I feel the story lacked something. A deep dive into women's struggles as they try and keep their children alive, or seek to get more power for their children. Grouch(?) reminded me a little of Cersi from Game Of Thrones.

The story had no sweeping plot twists and the fantasy element was rather pushed to the back. But it was okay. A line of enjoyment but nothing that swept me away in the story.

It failed on my expectations but that doesn't make it a bad book. It just wasn't what I wanted when I read the title.

If I was to describe this story it would be meh. A meh kind of story.

This book was FANTASTIC! Its definitely a 4.5/4.75 rating for me but I cant colour the star in like that! I've always loved Viking tales but had never read one set in Ireland and then throw in magic and races that are in a bitter war while living among humans!

The characters were great, loved having a POV from each side of the struggle to give balance, Gormflaith was someone who I loved to hate but was always so so interesting and Fódla was my favourite, was always rooting for her and just wanted her to win through her struggles.

I can't wait for book 2 and I really hope lots of people find and read this book.

This book is fantastic!

We follow the lives of two women, Gormflaith and Fodla.
Gormflaith is the widow of the King of Dublin. She is also one of the last Fomorians, immortals with the gift of fire magic. Her only goal is to see her son become King.

Fodla is Tuatha De Danann. She is a gifted Healer. The Tuatha are forbidden from living among the mortals, so they live in a hidden fortress.

The Tuatha have been hunting and killing the Fomorians for decades. They believe they have finally wiped them all out.

The remaining Fomorians are afraid to use their magic for fear that it will draw the attention of the Tuatha. But it may be too late.

I loved this so much! I loved the Irish mythology mixed with the history. I loved the characters, especially Fodla. I hated a couple of them as well, but it made the story even better. I am very excited for the next one. The writing is top notch! This is definitely a new favorite.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for an e-arc.

This book is set in Ireland in the 10th century and is based on Irish mythology/folklore and it was really good! We followed two perspectives, Gormflaith and Fodla, who are different types of magic users that keep themselves hidden from the general population and from each other. Gormflaith has married a king and is very deep into the politics of the region after that king dies and she tries to make his son king of Dublin, whereas Fodla is a healer and keeps herself more low profile, but has been tasked by her leader to infiltrate the inner circle of King Brian Boru, a historical renowned king of Ireland. The historical stuff felt very well done, and these two main characters and their supporting cast were interesting, particularly Gormflaith's. Gormflaith has to use all her political wiles as well as her previous relationships and potentiality for a new marriage in order to manipulate as many people as she can into helping her son become the uncontested king of Dublin. She's kinda like a magical, competent Cersei and I loved following this character., even if she is difficult to root for.

It was kinda fun to imagine this series as a pseudo-sequel to the Last Kingdom series by Bernard Cornwell, just because they take place like a century later and Uhtred the Bold (the person Cornwell is an ancestor of, who gave him the idea to do his Uhtred) makes a small appearance in this book. TLK being my favorite historical fiction series, the similar vibes from Children of Gods was a welcome one for me. It's not a very action heavy book, as it primarily follows the political maneuvering of the kings of Ireland through Gormflaith and Fodla's interactions, with the secondary plot thread of the magical groups trying to stay hidden from each other, but the ending is really awesome and has some good battles scenes. The magic is sparely handled in this book, almost nonexistent, but it feels like it will be used much more in the following books.

On a personal level, this is the first book I've read with dual first person perspectives, and I never really got used to it, which detracted from my enjoyment. While the chapters are named with each POV character, I just had a hard time fully orientating myself as to whose perspective I was in because I'm used to first person POVs being all one character. The writing of each character felt the same to me, so maybe with more differentiation it would have been easier. This was particularly an issue if I had to stop reading in the middle of a chapter, when I picked up the book I would struggle to remember who I was reading about until context clues came in. Other people may not have this issue.

I also thought Fodla was just kindof annoying. Her character is very passive and basically does what other people tell her for most of the book, and when she does have opinions and her own agency, it's just so emotion based that I was constantly frustrated with her (this is probably intentional, but it made her hard for me to care about). She also hated mortal men to a degree I found frustrating. She is very old, several hundred years I think, and while she has obviously been heavily propagandized by her leader, she has presumably interacted with men occasionally and seems likely to have developed some form of nuance or insight about them. But every time a man does anything, she thinks “MEN CAN'T BE TRUSTED” or when a man is nice she's like “He's nice now, BUT EVENTUALLY HE'LL DO BAD THINGS” and it was somewhat exhausting. So I definitely preferred Gormflaith's perspective, even if I think the storyline happening in Fodla's chapters is also very interesting.

My final negative for this book is that it uses the word Viking incorrectly, which I hate with my whole heart. It's probably an intentional choice for readership, but the rest of the historical stuff seems so good, to casually call everyone Vikings all the time and say things like “That's the VIking way” just takes me out of the story and perpetuates a phraseology that I wish people would stop doing, so for that I had to take off a full point. Sorry, I'm pedantic, it can't be helped.

But with that said, I really enjoyed reading this book and the above problems are gripes. I would recommend this to anybody who likes historical fiction, especially for people who like the Viking Age but want some more female representation at the center, this is absolutely going to be a hit.

8/10

The Epilogue arrived as a complete surprise, I even wen to make sure that Libby hadn't skipped a few chapters. Left me craving for more.

Captivating and gripping. The book expertly weaves the themes of motherhood, intense politicking, cunning schemes, and shocking betrayals. I was thoroughly engrossed in the main conflicts and deeply invested in the journeys of the two remarkable heroines. The final chapter left me eagerly yearning for more.

If you???ve ever read A Song of Ice and Fire, or watched Game of Thrones, then this might interest you. It???s not as sprawling as ASoIaF, but that???s mostly because it???s recounting a story within a historical (ish?) framework, and within a narrower span of time, with fewer characters (well, fewer compared to ASoIaF; there???s still quite a few of them in here). I say ???ish??? on the history because it???s based on the Irish sagas, which are an interesting mix of history and legend - which plays well with the inclusion of the equally legendary Fomorians and  Tuatha D?? Danann in this novel. A part of me thinks that the inclusion of those legendary figures might not have been necessary at all, given how interesting the story is on its own. But I???m sure there???s a reason they were included in the first place - this is, after all, the first book in a series, so there are other books that will likely show how that aspect fits in.

What I liked most about this novel, though, is that it is a story about women, and specifically about mothers. These themes are clearest in Gormflaith???s storyline - both for good and for ill. Between her and F??dla I think Gormflaith???s the most layered, but that???s mostly because of the situation she finds herself in throughout the novel. F??dla???s interesting too, don???t get me wrong, but in terms of characterization I think it???s clear that Gormflaith got the lion???s share of that in this book. Still: that???s not to say F??dla???s a bad character; as I said, this is just the first book in the series, so I???m willing to bet that things will get interesting for her in the subsequent books.

So: definitely a good book to read if you???re interested in Ireland???s legends and history, and/or are looking for a fantasy novel that???s along the lines of ASoIaF but aren???t too keen on how those books handle the portrayal of women. This book (and maybe this series) is pretty gritty and objectionable things still happen to people, but at least it???s not as egregious as in some other fantasy novels out there.

I like the premise but it's a little slow moving. I'm not sure I'll be finishing this series.