The Shadow of the Gods

The moment I saw a gigantic dragon on the cover, I knew I needed to read this one.
The book has 3 main characters doing 3 different things that somehow end up tied to each other. Orka is a woman living with her husband and their son on an isolated farm, though it's obvious she is hiding something. Varg is an escaped slave trying to find a way to take revenge for the murder of his sister. Elvar is a warrior in a mercenary group, trying to find relics of long dead gods.

In a way, I am a bit disappointed this isn't a 5 star read for me; I was super excited and everyone seems to love this one. I have read one book by the author previously, though I don't remember much, so I have to get on that. My expectations weren't based on being a gigantic fan of his. Now, don't get me wrong, I still liked the book and some things about it were just great.
The action scenes are fluid. Sometimes when authors go too technical or too long-winded, I kind of zone out. There, I said it, action scenes can be a bit much. Not here. There were a lot of physical fights, people using axes and shields, mostly. They worked well.
The world is modelled after Nordic cultures and societies. Again, a good call. Even though it's getting pretty warm here, the descriptions were evocative and I could almost feel the cold and snow. Concepts around the gods worked fine and by the time we actually get to see more of them, it all makes sense and works. Now if you are not into other languages being used in the story, not always translated fully, you will not enjoy that, but that's about it.

Two out of the three main characters were cool. It's always refreshing to finally have a protagonist who is not a child or young adult. Orka is an established wife and mother, she knows where she is going and what she is doing. She and her family are loving and there is no typical “the husband is always abusive” type thing. It was cool to see them being self-sustaining as well.
Varg is also fine. He is interesting because he makes mistakes. Of course a former slave is not all great when it comes to social norms between free people, he also lacks knowledge and skills others have. The development of his character make him sympathetic. The way he bonds with his new group makes him endearing. Where Orka is practical and almost cold, Varg has these very human moments.
Then there is Elvar... The one that kinda sorta flopped for me a bit. Her story is the good ol' “I don't want to be a wife or whatever, I want to be a warrior”. It's one of those go-to motivations and tropes for uninspired female characters that are supposed to make me feel all powerful, but are just one note. Her part of the story is saved by the interesting things her group does. So she isn't too special, but the storyline works out.

Now I will talk about the few things I didn't love about this.
Did we need the very repetitive descriptions of every single character that shows up for two seconds? They had braids and beards, having axes. Cool. I don't remember which black-haired woman with a braid and an axe was which and I doubt it matters. The repeating words were sometimes very noticeable.
Why is every second warrior a woman? That was never realistic. No, an average woman still can't keep up with average men when it comes to pure physical strength. There is nothing wrong with admitting that, I am kind of annoyed by the fact we can't say that, because it's supposed to be insulting. It's still not. Some female characters are above average, they have special powers, but you can't claim that when it's literally every second freaking warrior. Don't buy made-up things like how totally every single viking woman was a warrior.

All in all, it was a good read, I will pick up the second book when it's coming out.