What's the story about: War of the Gods is about King Hadding relentlessly seeking to reclaim a throne he has lost. Through heartache and toil, he fights for what is rightfully his.
While I was originally excited and transfixed by this story once it got going in the fourth chapter, everything after the 50% mark made it more difficult to finish. It's not that War of the Gods is a bad book, it's just not as refined, fresh, or unequivocally epic, coming off the brilliance of reading The Broken Sword.
The first half is about him becoming king and it moves along quite well without suffering from the worst fantasy fatalities: being overly convoluted. I was expecting to read another riveting viking tale of a man who would be king, but rather, he became king fairly easily in less than a third of the tale, and the second half is about how difficult maintaining being a king can be.
There's much to enjoy from battles to wilderness treks and some mystery. But the second half can't really decide what it wants to be and thus slows down far too much; even when rivalries arise, they're lackluster and fairly pointless. The very end is worth finishing the book for, but far too much of it is uneventful since the plot is completed near the middle of the story.
★★★ 3 Stars - Even though the beginning reads quick and easy, the second half moves too slow to warrant a read again. It also doesn't have any grand themes or greater values that make the read worth it. The writing is still superb, but excellent writing surrounding a boring plot only makes for okay reading.
Let me hear from you! If you like what you read, want to hear more thoughts on this book, other reviews, or talk book recommendations and Essential Reading, leave a comment below.
Rating system:
★★★★★ 5 Stars: It was amazing; I loved it. Read this book; it is definitely Essential Reading!
★★★★★* 4.5 Stars: It was fantastic, I really loved almost every aspect of it.
★★★★ 4 Stars: It was very good and worth reading; highly recommend.
★★★★* 3.5 Stars: I enjoyed a lot of aspects of this story, but it was lacking in certain areas.
★★★ 3 Stars: It was good, but could've been better or improved upon significantly.
★★★* 2.5 Stars: I wanted to enjoy it. Certain aspects were good, it was worth finishing, but many issues.
★★ 2 Stars: It was okay, I didn't feel strongly about it.
★ 1 Star: I did not like it. It was not worth finishing or I did not finish it.
*I round up based on the system on Goodreads. Also, there is no 1.5 Stars because it does not seem to have enough differentiation.
