BOOK REVIEW | WARLORDS OF WYRDWOOD | R.J. BARKER

 Afternoon folks. Just thought I would write some thoughts on the new one by R. J. Barker.

ABOUT THE BOOK

You fear the forest.. It is not foolish.' His words rang like bells in the clearing, each face reacting to their din. 'But the forest does not hate you, it does not hunt you. It simply does not care about you.'

The Forester known as Cahan led the village of Harn in rebellion against the all-powerful, oppressive forces of the Rai. A great victory was won, but to avoid retaliation, he must now lead the people of Harn into the forest.

Cahan never wanted this responsibility, but fate and his gods have conspired against him. Without him, the people will be helpless against the great beasts and poisonous traps of the forest - not to mention worse things that dwell there. A corruption grows in the fungi and decay of the Wyrdwood, a magic unlike any Cahan has ever seen - can he resist its deadly pull, while avoiding his pursuers, and trying to turn his charges into true people of the Wyrdwood?

Warlords of Wyrdwood is book two in a new fantasy trilogy set within the bounds of a forest straight out of darkest folklore - with outlaws fighting an evil empire and warring deities. RJ Barker is the British Fantasy Society Award-winning author of The Bone Ships and Age of Assassins.

MY THOUGHTS

Right! It’s time to go down to the Wyrdwood again to see how Cahan Du Nahere and the folk from Harn are getting on after the events of Book 1.

After the Battle of Harn, it is down to Cahan to lead the survivors to safety, and that means travelling deeper into the Wyrdwood so that they can avoid recriminations of the Cowl -Rai. 

It’s without a doubt that R. J. Barker is one of the most original British fantasy writer around at the moment. His world building is vibrant, ethereal and strange, with The Forsaken trilogy being one of his most original yet.

So, how does the second one in the series contend with the first one? Well…….. it’s alright. I know that I am probably going to be in the minority here and that everyone else is going to be loving it, but I just found it a bit of a slog. Especially the first half. I mean, you know that when you are considering chucking it in and thinking about starting something else, all is not well. 

Don’t get me wrong, all those things that I loved in the first book were still there, the fantastic world building, Barker’s original prose and his wonderful strangeness. However, what was missing was my ability to care, especially for the first half of the book where it felt like I was trudging through the Wyrdwood myself. In addition to that, I wasn’t overly struck on the inclusion of the additional points of view. I liked some of them, Ont’s in particular, but the rest of them I could take them or leave them to be honest, and I didn’t see any point to Udinny’s pov at all. 

Now please don’t think I hated the book because I didn’t. I really liked the second half of the book (although, I did think the ending was predictable) and zipped through that, it’s just that it was a mixed bag for me. 

So! All in all, I thought Warlords of Wyrdwood was good, but not as good as I hoped.