Gods of the Wyrdwood: The Forsaken Trilogy, Book 1: 'Avatar meets Dune - on shrooms. Five stars.' -SFX

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An experienced novelist at the top of his game – this is Avatar meets Dune, on shrooms’Five stars from SFX The trion,’ whispered Rai Galderin as he closed with her, ‘will not talk about what happened, and what they do say is not the truth.’ She nodded. ‘Venn walked out of the forest unharmed, while Vanhu, Kyik, and Sorha died. It seems, unlikely.’

An experienced novelist at the top of his game - this is Avatar meets Dune, on shrooms' Five stars from SFX Barker’s writing style was very difficult to get into at first. His prose is very choppy like a thriller novel but that only works when you’re writing something thrilling. Instead its more like “The tree. Green leaves. Rough bark. Tall. Good for climbing.” If the moral dilemma wasn’t interesting enough, there are also other interesting side characters in the novel. Each narrator offers a startlingly different view on the world at large and the juxtaposition of their classes is very apparent and well executed. Cahan is a disgraced outcast with no family, known as a “clanless,” Venn is a reluctant Rai (magic bearer), with extraordinary potential, and High Leoric Kirven is a privileged ruler more out of depth than even she knows. My favorite character, called Udinny, was not a narrator, but a quirky side character. Udinny’s the monk of an unpopular god and a great comedic reprieve from the darker elements of the novel. I snorted at many of her remarks and found her incredibly entertaining. It also doesn’t hurt that Gods of the Wyrdwood has many despicable villains, which readers will also love to hate. There is also an abundance of odd names and terminology, which was nearly impossible to keep straight. The social structure and positioning was also unusual and difficult to wrap my mind around. The family setup, with firstwives, secondwives, firsthusbands, secondhusbands, and so on, is interesting but difficult for my monogamous mind to comprehend. And then there are trions, those who are neither male nor female, husband nor wife, but something uniquely their own and prized for those differences. One of our main secondary characters is a trion, and they were pretty fascinating.

As said previously, Barker doesn't handhold the reader, and while that can result confusing at the start, once we form our own image, the result is quite satisfactory. The plot is definitely dark, but I would say it is quite justified, as a result of a brutal and complicated world, that gives no opportunities to the weak. Despite the usage of these popular fantasy tropes, author Barker does a fantastic job portraying this struggle in Cahan and another side character, Venn. I actually found myself frustrated with Cahan many times because even though I knew he swore off his own powers due to the destruction it would cause, I couldn’t help but constantly wish he would utilize it. The character truly did come across as sanctimonious at times and it was hard knowing that he could end more of his struggles if he simply just used his abilities. My irritation at Cahan’s dedication to his pesky morals signifies how skilled the author is at demonstrating the tenuous and insidious nature of power and its corruption, which clearly affected me, the reader as well. If you don’t like heavy exposition or large info-dumps, then R.J. Barker is definitely the author for you.

A truly great fiction author, however, pokes and prods the road and stress-tests it for anything that could POSSIBLY turn into a plothole, then has others do the same, and then doesn't simply fill them, but tears up that portion of the road and rebuilds it so the plothole never existed.This book also desperately needs a glossary and character description. He has so much imagination, which I love don’t get me wrong, but it was a bit difficult for me to remember what everything was later on in the book. Also some characters he refers to as they/them. I’m not getting into social issues of genderless people but when reading a book, a singular character written as plural is incredibly difficult and unnecessary. TL;DR - This book has a lot of things going for it, namely the world itself and the magic system, but it’s also long and boring and shoots itself in the foot by including some puzzling, tone-deaf classism and frankly appalling treatment of non-binary people, and then offering no rebuking or commentary on these issues. The magic system was also fittingly mysterious and elusive, which allowed for some very cool and surprising displays of power. I particularly loved how it is so intricately tied to religion in this world, as that only made the magic feel more mystical. Gods of the Wyrdwood doesn't mess around, but drops us immediately into its menacing, disturbing setting. Our hero Cahan Du-Nahare, known to most as "The Forester" since his real name attracts attention from powerful enemies, is an outcast living on the fringes of a remote village, Harn. Cahan is clanless and therefore pretty much despised by the villagers - near the bottom of the social pile in their harsh land of Crua, they're glad to have someone else to look down on, and as Cahan lives on the fringes of the frightening wild woods, he's also touched by the dread and superstition directed at that realm. So when the story opens with the Forester's death, it's a foretaste of what is to come in this violent land, riven by warfare between followers of different gods - and by a ruthless pursuit of any woman or man suspected of being a conduit for the wrong gods. We also don’t get to know much about the trion, people who are neither male nor female, they exist to be a bridge between them. I liked the concept of families consisting of more people rather than only husband and wife. There are second and third wives and husbands as well as at least one trion, taking care of the children together. At least, that’s how it worked before the new regime arose in the name of a new god, who also decided to get rid of all of the other gods and their worshippers. Crua, as you might imagine is not a peaceful place in the present. Now the trion are used and abused and massacred for “the greater good”. We can only assume it’s not going to end well for those who took part in that.

A vividly realized high-seas epic that pulls you deep into its world and keeps you tangled there until the very last word."— Evan Winter, author of The Rage of Dragons on The Bone ShipsUdinny serves the goddess of the lost, a keeper of the small and helpless. When Udinny needs to venture into the Wyrdwood to find a missing child, she asks Cahan to be her guide.

In my opinion, very good and great fiction authors, on the other hand, search for plotholes and do not stop working until those gaps are filled by a logical storyline, no matter how long it takes. I also have to mention the magic system, it's as interesting as the world building. There were a few times when Cahan used his Cowl in the book, it was fascinating. I really can't wait to see what he does with it next. Crua is a land of many gods. The gods enter those with the strength to hold them. These godly companions are called cowls and the people they possess are known as Rais. The Rai are the most powerful people in Crua and the Cowl-Rai is their ultimate leader. Once the cowls were recognized as different gods and there were Cowl-Rai for each of the gods. But a new Cowl-Rai has risen who follows Tarl-an-Gig. This Cowl-Rai will tolerate no other Cowl-Rais or other gods.They are mostly fine,” he answered, “though some types will kill you if you eat them, and others will kill you if you so much as touch them.” Finally, even though I knew who the big bad was when they are revealed at the end it is such a crushing blow to know I was write I was genuinely holding out hope that I was wrong and it was just heartbreaking when it turned out I wasn't. While this is a fantasy story of truly epic proportions, the tale feels grounded by its intimate focus on our main protagonist, Cahan du Nahere. He is a Chosen One whose destiny was stolen from him, leaving him utterly purposeless and living as a lone wolf. However, his mysterious past is catching up to him and it turns out he can’t keep running forever, especially not from himself. The world building in this is incredible, while Barker just drops us into this very strange and very violent land as we follow the story we are literally immersed in Crua. Trees are very important to this story and there is one part where Cahan and another character are trying to wrap their heads around just how large the trees are in the Wyrwoods and you almost feel like you are standing there with them straining to understand the enormity of the thing before you. It was truly one of the best written scenes in the book. I do feel like the book could have been shorter though as there were a lot of moments that felt repetitive especially in the dialogue which added to slowing down and dragging the story out. I also guessed quite early on one of the big reveals but I think I am still intrigued enough to see where the series goes next.