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Cahan has a past. Mingled in between the chapters are snippets of his consciousness in the works, or excerpts told that help the reader understand where he is coming from. There is an ominous/mysterious way about them and they read strikingly vivid... maybe slightly purple. These snippets build and culminate by the end of the first book in the Forsaken Trilogy with an important clue/cliffhanger, even though the story arc comes to an end...for now as it seems. Barker is one of my favorite authors and the Tide Child Series one of my favorite series of all time, so when I started this I knew I would enjoy it, even love it, I did not think it would measure up to Tide Child though, it did. It is just as good, if not even, dare I say it marginally better than Tide Child. And I loved Cahan absolutely as much as I loved Joron Twiner, not more mind you, no character will ever be better than Joron for me.
Now, where does he get all these eggs to throw into his pudding of stylistic effect? Where did all these periods come from? Well, given Barker’s propensity to comma splices, I’d argue that they were donated from bits like this: Cahan du Nahare is known as the forester - a humble man who can nonetheless navigate the dangerous Deepforest like no-one else. But once he was more. Once he was a warrior.A sweeping story of destiny and redemption. Weighty, deliberate, tender and brutal, this is a big, wonderful book and an utterly involving read." - Daily Mail There is also a second POV character, a narcissistic ruler desperately trying to maintain her position of power, who just didn’t do much for me. The only saving grace in her chapters was her child Venn, who was by far my favourite character in this novel. Venn is Trion, one of the third-gendered people in this world, and they possess extraordinary powers. But those powers unfortunately come at a cost, as the powerful families view them as nothing more than a highly coveted commodity.
Kirven is a cruel woman, manipulative, who won't doubt of going to war and resorting to violence if needed; but for her, all her acts are made to bond with her child. I liked the story and the characters were so well-developed! I don't want to give anything away, but the way magic and heroes were portrayed was really fresh and unique. Even though it's a long read that is not fast-paced and has not many events, I think the gradual exploration of the world is totally worth it. Blood of Assassins is a brilliant and often beautiful piece of literature from one of the most talented writers out there ."— Fantasy FactionThis book was simultaneously the most frustrating thing I’ve read in quite some time, and also one of the most unique. It has a lot of the "alien" worldbuilding that you’d find in a scifi novel, in a very fantasy setting. I’d call this book a very slow burn (like an ember) and at the halfway point I was starting to question whether Barker was going to be able to pull this off. It feels like the pacing is completely off and the book is going nowhere. It reprises the ‘farm boy becomes the chosen one’ trope until you legitimately wonder just how many times this book can completely start over. Often poignant and always intriguing, Age of Assassins reveals its mysterieswiththe style of a magic showand theartful grace of a gifted storyteller."— Nicholas Eames, author of Kings of the Wyldon Age of Assassins Cahan du Nahare is known as the forester—a man who can navigate the dangerous Deepforest like no one else. But once he was more. Once he belonged to the god of fire. I'm always a fan of journeying in fantasy and the story offers great parts of that. It's a sip a hot cocoa and get cozy sort of read, but something sharper or more cooled a beverage now in the summer will suffice. The point is, it’s a nice book to fall into if you enjoy the natural world and fantasies of the traditional kind. Barker’s writing is a little wordy. I honestly think that a good third of Gods of Wyrdwood could be shaved off and it would actually improve the book. The essence of Cahan’s story is an interesting story. Cahan, Udinny, Venn, and Furin are all compelling characters and the supporting characters beyond these four are interesting as well. But sometimes their tale gets a little bogged down by Barker’s wordiness. But by the end of the book RJ Barker gets into a better rhythm and loses a lot of those extra words. Happily it’s in time for a very exciting and enjoyable climax.
Big thank you to Orbit/Orbit Books and NetGalley for providing me with the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!
Senior Editors
Good (and great) authors come up with great story ideas, but story ideas don't come with perfect timelines. The author has to fill in the blanks.
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