Can't-Wait Wednesday: The Hunger of the Gods by John Gwynne & Spear by Nicola Griffith

 

Can't-Wait is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings that spotlights exciting upcoming releases that we can't wait to be released! This meme is based off of Jill @ Breaking the Spine's Waiting on Wednesday meme.

This week's upcoming book spotlights are: 

The Hunger of the Gods (Bloodsworne Saga #2) by John Gwynne 

Publication: April 14th, 2022

Orbit

Hardcover. 656 pages.

Pre-order: Amazon | Bookshop.org 

From Goodreads:

"The Hunger of the Gods continues John Gwynne’s acclaimed Norse-inspired epic fantasy series, packed with myth, magic and bloody vengeance. 

Lik-Rifa, the dragon god of legend, has been freed from her eternal prison. Now she plots a new age of blood and conquest. 

As Orka continues the hunt for her missing son, the Bloodsworn sweep south in a desperate race to save one of their own – and Varg takes the first steps on the path of vengeance. 

Elvar has sworn to fulfil her blood oath and rescue a prisoner from the clutches of Lik-Rifa and her dragonborn followers, but first she must persuade the Battle-Grim to follow her. 

Yet even the might of the Bloodsworn and Battle-Grim cannot stand alone against a dragon god. 

Their hope lies within the mad writings of a chained god. A book of forbidden magic with the power to raise the wolf god Ulfrir from the dead . . . and bring about a battle that will shake the foundations of the earth."

Who else is obsessed with this cover?? I really loved The Shadow of the Gods when I read it last and have been very eagerly anticipating its sequel after that super intense ending. Can't wait to read this one!

and...

Spear by Nicola Griffith

Publication: April 19th, 2022

Tordotcom

Hardcover. 192 pages.

Pre-order: Amazon | Bookshop.org 

From Goodreads:

"The girl knows she has a destiny before she even knows her name. She grows up in the wild, in a cave with her mother, but visions of a faraway lake come to her on the spring breeze, and when she hears a traveler speak of Artos, king of Caer Leon, she knows that her future lies at his court. 

And so, brimming with magic and eager to test her strength, she breaks her covenant with her mother and, with a broken hunting spear and mended armour, rides on a bony gelding to Caer Leon. On her adventures she will meet great knights and steal the hearts of beautiful women. She will fight warriors and sorcerers. And she will find her love, and the lake, and her fate."

I read Nicola Griffith's Hild back around its release and have been wanting to read more from her ever since. Spear sounds incredible and I am really looking forward to diving into this fantasy/historical fiction-esque book–Griffith's writing is stunning and I can't wait to immerse myself again. 

What do you think about these upcoming releases? What are your anticipated upcoming releases?

First Chapter Tuesday: The Shadow of What Was Lost by James Islington & Hild by Nicola Griffi

First Chapter Tuesday is hosted every Tuesday by Vicki @ I'd Rather Be at the Beach. This is meme in which bloggers share the first chapter of a book that they are currently reading or thinking about reading soon. Join the fun by making your own post and linking up over at Vicki's blog, or simply check it out to find more new books to read!

As excited as I was about this week's Top Ten Tuesday topic, I just didn't have the time to sort through TV shows and set up that post, so I opted to share a bit about one book I'm currently reading and one that I plan to read soon!

The Shadow of What Was Lost by James Islington

Excerpt:

"Davian's eyes snapped open. The young man sat there for some time, heart pounding, breathing deeply to calm himself. Eventually he stirred from where he'd dozed off at his desk and rubbed at his face, absently tracing the raised scar that ran from the corner of his left eye down to his chin. It was pinkish white now, had healed years earlier. It still ached whenever the old memories threatened to surface, though. 

He stood, stretching muscles stiff from disuse and grimacing as he looked outside. His small room in the North Tower overlooked most of the school, and the windows below had al fallen dark. The courtyard torches flared and sputtered in their sockets, too, only barely clinging to life. 

Another evening gone, then. He was running out of those much faster than he would like."

Goodreads

This intro is interesting, but it doesn't stand out all that much to me, personally. I've actually just started The Shadow of What Was Lost, though, and I'm ~100 pages in and loving it! This has so much classic fantasy feel to it and I'm already interested in the plot and the characters.

Buy the book: Amazon | Book Depository

Hild by Nicola Griffith

Excerpt:

"THE CHILD'S WORLD CHANGED late one afternoon, though she didn't know it. She lay at the edge of the hazel coppice, one cheek pressed to the moss that smelt of worm cast and the last of the sun, listening: to the wind in the elms, rushing away from the day, to the jackdaws changing their calls from "Outward! Outward!" to "Home now! Home!," to the rustle of the last frightened shrews scuttling under the layers of leaf fall before the owls began their hunt. From far away came the indignant honking of geese as the goosegirl herded them back inside the wattle fence, and the child knew, in the wordless way that three-year-olds reckon time, that soon Onnen would come and find her and Cian and hurry them back.

Onnen, some leftwise cousin of Ceredig king, always hurried, but the child, Hild, did not. She liked the rhythm of her days: time alone (Cian didn't count) and time by the fire listening to the murmur of British and Anglisc and even Irish. She liked time at the edges of things—the edge of the crowd, the edge of the pool, the edge of the wood—where all must pass but none quite belonged."

Goodreads

I just picked this one up from my library and I can't wait to read it! I don't see Hild mentioned around all that much, but it seems like it's going to be a fantastic book. It's set during Medieval England and tells the story of St. Hilda of Whitby, so I'm in!

Buy the book: Amazon | Book Depository

What do you think? Would you keep reading these books? (And feel free to join in and make your own post!) 

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*Excerpts are taken from the novel itself; I do not claim to own any part of the excerpt.