Blood of Wolves (Rune Song #3), by G.N. Gudgion
31 Oct 2023The Book
Synopsis:
In a war between gods, Adelais stands alone.
After bringing down deadly vengeance on church and crown in Galmandie, Adelais escaped to her home in Vriesland. But even here she is surrounded by enemies.
While the common folk worship her, ruthless nobles plot to harness her fame and advance their own ambitions. In the shadows, assassins wait for a chance to strike.
Adelais makes a dangerous journey to the north, seeking to understand the prophecies that swirl around her. At the source of all rune magic, a place as ancient as time, she glimpses the chaos of a coming war.
The armies of Vriesland are on the march—thousands of spearmen and berserkers, inspired by the girl they call the Fate Weaver. But the Galman lords have gathered a vast army of their own, uniting behind a holy relic in the hands of Agnès de Fontenay.
As friends face off across the battlefield, as armored knights smash into shield-walls, as the gods themselves wrestle for power, Adelais must weave the fate of nations before all that she loves is destroyed.
The Rune Song Trilogy reaches its thrilling finale. An unputdownable epic of intrigue, action and Viking magic, Blood of Wolves is perfect for fans of Mark Lawrence, Andrzej Sapkowski, Robin Hobb and Guy Gavriel Kay.
My Review
Blood of Wolves is the final book in the historical fantasy series The Rune Song Trilogy, written by G.N. Gudgion and published by Second Sky Books. A great close novel to Adelais' story, which still continues expanding the world, delving deep into Vriesland's mythology and religion, while wrapping up many of the arcs opened in the previous books.
Despite Adelais having reached her land, Vriesland, she is not allowed to have that calm life she wished for. Nobility wishes to use her for their own objectives, using her as the symbol to unite Vriesland's armies to start the war with Galmandie; the figure of the fate weaver is inspiring many berserkers and jarls to join the cause.
Adelais is troubled; she's not only being used, but also she still has a lot to learn about runes. To add more salt to the wound, it seems she's the target of an assassination conspiracy, making difficult to trust in anybody.
After the king's death, Galmadie is at the border of a civil war. The revelation of the blessed hand of Salazar, however, will play a key role in gathering an answer to Vriesland's threat; Agnes de Fontenay is the brain behind this new plan. Adelais and she will be on opposite sides of the battlefield, fighting for different causes.
Despite this being the final book in the trilogy, Gudgion manages to explore some aspects that were neglected in the previous books, especially regarding Vriesland, and the religious aspects. Inspired by Norse culture and myths, they have a complex political system, as they are divided by those following Ischyran religion and those that are guided by the Old Customs. These religious differences will be a point of friction once the holy relic of Salazar appeared.
With this book, the trilogy reaches its climax, accompanied by plenty of thrilling and epic moments, immersing ourselves into a holy clash. It's interesting to see how Adelais' and Agnes' roles evolved in this book, from simple pieces on the board to practically being angular in the conflicts; the pressure put on them will crush their surface, revealing the gems behind.
Blood of Wolves is the perfect ending to a trilogy that will be loved for those looking for historical inspired fantasy; G.N. Gudgion kept the best for the end, and I enjoyed each single page of it.
The Author/s
G.N. Gudgion
I grew up with my nose in a book, often one featuring knights in armour. Later I went looking for stories where women didn’t have to be either beautiful damsels or witches, and found the fantasy genre and the works of J.R.R Tolkein, Guy Gavriel Kay, Mark Lawrence, and Robin Hobb.
When I started writing novels, I had no understanding of genre; I simply wrote the book that was fighting to land on the page. My debut novel, Saxon’s Bane, was a time-slip with a supernatural twist and its roots in the Dark Ages. My second novel, Draca, also crossed the boundaries between literary fiction, historical fiction, and ghost story. Readers loved it. Take a look at the reviews on Amazon.
Since Draca I’ve gravitated to ‘historical fantasy’, the domain of authors such as George R R Martin (Game of Thrones), Andrzej Sapkowski (The Witcher), and Mark Lawrence (The Book of the Ancestor). A character had come into my mind as if she had always been there, waiting for her story to be told; a courageous young woman, raised as a pagan but incarcerated in a nunnery and forced to kneel to a foreign god. The words flowed. One book became two, then three. The trilogy acquired a name: Rune Song. Publishers Second Sky, an imprint of Bookouture/Hachette, released the first in the series, Hammer of Fate, in June 2023.
I live in a leafy corner of England, where I’m a keen amateur equestrian and a very bad pianist. I spend much of my time crafting words in a shed, fifty yards and five hundred years from the house.