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This is one that I put off for reasons I can’t begin to understand. RJ Barker is responsible for two of my all-time favorite fantasy trilogies, THE WOUNDED KINGDOM and THE TIDE CHILD. All of those books are incredibly special to me, and I’m constantly thinking about rereading both trilogies (maybe via audio?!)

But even with how much I’ve loved all of Barker’s books, something about GODS OF THE WYRDWOOD (the first book in his new trilogy THE FORSAKEN) felt intimidating to me. But then (and this is a thing that happens to me quite a bit) the cover for the sequel, WARLORDS OF WYRDWOOD was released. And I was also looking for something substantial to bring on a long flight & so I finally decided to dive in.

And I got lost/confused right away.

I’m gonna skip way ahead here & tell you that GODS OF THE WYRDWOOD wound up being one of the most rewarding reading experiences of my life. The kind of book I just couldn’t wait to get back to after a long day. A weird, wild, beautiful escape from just…*gestures broadly* EVERYTHING. It’s also one of the best & most unique fantasy novels I’ve ever read, and is for sure a contender for my favorite read of 2024 so far.

But yeah, this one took me quite awhile to get the hang of. I want to say I was around 150 pages into it before I remotely had my bearings, and even then, parts of this book stayed quite mysterious to me all the way through. Which is actually just fine by me. I don’t tie myself in knots trying to “get it” when it comes to fantasy novels that are strange and/or complex. At the very least, if you’re reading this review & considering checking out GODS OF THE WYRDWOOD, I’d just strongly encourage you to stay patient with the book, the payoff is enormous.

Cahan Du-Nahere is our main character. He’s a mysterious figure living on the outskirts of a town called Harn, tending to his farm & keeping to himself. He’s known as the Forester, as he knows his way around the (extremely) dangerous forest just beyond his farm. Cahan ventures into town sometimes to trade, but he is whats’s known as Clanless, and is the subject of mockery & scorn as a result.

The concepts of gods & religion in this world are deeply complex, and for sure contributed to some of the confusion I felt. But suffice it to say Cahan subscribes to no religion & seems more like an atheist or agnostic. And again, this doesn’t necessarily endear him to the locals. But here it’s worth mentioning that Cahan is described as a massive, bearded, brooding type of guy…so people generally only push him so far.

Cahan was taken from his family at a young age, trained to be something called the Cowl-Rai. Definitely some Chosen One vibes, only…that’s not how things worked out for Cahan. Though we only get glimpses of his brutal childhood & the training he endured, the Cahan that we meet is…weary. He has long since stopped using his cowl (this is a dark form of magic), as it requires taking life in order to be effective. And Cahan is just seeking a more peaceful way of living.

But this is an RJ Barker novel, so Cahan is about to have his whole fucking life turned upside down. A series of wild & violent events sends Cahan on a quest into the depths of the Wyrdwood, along with an eccentric monk named Udinny, whom Cahan reluctantly tolerates.

When I think about the scope of this book…how it felt to read it, and then I look at what I’ve got written here so far…it just doesn’t quite add up. There’s a ton going on & I’m not going to be able to fully articulate it.

This is a strange, frequently hostile landscape that Barker has created. The forest is foreboding, unknowable, and unforgiving. There are some humans that dwell in the forest and they are not to be taken lightly. But it’s the forest itself, along with the myriad other creatures & beasts who call it home that pose the biggest threats to Cahan & Udinny.

The structure of this story is unusual, which is why I haven’t mentioned a young character named Venn yet. They sort of come in & out of the story in a way that makes it hard to describe, but there’s one section of this book that felt extremely Lone Wolf and Cub to me, with Cahan taking Venn on a perilous trek through the forest. Venn is struggling to find their way in the world…being told they are destined for greatness at a young age, being pushed towards violence to activate their cowl. The connections and parallels between Cahan & Venn are many, and I fucking loved every moment with the two of them on the page.

This is a dark, violent, and occasionally creepy book. The atmosphere is heavy with dread at times, and things can feel bleak. But something I think RJ Barker does as well as any fantasy author is give you these brilliant moments of humor and humanity. There’s like this vibrating current of hope that runs through this whole book, even when things seem darkest.

Oof…this one fucking wrecked me. It has so much that I love in a fantasy novel…a reluctant & grumpy hero, the aforementioned Lone Wolf & Cub vibes, people rising up against insurmountable odds. Weird magic, epic battles. But then, this book felt so different from everything else. The writing style took some getting used to initially, but it’s so beautiful.

Cahan is one of RJ Barker’s best protagonists, I think. And that’s saying a lot, because Barker has legit written some of my very favorite characters in fantasy (Girton Club-Foot in THE WOUNDED KINGDOM and Lucky Meas in THE TIDE CHILD among them). I think Cahan is certainly the loneliest & most isolated protagonist that Barker has written, but as GODS OF THE WYRDWOOD progresses, we start peeling back layers of this character and seeing the kind of trauma that he’s carrying. And slowly but surely, the protector in Cahan begins to emerge.

This is such a magical story. An incredible book one, setting major events in motion that will resonate throughout the rest of the trilogy. GODS OF THE WYRDWOOD feels massive, yet also intimate. It’s deeply weird, but also astonishingly human. I’m honestly in awe of what RJ Barker has done with this book & it’ll for sure wind up on my list of favorite reads of 2024….a fucking masterpiece of dark fantasy.