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There is not necessarily anything about RJ Barker’s weird/epic THE FORSAKEN TRILOGY that screams “vacation read,” but I’ve somehow managed to read parts of both books on vacations & so it’s kind of taken on that quality for me. I think in a way, reading these weird books in new locations has certainly been A Vibe, which definitely adds a layer of enjoyment to the trilogy! 

I think over the last few years, RJ Barker has quietly turned into one of the very best fantasy writers working today, and he’s certainly one of my favorites. Lately, shelf space has become such a critical issue for me. Like I can only romanticize stacks of books everywhere before it becomes An Actual Problem, and to that end, I’ve started trying to be extremely mindful of what I buy, and what I keep. And I think the measure of how much I love certain books is how much I want to go back & reread them. How much I could never bear to put them in a box to donate, or drop them off at a Little Free Library. 

And all nine of RJ Barker’s books are 100% staying on my shelves, where they belong. I’m always looking at AGE OF ASSASSINS or THE BONE SHIPS and thinking how fun it will be to one day revisit Barker’s first two trilogies, books that were just thrilling & emotional reads for me. 

But in the meantime, there’s THE FORSAKEN! I definitely fell “behind” here, because the third book, HEART OF THE WYRDWOOD was recently released. But time has no meaning, it is what it is, etc. 

I remember noting in my review for book one of this trilogy, GODS OF THE WYRDWOOD, that it took me a considerable amount of time before I felt like I had any idea what was happening in this world. It was legit something like 150 pages before the book began to click for me, and then I got OBSESSED with it & couldn’t wait to get lost in its pages each day.  

The second book, WARLORDS OF WYRDWOOD felt much easier to get into, having already been introduced to the world. The story seems to pick up almost immediately after the events of GODS OF THE WYRDWOOD.

Cahan Du-Nahere has undertaken the seemingly impossible task of leading all the surviving villagers of Harn into Wyrdwood, to escape the Rai and begin some kind of new existence within the strange forest. Cahan’s reluctance to lead these people continues, but we see him growing slightly more accustomed to the role. 

Sorha emerges as such a fascinating character to watch in this one, and you get the sense Barker has a lot of fun writing her. She’s gotta be one of the angriest, most wrath-fueled villains I’ve seen in awhile. Nearly blinded by her desire for vengeance against Cahan, her story takes some really interesting turns.

These books are so incredibly vivid. Everything kind of hinges on this wild forest feeling like a real place, and Barker pulls it off with ease. Wyrdwood very much becomes a character in its own right, full of surprises & unexpected nuance. 

There’s definitely a bit more action in this book than the first & the pace feels brisker overall. That may just be due to the familiarity with the worldbuilding that you have going into book two, but it made for a quicker read. But I think what RJ Barker does best in these books (and in all of his previous novels) is write extremely compelling, likable, flawed characters. There’s just so much humanity on the page here, even with the characters that are ostensibly villains. 

I listened to a decent chunk of this one on audiobook & really enjoyed the narration by Jude Owusu. He has a really cool-sounding, almost soothing voice. He doesn’t necessarily do a lot of different accents, but I think he’s a great narrator for these books (I see that he also narrated the TIDE CHILD books, so I might try to check out the audiobooks for a reread of that incredible trilogy!) 

My “schedule” for reading this trilogy has  been a bit bonkers & I am definitely NOT planning on holding off on the finale, HEART OF THE WYRDWOOD, until next summer! Hoping to get to it sooner rather than later & see how Barker wraps this epic trilogy up! I’ve just loved these books so much! 

Huge thanks to Orbit & Hachette Audio for the copy!