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Wyrd Gods
- Timelessness, Book 1
- Narrated by: Sarah Kempton
- Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins
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Wyrd Gods
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Publisher's Summary
Chronos, god of Time, and creator of the Universe, wants to destroy Eternity.
A mysterious immortal seeks vengeance.
And a reclusive Olympian deity does what no god should ever do: She answers a prayer.
As punishment, she is stripped of her powers and trapped in a mortal's body. Now a Wyrd - a fated god - she is haunted by the memories and thoughts of her host and must hide her true identity in order to survive in Niflheim, the rival Norse Underworld.
There she discovers the afterlife is not quite what it used to be. Niflheim's new ruler threatens the precarious balance of a world overrun with outcast deities and mortals alike.
To save her own sanity and find her way back to the stars, she must help the other Wyrd overcome their grievances to defeat this enemy, but those who would be her allies appear to have motives as hidden as her fragmented consciousness.
And yet it seems the greatest threat to her freedom comes from within, and the prize it seeks is her immortal soul....
What listeners say about Wyrd Gods
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kindle Customer
- 22-09-2023
An excellent book with an incredible performance!
This is one of the best (not to mention The Best) take on ancient mythology I've read. I'll try to keep this review non-spoilery, while also summarising some of the great elements of this book.
Yes, the book is based on ancient mythology, and has an Olympian protagonist, but it is also mixed in with other pantheons. Norse gods (e.g., Hel as mentioned on the cover) feature prominently, including some Egyptian ones. This gives the book a very interesting take. This is not (and I need to emphasise this) not a retelling It is also not a re-imagining of myths, nor a rehash of any mythology-derived story.
In turn, this is a very interesting, unique take of a story of gods' woes happening somewhere that is not Earth. It is different, unique, and unpredictable, all while bringing in some flavour of mythology.
Because of the above, if you know more about mythology (not the pieces of myths fed through Marvel movies), you will enjoy this greatly. The author, Susana Imáginario, has perfectly blended some cues based on mythological facts... which will help you solve the "mystery" (for a lack of a better word) of who the protagonist is, and what are the interests/stakes on the entire story.
In terms of the prose and narration, I found Imáginario's prose quite enthralling. It is elaborate without being purple or obnoxiously decorated--just enough to give you that feel of gods narrating, of thought patterns that are beyond humans' ideas, while transmitting the magical, otherworldly feeling of the world they are in. Imáginario is concise in her writing, but has a knack to convey a lot with just enough words. You won't find tons of exposition, and instead you find everything little by little, and along the protagonist.
The structure is generally chapter-interlude-chapter-interlude, and so on. The chapters follow the main protagonist (a "fated god", basically a goddess forced into a living body) are narrated in first person and are highly biased--turns out, she has some sort of amnesia (not to spoil much) and so is quite oblivious to the larger scheme of things. The interludes follow other characters, which are named in the title of the interlude; these are narrated in third person through a limited narrator.
Because of the main character's "amnesia" you get a very partial, very narrow understanding of what is happening. Think of Abercrombie's The Blade Itself, in which you follow the characters, the narrators are very biased, you get the feel that something Major (capitalised!) is happening, but because the narrator doesn't know it, you don't get the plot explained at once. Nonetheless, at all times you get that feeling that something Huge (again, capital H) is happening, without knowing what... and that fact is confirmed by the ending--such a terrific ending, honestly.
This is not a YA book, this is pure adult fantasy given the topics that are discussed and brought about... even more the grey morality of the gods (come on, you can't expect Loki or Hades to "behave". Honestly!). More importantly, it is worth mentioning that you will not find racism (well, dryads don't like humans, but that's all) or misogynism. Yeah, there are some sex scenes, but they are either fade-to-black type, or very quick and glossed over (e.g., hastened to give you a summary through a paragraph); they are also somewhat relevant to the plot as well.
There is a great balance of characters and personalities, and also of genders.
TL;DR This was a refreshing take on mythology, very unique and unpredictable. The characters are compelling and show layers of depth. The plot of this first book seemed centred on a character, but the ending indicates that there is a Very Large plot happening beyond this group of people. The prose is very good, not complex but not simplistic, perfectly tuned to be fascinating yet accessible--an incredible balance, honestly. Definitely an adult book, with well-done grey morality.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kindle Customer
- 15-06-2021
A must read!
Amazing story, that is extremely well written that you feel that you're part of narrative and the Narrator does a wonderful job in bringing all the characters to life:)
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