Book Review: Slaughtered Gods by Thilde Kold Holdt

All shall perish.

The great wolf howls for Ragnarok to begin. The half-giant Einer leads an army of the dead to clash with the golden shields of Asgard. The nornir tie and retie their threads, as Loki’s and Odin’s schemes unfold… and unravel. For not even cunning gods and giants see every part of the web.

As the survivors of the burned village of Ash-hill converge on the final battle on Ida’s Plain, only two are truly free to choose their paths and prevent the annihilation of the nine worlds: a storyteller who holds all destinies in his hands, and a shieldmaiden with no destiny at all.

GENRE: Norse Epic Fantasy

PURCHASE LINKS: Amazon

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Thilde Kold Holdt is a Viking, traveller and a polygot fluent in Danish, French, English and Korean. As a writer, she is an avid researcher. This is how she first came to row for hours upon hours on a Viking warship. She loved the experience so much that she has sailed with the Viking ship the Sea Stallion ever since. Born in Denmark, Thilde has lived in many places and countries, taking a bit of each culture with her, and is currently based in Southern France where she writes full-time. www.thildekoldholdt.com

Review & Recommended Listening

What an epic finale! Just like Shackled Fates, Slaughtered Gods picks up right after the previous installment, though we're first given a summary of all that's happened so far — which is very helpful given the multitude of characters and plots we've encountered and have been following.

It's a brilliant finish, with twists to delight even those already familiar with the myths. Thilde continues to seamlessly weave a complex, detailed world and story, and there's almost a movie-like quality to it in that I could very easily visualize what was going on as if I was watching a film. It might get unwieldy for those who are used to single or few POVs, but if you were able to get through A Song of Ice and Fire (or the Game of Thrones TV series), with all their simultaneous plotlines and heaps of POVs, you'll be just fine. Better still, Slaughtered Gods closes out the trilogy really well!

I've been disappointed many times before by the last book of a series. Part of it is when things you want to happen don't happen, or, worse, the author fails to reconcile the various storylines and come up with a satisfying conclusion. Thilde, bless her, does not fail in the second. I really think she's a skald or norn now 😉 And while there were things that didn't go the way I wanted, that's a matter of reader preference, not bad writing. (I did feel less attached to the characters by this point, for some inexplicable reason, but I guess that also goes back to the whole deal about my favorites not getting the ends I hoped for them. Alas, I was attached to a lot of the minor characters, and less to Hilda LOL!)

This trilogy is definitely among my top reads for the year, and I'm already looking forward to what Thilde's writing next!

You can also check out my reviews of Northern Wrath (book 1) and Shackled Fates (book 2).

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Recommended Listening: As I mentioned in my open call for books to review, I’ll now be adding a song to my reviews! It’ll be one that either sums up the book for me, what I’d imagine in a trailer were it a movie, something that I associate with the story or one of the characters for whatever reason… or maybe even an original inspired by it 😉

Similar to my song choice for the first two books, here's one I thought fitting that's originally in Old Norse but with an English translation:

The sun turns black, earth sinks in the sea

The hot stars down, from heaven are whirled

From below the dragon, dark comes forth

Much do I know, and more can see

Of the fate of the Gods, the mighty in fight.

From below the dragon, dark comes forth