Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for giving me an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was a great start to a new epic fantasy series. This series is heavily influenced by Viking and Norse folklore. The Shadow of the Gods was full of action, fun characters, and lots of unique creatures. The magic system in this book is very interesting; magic-users (known as thralls, Tainted and god-touched) are descendants of ancient animal gods and their magic is based on the animalistic characters of their godly lineage. The god-touched are feared and many are enslaved to different leaders and warrior clans. This book does not follow the same structure as most high fantasy novels as the characters are constantly on the move. What I loved the most about this book is that female characters were put into leadership positions. The main Jarl (leader) in the book was female, the main villain was female, and two out of the three POV characters were badass female warriors. Strong women everywhere and it was awesome! I also loved the ending of this book and it really solidified my desire to read the rest of this series.

The biggest complaints I have with this book is the lack of a pronunciation guide or translation of the old Norse words that the characters use as well as a lack of a reference guide for the different gods and the powers of their magical children. I don't know if reference guides will be included in the final printing but it would have been extremely helpful for me while reading the ARC. I had to make do with creating notes in the kindle version of the book that I could reference while reading. My other complaint would be that the action felt repetitive at times, especially after the halfway point of the story.

Overall, this was an enjoyable book and I am interested in picking up other books by this author.