3.75 stars
For a full review with light spoilers you can check out my video: https://youtu.be/Kn8rOpf-bTM
All together this was a good book. More politically minded than I had expected. I guess the whole plot was kind of centered around the who would win the throne aspect. You never saw the two groups mentioned meet and know for sure that they were the other. Floda's chapters were definitely my preferred ones.

The Children of Gods tells the story of Early Middle Age Ireland through the eyes of two women, Gormflaith (The Fomorian, who is imbued with the mystical fires of her near extinct race) and Fodla ( From the Tuatha de Danaan, who happens to be a healer). And both are on very different sides of the coin.

We start the book with the death of Gormflaith’s husband, Amlav and we soon realise that instead of mourning the passing of her husband, Gormflaith is in fact celebrating the loss. Fodla on the other hand comes across the fact that her sister, who is hiding in a monastery is under attack, from the son of Gormflaith, Sitirc and that she is pregnant to a human, which is a big no – no in Tuatha de Danaan society and Fodla ends up looking after her child whilst her sister is banished.

The story is then told form the corresponding views of both the women. Gormflaith is trying to put her son, Sitric on the throne, whilst Fodla, is sent to spy on King Brian in order to determine if the peace treaty that King Brian is brokering will be viable.

As this is history, there is a large cast of characters and thanks goodness for the Dramatis personae at the front, which was in constant use, not only to give me pointers of the correct pronunciation of names, but who they were.

Now one of the things that I enjoyed about this book is the fact that whilst there is the presence of historical events, the main focus are the characters rather than the events. And what characters they are.

Gormflaith is a force of nature, constantly plotting and scheming and quite interestingly turning into her mother. As I said, when we first meet Gormflaith, she is not mourning the death of her husband, and when it comes to the funeral, her mother makes an appearance to give her some advice. In that scene, we get the impression that Gormflaith hates that she is being manipulated and used, and we relaise that this is a key to sending Gormflaith on the path that she chooses. On top of that Gormflaith can be a complete horrible git. She is like that popular kid at school that is thoroughly odious. Yes, I accept that she's strong and she is a product of her upbringing, but she delights in being nasty to everyone that she comes across. And if you have read it, and you think I might be being a bit unfair to her, there is a scene which describes how she delighted in making Amlavs kids squeal and cry and how she loved to inflict pain on them. I loved it when she gets a dressing down from Olaf. I was dying to laugh!

However, you'd think that Shauna Lawless would characterise Fodla as being the polar opposite, but she is just as flawed in her own way. Fodla at times comes across as being easily taken advantage of, but in other ways quite stoic.At times she is naive in her perspectives, continually believing that the people that she has been sent to spy on are wicked and amoral. However, as she gets to know them she sees that there is another side to people and eventually she learn to challenge her views.

Not only that, you see that the two opposing sides of the Fomorians and and the Tuatha de Danaan and the fact that they are in actuality opposing sides of the same coin. Both are equally manipulative, both have no regard for the lives they interfere and destroy, and it is not long that Fodla realises that she is just as much a pawn as we see that Gormflaith is.

The Children of Gods and Fighting men is an impressive piece of historical fiction that is accentuated by its tinge of fantasy. It's a book filed with memorable characters and political wrangling equal to that of Game of Thrones.

Full review to be posted soonish.

I would like to thank the publisher and netgalley for providing me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Children of Gods and Fighting Men is an apt title because it is the summary of the entire story that is written in this novel. A novel about two female protagonists that shape and influence the world of men around them, and that has to deal with a lot more difficulty. This is a story about motherhood and childbirth, immortality, and death. This is a story about the lives of young men and young men brought into a world where the competing Kings of Ireland fight amongst each other, trying to claim all of Ireland under their rule while having to deal with Viking intruders who will one day become a part of the Irish culture and its history.

It’s a good backdrop to explain the conflict between two mythological institutions, the Fomorians and the Tuatha that once ruled Ireland now have to compete with the growing influence of Christanity and the growing decline of the Norse Religion. Gormflaith has a tumultuous journey within this novel, trying to grow her influence, make allies, and court betrayal all the while trying to make her son Sitric, the King of Dublin. Yet the conflict between the Fomorians and the Tuatha comes to a full circle at one point. Then we have Fódla who is trying to prevent a war from happening, but in my opinion, both the Fomorians and the Tuatha have used humanity for their own misdeeds while claiming to be the superior race.

This book will make you emotional many times, and it did for me. There were points that reminded me of my own childhood, and how a mother’s love is the most powerful thing a child can ever have. From the day her child is born, she does not stop loving him or her. Or, that depends on the individual herself. Even a father’s love for his or her child is strong. This book is about parenthood, as much as it is about being gifted the gift of immortality vs those that do not have that very gift. It’s part Sandman, part Lord of the Rings, and part Irish mythology all bundled into one novel.

I really enjoyed this, yet I feel saddened at the same time. The cycle of war will not end until the world is grown anew. It’s a 10/10 from me!

The Children of Gods and Fighting Men by Shauna Lawless is enticing, carefully drawing you in with the promise of unending ambition, intrigue, and suffering.

Thank you to the author (Shauna Lawless) and publisher (Head of Zeus) for an advance reading copy of The Children of Gods and Fighting Men. This did not influence my thoughts or opinions. The Children of Gods and Fighting Men releases September 1st, 2022.

If you happened to see my early discussions on my social media platforms, then you'll already know how much I loved this story. I was immediately captivated early on, and it never let up. If you are a reader like me who loves stories focusing on how far one would go to achieve their goals, and the boundaries they are willing to cross in the name of ambition, then you will devour this historical fantasy.

"They think they've killed the last of us."

Inspired by Irish Mythology, Lawless's ability to capture a readers attention was on full display. The plot was gripping and slowly revealed a plot much broader in scope. Told through the eyes of two female POVs, a heart wrenching story unfolds of a feud between two immortal tribes where descendants have been at each other for years. Here in lies witches and druids, vikings and fire magic, and my personal favorite-- king makers.

This is going to take off once it's released to the world. Keep this debut author on your radar as this is the first in a series. Thank you again for the opportunity to read and review The Children of Gods and Fighting Men!

This is a new historical Irish mythology series set in the 10th century.
Being Irish myself I always anticipate new Irish authors with a lot of excitement and being a historical and Irish mythology enthusiast I have been excited about this book since I first knew of it's existence! And let me tell you, it did NOT disappoint!

Lawless has done a fantastic job bringing to life Irish history with fantastical elements to create this story, I absolutely devoured it! The writing is excellent and the characters are fantastic! Two lead females? We love to see it!!
Very excited for the next installment!

There are a lot of characters in The Children of Gods and Fighting Men, and reading the dramatis personae is possibly the most intimidated I've ever been by a book, but I surprisingly didn't have a particularly hard time getting to know any of them, aside from the main characters. The protagonists are supposedly meant to be some sort of polar opposites, and they are, somewhat, but they have very similar voices and very similar lives. I would have preferred them to have more differences, rather than both plot lines being approximately the same, and possibly even for the book to be in third person, just to avoid the element of confusion. I did really like the main characters, though! The Children of Gods and Fighting Men is very much about women trying to survive and live in a men's world, and Fódla and Gormflaith are really interesting in the sense that the two of them are shaped by being women in society in very different ways. There are also lots of other aspects of womanhood, discussions around domestic abuse, arranged marriages, women in positions of power, and one of my favorite aspects in feminist books: motherhood and children.

The world is really fun, I always love a dark, raw fantasy world, and the aspect of history/mythology made this one extra interesting. There's not too much magic, unfortunately, but I suspect that there will be more of that in potential future books in the series. The prose itself is also very nice, I found it to be a unique combination of dry and immersive that I ended up really enjoying. I would describe the writing as rational, rather than emotional, there is a lot of lore and politics handled in a almost text book kind of way, but I also found myself a lot more emotionally affected by the war and terrible events than I normally am with fantasy, to the point where it was bordering on difficult to read.

My main issue with this book was the plot, because although there is a lot of intrigue and stuff going on, I honestly couldn't tell you what happens in this book. There was no point to the story, no goal and no foreshadowing, it just kept going on and on and on in chapter after chapter. There was nothing keeping me interested in the story, because there was no mystery, only a series of events. I don't need to know what happens in the sequel, because there haven't been any hints to make me care. It was a few events in chronological order (really strange time skips? suddenly it's ten years later), and then the book was over. The only reason I'm mildly interested in reading a potential second book is that I'm curious about what happens to the characters, not because I care about the plot.

I think this has a lot of potential as a series, because of the incredibly interesting characters and world building, and because of how strong the writing is, especially considering The Children of Gods and Fighting Men is a debut novel, but it doesn't go all the way for me because of the opposite-of-intriguing plot. I'm still interested in a sequel, however, and I would recommend this to any reader of dark, political fantasy. If you liked She Who Became the Sun you'd love this one!

This historical fiction set in Ireland had light fantasy, Vikings, political power struggles and strong women. Told from the perspectives of two women on opposite sides of an age old but somewhat dormant battle of the Formorians versus the Tuatha de Danann. One woman, Queen Formlaith, is driven by power and a determination to not just survive, but to rule. She hides her powers and uses her calculating, clever mind to further hers and her son’s goals in Dublin. Fódla is a healer but restricted from using her magic on humans by the Council since the new laws. She is set the task of infiltrating the King’s army as a spy, a task which takes many years and leads her far away from her people. Riddled with Irish history from 981AD onwards, this was an intricate tale of the women of the era who, despite their powerful magic, were smothered by the laws of their lands and the power of the men in their lives. It was interesting to learn more of the history of Ireland, amongst the fiction of this novel, and observe the dire situation of women in history, at the mercy of men, discarded easily and betrayed without thought. Women believed to be possessions, to be unsuited to strategy, but useful as pawns.
It was, at times, difficult to track the jumps in time and to marry the two women’s perspectives. And with anything rooted heavily in history, it could be a little slow in places, but on the whole this was an interesting read and a valuable commentary on feminism, women, and their rightful places in history - whether they’re seemingly the villain or not.

The Children of Gods and Fighting Men

Happy UK release day to this absolute stunner of a book!

I would just like to say thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Children of Gods and Fighting Men is one of my few 5-star books from this year. Our story follows two women, Gormflaith – one of the last of her kind as a Fomorian, who wants nothing more than to not be in hiding, to bring her beloved son to power with her high ambitions. And Fódla, a Tuatha De Danann – the race sworn to kill the Fomorians. After being separated from the mortal race, she agrees to spy and live amongst the mortals to gather information on a man who aims to be the High King of Ireland. She finds a land ready for war, one that she is desperate to stop despite not being allowed to meddle in human affairs.

The story – the first in a series, covers the span of a few years as Ireland gets closer and closer to war, the kings and lords of the lands create alliances and betray the loose bonds between leaders.

I adored this book; I loved how much I hated some of the characters – and I’ll be honest. I absolutely hated Gormflaith. Despite her ambitions for herself and her son, wanting to not hide herself any longer, wanting to be more than what her mother told her she’d be. But she was insufferable. I had so many distasteful feelings towards Gormflaith, including admiration for how much she was willing to do to get what she wants – even if it destroys everyone around her.

Fódla was admirable, with more sympathy and humanity than her ex-lover and the rest of her race that no longer interferes with humans and their wars. She is one of my favourite main female characters in a book in quite a long time, her love for the people she meets and her disdain for the rules that she had to be under to even be a spy for the Irish people.

There’s a very lovely perspective of magic in this book, it’s not the main plot – as most of the characters are magicless humans. There’s human conflict, human wars, human outcomes not brought to their peak with magic – it’s such a nice mix of humanity and magic that felt very balanced. And I’m not someone who enjoys the rules of magic in most books that have recently come out.

The time span of the book was such a good pace, it didn’t feel like it was too fast or too slow. Everything felt very natural, nothing was forced. The pacing was so well done – much like the rest of the book.

I did especially like the pronunciation and who’s who guide at the beginning.

Overall, I really adored this book – I’ve recommended it multiple times to friends already, pre-ordered the physical copy, and am eagerly waiting the rest of the series.

This is a beautifully written historical fantasy novel and the amount of research that the author undertook is apparent in the reading. I love the Irish history and mythology and was completely immersed in the story as I read. This story has witches and Vikings, and beings of power, and I absolutely loved how the story flowed. I loved the dual narrative and the richness of the characters. This is a beautifully written book and the story will appeal to anyone that loves Irish folklore and mythology and strong main characters.

Children of Gods and Fighting Men is the book in the planned Gael Song trilogy, which tells the story of a changing society, A society that is being fought over by mortal men, all intent on ruling their region and ultimately becoming King of Ireland. There is a passing of the guard as Ireland is moving on from the realm of myths and legends. Two females stand at the centre of two mythical groups, Gormflaith being of Fomorian descent and Fodla, a part of the Tuatha de Danann line. Both groups have their own set of magical powers but are both sworn enemies. The Fomorians are thought to have died out and any use of their magic runs the risk of revealing their existence. Similarly, Fodla is forbidden from using her healing power openly for fear of revealing herself.

What follow is the weaving of a tale as the mythical agents implant themselves into the battles of the men as the factions seek to maintain their position and influence in society while still hiding in plain sight.

There are so many aspects of this novel that I love and appreciate. The spirit and nature of the Irish people are well represented, as the drive and thirst for power is contrasted with the simple day to day living, hospitality and generosity of the everyday folk. There is a strong look at a firmly patriarchal society through the lens of our two strong and capable female characters. Interestingly, they are intent on doing their part in maintaining the nature of this society, even though individually they could wield such power. It leads to a strong examination of the nature of man and woman. What makes a person good or bad? What influences them and is easy enough to define people in terms of being one or the other, or are the lines blurred. The themes are as relevant today as they have been in the past.

How the world was explained, built, and developed means that the story feels grounded in reality while having a strong magical flavour. I can’t wait to see how the story develops next.

Am I a sucker for twists on actual historical events? You bet I am. As soon as I finished reading, I was jumping around trying to research Irish history to see what did or did not line up. Most of it lined up pretty darn well. Lawless weaves together the history and the mythology so seamlessly that it feels impossible for actual history to have happened without the magic right there along side. It's a big book, but I sped through it in only a few nights. You can't stop. I want the sequel. I need more of this world. Lawless is a top tier world builder.

Fabulous read! Steeped in Irish mythology and with a wonderful cast of characters, this is an engaging read for anyone who loves fantasy or mythology reads.

This book was not for me. I’m not sure if I’m in a fantasy slump, but I just could not get into this story. My thanks to Head of Zeus Publishing for this ARC.

The Children of Gods and Fighting Men by Ms. Lawless is a well written, complex story that is easy to read. The time is around 980 A.D. and set in Ireland. The story is told from the point of view of two female protagonists from two immortal, ancient, magical races (the Formorians and the Tuatha Dé Danann) that are committed to destroying each other. The Vikings, the Irish, the English, pagans and Christians just adds to the complexity of the plot.
Exceptional character development (especially the characters Foodla and Gormflaith), great world building and a door stopper length book. This is a fun story and I highly recommend it. I cannot wait for the next book in this series.

(4/5) I would describe this book as historical fiction sprinkled with a bit of fantasy. I loved that it was based on actual figures and events in 10th century Irish history and mythology. If you like political intrigue, you'll enjoy this book! I found it easy to read, and I really enjoyed the duality of the two female POVs - they're so different but at the same time two badass feminist characters! This book did a great job of setting the stage for the rest of the series, and I will be really interested to see where Lawless takes it. I need more character development and to see where Gormflaith and Fódla end up. This is certainly just the beginning -- when I was reading this series I could definitely picture it as a TV show (think: Vikings, The Last Kingdom, Medici, The Tudors, etc.) and I want MORE!

Also, be warned that this book has LOTS of Irish names and I would like to personally apologize to the author for butchering every single one of them except Brian when I read it in my head. Perhaps the audiobook would be corrective, but don't expect to be able to spell any of the names in a pop quiz if you go for the audiobook.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This book is out TOMORROW!

4.5/5 (will probably round up to 5 on reread)

The Children of Gods and Fighting Men is a wonderfully written story that blends historical fiction and fantasy perfectly. Actual magic that is consistent through out this book despite needing to be hidden from the main populace. The narrative is rich and enticing; the world building full and complex; the characters well developed and complicated. And best of all? A pronunciation guide at the beginning of the book! (I never remember to check the back of the book for one. I always dive right in and everyone's name turns into Dalinar's wife's name if I cannot work it out.)

The story follows Gormflaith and Fodla, both belong to opposing supernatural races. Both on a journey working through the world of men (mortal and not) and finding their own power/voice. I don't want to spoil too much, but their stories compliment and contrast each other very well, not just in their magic skills but the realizations they come to regarding those around them.

Shauna Lawless has done an excellent job blending historical fiction and fantasy. I really cannot wait for the sequel.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Superb historical novel with fantasy underpinning (or vice versa?), set in 10th Century Ireland. The potentially off putting amounts of exposition required to set both the historical context and the myths and legends that are incorporated seamlessly, and Lawless is able to get on with the world building. Setting two strong non-mortal women as the lead characters, and ensuring the whole story can be told from their perspectives, is a great decision to help embed both the concept and the distance from the mortal men they deal with. Fantastic start to a series.

With a great blend of Irish Mythology and historical fiction this made for an enthralling read. Set in 981 AD, the Viking King of Dublin is dead, leaving his young widow and her son. It has a great balance of brutal times, authentic, vivid surroundings, and some inspiring infiltration of magic.
The history and myth is deftly woven into a world of family feuds, politics, some romance and strong, almost fearless sisters in a male dominated world. Such was the quality of writing and character development; amidst a captivating story it was hard to believe it was a debut. Get behind the good guys, enjoy the tension and journey .
My reading experience flew by as I was engaged and carried along with this fascinating and compelling read. Really looking forward to the next one.

"I will kill them. All of them. And then I will rule Ireland, as is my right. We are the children of gods, and the people of Ireland are the children of men."

Shauna Lawless’ debut novel is a potent blend of myth, history and fantasy, expertly woven together to create something unlike anything I've read before. Set at the turn of the tenth century, the narrative is split between two women - Gormflaith, a queen in Dublin, hell-bent on consolidating her son’s power and keeping him safe. Oh, and she’s also secretly one of the last Formorians , a feared, destructive, fire-bending race.

Fódla, meanwhile, is a magical healer who is sent on a mission to spy on the high kings of Ireland in the name of keeping her people, the Descendants of the Tuatha De Dannan, safe. Fódla is much more naturalistic, caring and tries to do the right thing, even when that means sacrificing something she loves.

The genius of the two points of view is that these women are black and white - Gormflaith is a power-hungry, arrogant and vindictive woman, (I loved her) whereas Fódla is much more gentle and selfless. The contrast between the two women helped me get invested in both their plots, and it was especially satisfying to read when those plots converged.

I really enjoyed this one, even though history nor fantasy are my usual cups of tea, I do love a good belt of Irish mythology. It’s not entirely necessary to have a degree in Irish myths and legends to enjoy this one though - Lawless explains where needed, and gives further context to both the historical and fantastic elements. She’s a fantastic writer, too, and the story is peppered with beautiful images and striking dialogue.

The world-building is also fantastic, and immersive - granted I was familiar with the source material of Irish myths but it felt vivid and real to read, impressively so. The complex plot got away from me at times, I will admit, but overall The Children of Gods and Fighting Men has converted me to the world of fantasy.