A Guide to John Gwynne | Where to Start, Opinions & GUSH

[@jt7153]

John Gwynne has become my favorite author. Not only are his books amazing, he also seems like a genuinely good dude. Hope he keeps writing for a long time.

[@AbbySalter]

He really does!! I hope so too because I always need more books from him

[@RLX5201]

Exactly the same for me, just finished Faithful and the Fallen and can't wait to start A Time of Dread. What a phenomenal writer.

[@PhilipChaseTheBestofFantasy]

I came to hear the GUSH, and I’m not disappointed! Great descriptions of the books, Abby - thank you for the lovely video!

[@AbbySalter]

Thank you Philip. It wouldn't be a video about John Gwynne's books without a hint of gushing.

[@GraceDionneReads]

I was torn between Shadow of the Gods and Malice, but I decided to start with Malice and I'm about halfway through it right now! Things are really starting to pick up, and I'm so excited! Loving it so far

[@AbbySalter]

WOO! So happy you're enjoying Malice. For me the series just got better and better

[@Ulfdrengr]

I've been reading Shadow of the Gods and I'm absolutely loving it! It's my first John Gwynne book, and I actually just came here to see how to pronounce his name lol, but I really appreciated your take on his other books. I'll have to check them out as well

[@AbbySalter]

I'm so looking forward to rereading the shadow of the gods later this year ahead of the 3rd books release! Oh absolutely I would highly recommend checking out his other series if you have enjoyed shadow of the gods

[@weslynch2052]

The Malice series has so many characters to connect with. Maquin is probably one of my most loved characters in all of fiction.

[@AbbySalter]

It does!! I feel like whoever you are there will be at least one character in the series that you connect with

[@dominishbooks]

I think my favourite thing about the completed series is that they are basically written as one book. So people coming to them new can just binge them back to back and get the full effect of that.

[@AbbySalter]

Completely agree!! They do read like 1 very long book because of how each book continues straight after the previous one.

[@GetWriteOnIn]

I promise he's on my never-ending growing TBR list!! He sounds like such a good writer

[@AbbySalter]

He better be! 😂 He really is the best!

[@simonedwards9450]

Going to start Malice tomorrow. Really looking forward to it

[@AbbySalter]

I hope you love it!!

[@simonedwards9450]

@@AbbySalter so far I’m loving it :-) your videos are great - as well as one of the reasons I’m poor haha

[@MetalGildarts]

Almost done with F&TF, reading Wrath currently. So good.

[@AbbySalter]

AHH!! I'm so jealous! I wish I could go back to reading Wrath for the first time.

[@Johanna_reads]

Abby loves John Gwynne books! Who knew? Great guide! I was on the fence about whether to start with Malice or Shadow of the Gods, and I liked the pros and cons you offered. I think I'm going to start with Shadow of the Gods and wait until I have more space in my TBR.

[@AbbySalter]

I know! Who would have thought it! I hope you love the books when you read them.

[@kaylay.2933]

Finally dived into his books starting with Shadow of the Gods after years of Malic on my TBR but procrastination kicked in. I so regret not starting reading Malic all those years ago and will definitely be picking up his other works this year! 💕 love the gush! So well deserved

[@AbbySalter]

YAY! I'm so happy you're enjoying Shadow of the Gods. Honestly Malice sat on my shelf for over a year before I read and I regret even leaving it that long.

[@kaylay.2933]

@@AbbySalter oh wow! I’ve really been missing out then. I first found his book in my early 20’s I think? I’m now 30 😅 I’ll be buying that this week! 😂

[@cavoneant]

I have been looking for a fantasy series to begin and this review inspired me. I will give one of these series a try. Good channel, glad I found it. Keep up the good work!

[@AbbySalter]

I hope you love the series!! I love these books and looking forward to rereading the shadow of the gods before the 3rd book releases later this year

[@AbiofPellinor]

Honestly I did not need more books on my tbr and yet here we are!

[@AbbySalter]

The TBR is infinite. Booktube is a dangerous place.

[@wpsam52]

Just found your channel and glad I did. I've just become aware of Gwynne, I know I'm late, and this was a great introduction to his books. Thanks for doing this!

[@AbbySalter]

Thank you! Never too late to start reading an author. Happy to help 😊

[@martintoni7557]

Hi Abby, great video. I tried Malice in February last year and pretty much demolished all 8 of his books in the following two months!. They are just so easy to read. I'm looking forward to the next Bloodsworn novel in April. I watched your group discussions over the Faithfull and the Fallen as well, good fun :-) He isn't very popular in New Zealand yet and I had to order the first series to get it, but hopefully he will catch on.

[@AbbySalter]

I'm so happy to hear about your love for John Gwynne. What a great couple of months of reading. I'm getting really excited now for hunger of the gods. Hopefully the more we gush about his books, the more New Zealand will catch on to his books.

[@admgrim94]

I just finished The Hunger of the Gods yesterday! I LOVED IT!

[@AbbySalter]

SO GOOD!! I'm looking forward to rereading ahead of book 3 coming out

[@AnilKumar-mp9hk]

Right when I'm looking for John gwynne book recommendations Thanks Abby

[@AbbySalter]

All of his books!! All 8 are recommendations.

[@landon_woods-of-yore]

I really enjoyed the video! I've currently only read the Faithful and the Fallen series, and I absolutely loved it. I own the Of Blood and Bone series, and The Shadow of the Gods. I'm very excited to continue reading the books of John Gwynne!

[@AbbySalter]

YAY! I'm so happy you're enjoying John Gwynn'es books. I'm so jealous of you having so many still to read.

[@ScribbleVicious]

I love Abercrombie and Sanderson, but John Gwynne is my favorite fantasy author hands down

[@AbbySalter]

John Gwynne's books are amazing!! I haven't read any Abercrombie yet but I'm really excited to give his books a try.

[@BooksandCrafts]

Hi Abby, thank you for a great video! This definitely was my 'push' and I just ordered a copy of Malice and am so excited to start with the series! I have heard so many great things about his books lately and your video helped me to understand which series is which and where to start :) Have a great day, Martyna

[@AbbySalter]

Hey Martyna! YAY!! I hope you end up loving his books as much as me.

[@GriffReads]

I filmed my June tbr today and I'm planning to read my first John Gwyn book very soon 👀 I'm so excited because I've seen you talk about his books a lot in videos and how much you love them 😁

[@AbbySalter]

YAY!!! I hope you love them as much as me and I've not hyped them up too much.

[@Elle-fp5uy]

Me Toooooo! I just discovered him and I'm at the end of book 3 of the quartet of Faithful and Fallen, wonderful writer.

[@AbbySalter]

Oh the end of the book 3!! 👀 You will need book 4!

[@Elle-fp5uy]

@@AbbySalter Got all four for Christmas! Yeah!!!!

[@cds1112]

Just bought the Faithful and the Fallen, great video. Subscriber gained 😊

[@AbbySalter]

I hope you love it as much as me!

[@PatrickRyanBookReviews]

Looking forward to starting the Faithful and the Fallen series in June!

[@AbbySalter]

I hope you love it as much as me !

[@neeratron]

Thanks a lot for this guide.

[@AbbySalter]

Hope it helped 😊

[@giannimanzano9266]

I am on pg. 225 of Wrath and the reunion has given me a lift after that ending in Ruin.

[@AbbySalter]

Now that I can fully understand. You are in for exciting few hundred pages.

[@dinocollins720]

thank you for the review

[@RimaReads]

Great video - this was soo useful. I think I'm going to start with Shadow of the Gods!!

[@AbbySalter]

YAY! I hope you love Shadow of the Gods.

[@DuckRon626]

I’m presently reading Malice. My first John Geynne book. Looking forward to the others in The Faithless and the Fallen series. Then, on to The Bloodsworn series. Did not know that Bloodsworn was to be a trilogy.

[@AbbySalter]

I hope you continue to love it!!

[@bookswithv]

I loved all the facial expressions 😂 This is a really great video Abby!

[@AbbySalter]

Thank you Vish! My face can be quite emotive.

[@LiteratureScienceAlliance]

Love watching people gush about their favorite authors! I am for sure starting with Malice! The when has yet to be determine lol

[@AbbySalter]

Watching people gush about books is one of my favourite things about booktube. I hope you love Malice when you do get to it.

[@TheNerdyNarrative]

I determine June to be a great month to start....

[@lolhllooll1880]

As a malazan reader... how many perspectives? Yes!

[@AbbySalter]

All the perspectives! I've not read Malazan so can't compare but there's quite a few of them

[@hhinorth]

I started off with Malice but then read The Shadow of the Gods as soon as it was available and recently finished Valor. I plan on reading Ruin in June as part of the Olympics Readathon. I was lucky enough to get on your team (I’m hhinorth on Discord)

[@AbbySalter]

YAY!! If you can you may want to squeeze in Wrath straight after Ruin (I did anyway because of the ending).

[@hhinorth]

@@AbbySalter I am considering starting Wrath right after Ruin but we’ll see how much Ruin affects me as I have heard that it can be pretty devastating.

[@elldibs7396]

Thanks so much for the guide, Abby. Just discovered Gwynne. I'm looking for other recommendations as well and would like to know what has been some of your favorites in "classic" high fantasy over the past 5 years or so

[@AbbySalter]

hmmm I've loved the Dandelion Dynasty and the Licanius trilogy

[@JoanaSousaReads]

you know how much i love TFATF! In october i should be starting of blood and bone and i also want to get to shadow of the gods. i am so excited but i also don't want to be cought up :( i wont have any more gwynne to read after that

[@AbbySalter]

That is the really sad thing! I am gutted that I have no more Gwynne in my life. His books are so good!

[@Sharifa466]

I needed this video thank you so much! I am about to embark on my John Gwynne journey and I was about to start with the wrong book 🤣

[@AbbySalter]

Oh no! Happy to have helped. I hope you love your time with his books.

[@arpankumarbasak1813]

Hi Abby. Great video. I am a writer and I am looking for absolutely great action novels to learn from . But I'm running short on time. So can u tell which one should I go for : Malice or Shadow of the Gods, for incredible action and battle?

[@AbbySalter]

I think the action scenes as a whole are better in faithful and the fallen but not so much in the first book Malice. So if you’re short on time and need those scenes from just one book then Shadow of the Gods

[@ArizonaRonParallel]

I just finished faithful and the fallen after watching this video. 4 books in two months it was incredible. Never read so much in my life and my first dive into fantasy. Would you reccomend going to of blood snd bone or shadow the gods next ?

[@AbbySalter]

So happy you loved the series!! And that these books got you into fantasy. I'm a bit in two minds: blood and bone is a complete series so you do have a full arc unlike bloodsworn which only has the first 2 out, but I do think it is good to leave a few months in between bloodsworn and F&F to give yourself some distance between the stories

[@ArizonaRonParallel]

@@AbbySalter sorry so would you recommend going with shadow of the gods ?

[@AbbySalter]

@@ArizonaRonParallel If you're planning to read your next John Gwynn straight away I'd say read Shadow of the Gods. If you're going to have a 3-6 month break before reading any more of his books I'd say read Of Blood and Bone

[@bairdsearle]

I have been looking for some background on Gwynne for the last several days and this was the perfect video to answer the questions I had regarding this author, so thank you. However, I still have some thoughts that you may be able to clarify for me? This might be a bit long winded, so I apologize in advance. I'm watching Merlin, the BBC series currently on Netflix, and that has generated my interest into wanting to read fantasy again. I have some experience reading some fantasy in the past. I read the Inheritance Cycle as a kid and I remember loving those books. I have never read any of Gwynne's books but I think I'd like to give them a shot. I did hear you say that if I want to get a read on his writing style that maybe I should start with Shadow of the Gods. If I understand properly, that third series starting with Shadow of the Gods is supposed to be a trilogy as well? What I'm more concerned with is starting an unfinished series and having to wait if I like it. However the quandary I'm in is if I do like the writing style, I really don't want to have to wait for sequels. That is why I'm so torn as to where to start between Malice or Shadow of the Gods. Should I really just start with Shadow to see if I like the writing style and wait for the others, or just start from the beginning with Malice and go from there?

[@FJaypewpew]

As someone who read shadow of the gods and the follow up book, it’s pretty good and while it does leave you wanting more I was also happy to go onto the poppy wars I finished that now and looked for recommendations again and malice came up, so I go hey Fuck yeah I’ll read another series by him Another one I’ll recommend highly is the blade itself by joe Abercrombe

[@bairdsearle]

@@FJaypewpew I decided to read him in publication order. I loved Faithful and the Fallen, so I bought his second series Of Blood and Bone. I'm gonna wait for the 3rd book to come out next year before reading his third trilogy. Also bought Abercombie's first trilogy and the 3 standalones. I will probably buy the second trilogy soon.

[@FJaypewpew]

@@bairdsearle haha, I figured something would have happened in 8 months Glad you enjoy it

[@kevinwittmer522]

The Shadow of the Gods is a much better first book than Malice imo. Perhaps the scope of the story, universe and whatnot is not going to be as grand as that of The Faithful and the Fallen, but I think it's much more accessible and reader-friendly than Malice. I personally didn't really enjoy reading Malice but I went on absolutely LOVING all his other books so there's that! :)

[@AbbySalter]

That's a fair point. I really enjoyed Malice but I feel like my enjoyment of the series just increased as I read each installment. You can definitely see how John Gwynne has responded to criticism and how well polished Shadow of the Gods is.

[@jacksonvega7751]

Just fell off a major Moorcock n E Howard kick, I may give Gywnne a do in my respite of the eternal champions n barbarians

[@AbbySalter]

Oh I've not heard of him. I'll have to check his books out. I hope you love Gwynn'es books

[@jacksonvega7751]

@@AbbySalter Micheal Moorcocks a genius, his Elric series is fabulous

[@onfaerystories]

Your enthousiasm is contagious! I'm 110 pages into Malice and loving it for now! The writing style and the overall structure is great in my opinion (introducing the history of Ardan through a wedding tradition of story telling was so clever), I was hooked from the very beginning. I already love the characters and the setting is so intriguing! And I even already have a theory about (SPOILER) Dylan's death (END OF SPOILER). I'm very much into political intrigue, so it's perfect for that! ☺️

[@AbbySalter]

YAY!! I'm so happy you're enjoying it. If you've been hooked from the beginning then that is a great sign for the rest of the series.

[@gregorylaperche5574]

I may read Shadow of the God at some point. I hope to like it more than Malice.

[@jimsbooksreadingandstuff]

Daniel Greene put Shadow of the God in his top tier in a recent video...

[@AbbySalter]

Sam preferred Shadow of the Gods. He struggled a bit with Malice and gave Shadow 5 stars. So there is hope for you

[@ArizonaRonParallel]

hi do you have to of read the faithfull and the fallem before you read shadow of the gods ? Thanks

[@AbbySalter]

No not at all, they are separate worlds and series with no cross over

[@cynthiaholmes5124]

Will be reading a time of dread in june then I will read shadow of the gods 🙂😃😊

[@AbbySalter]

YAY!! I'm jealous that you still have all those books to read.

[@orion.6]

I just bought malice and am about to start it. Does the series just get better as ot goes on? And is the sequel trilogy as good as the first series?

[@AbbySalter]

WOO!!! For me the series just got better and better (books 3 and 4 being shy favourite). I would say the sequel series is just as good. I think it's good to have a break between reading them.

[@paulinefaber997]

Is giantish language based on Irish? I recognise all the words.

[@AbbySalter]

Potentially...for some reason I thought it was Welsh but maybe it's Irish. I know he pulled a lot from Celtic lore

[@joshramirez7]

Or better known as a guide to crush your soul and be happy about it the entire time haha

[@AbbySalter]

Oh 100% My soul has been crushed in literally every one of his books and I'm thrilled about it.

[@mattkean1128]

Spoilers for Faithful and the Fallen ,,,, ,,, ,, , I feel Marrock was just forgotten, especially with how Connell was taken back at the end, with no mention of him among those lost. It was irredeemable!

[@AbbySalter]

There are so many characters that I wish could have survived. So brutal with the deaths!

[@wreckingballmedia]

Really enjoyed the Faithful & the Fallen series, half way through book 4, Wrath, feels like the weakest of them all so far.

[@AbbySalter]

I hope the ending of Wrath works for you!

[@assassin415]

you look like isla fisher

[@AbbySalter]

Thank you!

[@jcwoodman5285]

Nope- malice is a trope fest! So bad I could never entertain valor... 😑

[@AbbySalter]

I'm sorry you feel that way. No book is going to work for everyone