The Shadow of the Gods; The Hunger of the Gods by John Gwynne

Being a fantasy novel, world building is something that can make or break a book. The world described is filled with a rich history, interesting geography, and a great magic system. There are numerous factions that, through their own actions, make it easy to love or hate them. The characters are written believably (sometimes difficult for a fantasy novel) and you get attached to them easily. There is definitely combat and it is brutal. There is some foul language used as well. Despite this, John Gwynne’s the Bloodsworn Series is one of my favorite fantasy series to come up in the past decade or so.