very Gripping!!!

On reading “Day of the vikings last year 2022 was eager to read more of these fantasies! This didn’t disappoint, such an intriguing listen (Audible) I absolutely loved it! Great descriptions making you feel your there in the story too, loved every chapter ❤️

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Fast-moving and gripping

This was a good story overall, with a mix of apocalyptic and paranormal horror. I was on edge the whole time because there were no guarantees about who was going to make it. However, I felt the story was rushed and I would have liked to have known the characters a bit more in their "normal" lives before they're thrust into the horrific events that happen.

I'm not familiar with Maori culture and religion and found the mystical underpinnings of the story fascinating. The idea of mighty deities and the earth itself turning against humans gave the book a truly dark and terrifying tone. There were quite a few side characters who seemed to know the full reasons behind what was going on, but all they did was give the main characters rushed hints and no full explanations, leaving me as a reader frustrated and wanting to know more as well. The inclusion of some human non-mystical villains added another powerful layer of suspense.

At first, I didn't like the narrator at all. His delivery of the narrative portions felt monotone and robotic. However, he did much better with the dialogue portions, adding more life and emotion when the characters were speaking.

The only reasons I haven't given this five stars are because I felt the story needed more time and space to be told, and because the narrator's delivery wasn't my cup of tea.

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Love this - when is the next one!

Narration was good and a cracking fast paced story line. Enjoyed this very much and hope more will follow.
Love the amount of research that goes into JF Penn's books - really enjoy learning about the history.

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Dark mystical thriller

I am fortunate enough to have read all of J.F. Penn's books and I have enjoyed them all, but the collaborations with J. Thorn are the darkest that she has written. One thing that always stands out about J.F. Penn's books is the amount of research that she carries out, in this book she also draws on J. Thorn's knowledge of Maori lore. There is a lot of information about the Maori gods, although some of it does need to be be inferred rather than being stated explicitly, this was easier to understand in the e-book than in this audio version.

In this story the Maori gods rise up to destroy humanity, with a combination of natural disasters, earthquakes, volcano eruptions and tidal waves and mystical monstrous beings. The two central characters are tasked with carrying out a task to save the country.

The descriptions of the various natural and not so natural disasters is exciting and very well written. The narration is very good, despite sounding rather monotonous at first, although this did improve when performing the dialogue.

If you like rather dark thrillers then there is a good chance that you will really enjoy this.

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When you can no longer deny the monsters

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Risen Gods weaves the natural elements with the supernatural. Locations are so vivid they feel like characters. The story follows three kinds of people. Those who believe in what they see, those who believe in what is unseen, and those who struggle as they move from no longer being able to deny the monsters a rationale mind can't comprehend. I enjoyed the characters who fell into each category as I wondered what I'd do if put in their shoes. Great if you are looking for a thrilling story you can consume in a short amount of time.

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Great

what a great audiobook from the pen of J F Penn and J Thorn with brilliant narration by CJ McAllister xxxxxxx

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