Anachrony

With Anachrony, Susana Imagin??rio proves my suspicion that there is some kind of magic afoot with each new installment of the Timelessness series.

As the series has progressed, and with each new installment, Susana Imagin??rio has managed to knock me sideways with the brilliance of each new book, and I usually spend at least five minutes stunned over what I have read.

And this short little story did that again!

If you read the epilogue of Nephilim???s Hex and wondered ???What???s that all about then????, Anachrony fills in those gaps and answers those questions. It tells the story of what Arianh did next, a kind of Ariamh through the looking glass.

I have to say that Anachrony was not what I expected at all (which I should have expected, but there you go). The story takes place in Niflheim, but a different Niflheim than we are used to as things are not quite the same. In Anachrony, the story centres solely on Arianh and the subsequent events of what happens when she steps through the Chronodendron. This gives the novella a different feel to the rest of the series. With the focus being on one character the story is more linear in its execution, which works superbly in this instance and gives us a vivid picture of what Arianh is experiencing as she travels the world in which she finds herself.

In Anachrony, Susana Imagin??rio changes the perspective of the narrative, and my goodness is this effective for this story. It feels like we are experiencing the things that Arianh is experiencing, not only in terms of events, but also in relation to the emotions that she is experiencing, which makes the end of the story that little bit more emotive. It brings us closer to the feelings of disorientation that Arianh experiences as she journeys through Niflheim with only the Chronodendron for company.

I must apologise if I am being a little vague, but I want to stay away from the plot altogether as I think that the way to gain complete enjoyment from this book is to enter it blindly and let the story take you to where it is going without any pre-emptive knowledge of what lies inside the pages. However, what I can say is that Susana Imagin??rio handles the world building with her usual aplomb and style, and her characters remain vivid and evocative.

I have loved this series and I marvel at how Susana Imagin??rio continually wrong foots me with the shifting sands of her plot at each given moment. Just when I think I have an angle on the series and think that I have things pegged out in my head, she manages to pull the rug out from under my feet and introduce a new twist that sends all my counters flying in the air. Furthermore, I adore the ambiguity of it all, I mean, even the title of the book is ambiguous, and I am not sure whether the events in the book take place in the future or the past, similarly with the actual title of the series itself, which is kind of brought into sharp focus with the events in this story. I may be looking too deep into it, but this story has grabbed me, and I want to know more, whether it be about the mythology that she introduces and how that interweaves with the story or certain words that have been used and how they affect the story.

At the end of most of my reviews, I tend to say that if you haven???t read the Timelessness series you should go and check it out, and I am not going to fail you on this occasion either. Unfortunately, I will have to wait till next year until the story concludes, but I am so looking forward to seeing how Susana Imagin??rio will surprise me with that!

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Author's Note

The original manuscript of Wyrd Gods was over 300k words long. When I decided to self-publish, I figured it would be better to turn it into a trilogy (or tetralogy as it turned out) which meant I had to break up a storyline that was already fragmented by design. The result is a strange and complex book with the added disadvantages of being a debut novel and the first book in a series.
If there's one thing I ask from my readers, it's patience. Think of Wyrd Gods as a Part I of a much longer story, and trust that there is a method to this tale of madness. Everything will eventually make sense in the end.

Thank you for reading!

As someone interested in Greek/Roman mythology I did quite enjoy this different take on it. How can we classify it? It is definitely focused on deities from the past, like a mythological story, but it is without a doubt a fantasy set in an unspecified time in the future. There are two pantheons of gods, the classical Greek/Roman one and the Viking one, all victims or perpetrators of machinations in order to survive a cataclysmic event that is endangering their universe. The story feels like an oniric journey of the main character through an alien world and... alien body, given that we start the novel when she wakes up in someone else's body. It is told through her point of view, so we readers have to discover all the things that are happening at her pace.
I have to say that I'm not a great fan of first person present tense stories so it took me a while to get used to it. What helped me was the fact that there were shifts between first person present tense and third person past tense. The latter quite important in order to understand what is going on, given that the main character is clueless for most of the novel, until the very end. If you find yourself a bit lost among the many characters, like it happened to myself, just keep going because it will all be revealed at the very end.
The only issue I had was about the too many characters. Sometimes it was difficult to follow dialogues and relationships between them and given that I'm not that familiar with Norse mythology as I'm sure many others are, it would probably have helped to have a short glossary at the end with the list of the deities.
Apart from this I highly recommend this debut novel to all the mythology enthusiasts that wants to enjoy a different take on it. I'm looking forward for the next one!

This review is also featured on Behind the Pages: Wyrd Gods

Thank you to Susana Imaginario for providing me with a copy of this book! I voluntarily leave this review!

Were the Gods to answer every prayer, the worlds they resided over would fall to ruin. However, one dryad's final prayer draws the attention of a goddess. And in doing so traps the goddess Psyche in her mortal body. Now a Wyrd, Psyche, must find the true purpose behind her imprisonment. But as she wanders the world she is trapped in, she will find that the God of Time has been forcing worlds to collide. And she isn't the only God trapped.

Wyrd Gods was beautifully written. Susana Imaginario's use of language created an enchanting and captivating world for the characters to reside in. Each scene is laced with emotional detail and dreamlike in quality. The way she seamlessly blended multiple pantheons of gods into one concise and intricate story took a great amount of skill. And the characters are multilayered. Each has their own agenda and desires. Sometimes they may coincide with one another, but each will be out for their own personal gain.

That being said, I am not as familiar with mythology as I most likely should be to read this novel. The various pantheons and clash of gods confused me. If I understood their backgrounds and histories more clearly, it would have been easier for me to digest the various names appearing on the page. The main players in the story were recognizable to me such as Loki, Odin, and Hades. But there were many names of demigods and titans I did not know. I do believe if I had a better grasp of their wants and needs from mythology I would have been able to understand the concept of their desires better in the novel.

The audio narration of Wyrd Gods is just as beautiful as the writing. Sarah Kempton flawlessly captured the personalities and emotions of each character. And as she began narrating the contest of wills between Psyche and Ileana I found myself entranced. I highly recommend listening to this on audiobook. It will draw you in all the quicker as the narration adds another layer to the world-building and characterization.

Wyrd Gods is a wonderful read for those who enjoy mythology. Especially if mythology from various cultures captures your interest. There are many characters to remember, but as the story progresses you'll grow to know each and every one of them. There is plenty of mystery and political tension within the story to keep readers engaged and guessing right up until the very end.