Valor and Ruin (The Faithful and the Fallen series #2 and #3) by John Gwynne

I won't go too much into detail, because I don't want to spoil anything and the other reason being that one of John Gwynne's books is a good 700 or 800 pages long.

If you decide to pick this series up, you're going to be in for a ride. 

You'll meet countless lovable characters and fleshed out villains with comprehensible motives as to why they chose to do something or which side they are on.

Don't get me wrong, we do get some of our standard tropes like "the chosen one", "good versus evil", "angels versus demons" and so on, but done well.

The more I sink into the story the more I get some Game of Throne vibes (POV chapters on both good and evil side, large pet wolf, strong sibling relationship, killing of lots of characters you love) and some Wheel of Time vibes (son from a simple family, going on adventure with his friends and growing up along the way to lead the whole world into battle, Jehar are a bit similar to the Aiel?).

What the author does best are his vivid, fleshed out characters including their animal companions. The stories intertwine in a great way and you will speed through those chunksters of books wanting more. The only thing I'd love to have more of is additional cultural background and customs for the different giant clans and the Jehar and sometimes it feels a bit repetitive fleeing there and then this person gets captured again and then they flee again and get captured and then they flee again (POVs like Maquin and Fidele, Rafe, Edana, Haelan). 

I also would have preferred a bit more variety when the different fractions are moving around doing their skirmishes and capturing enemies, but other than that you will need to put this onto your TBR pile immediately.

4 out of 5 coffee cups.