The Raven Tower

This is my first read from Ann Leckie, and I regret that it took me this long—but this was a good choice for my first foray into her works. For one, I love having a standalone fantasy novel—not every story needs to be marketed into a trilogy, publishers, please. This novel is told in a mix of first- and second-person narrative, due to the fact that it is told from the perspective of one of many gods that inhabit this world. The Raven Tower addresses themes of divinity, language, revenge, and others—all of which made me pick up this book not too long after reading the blurb. (That, and the incredible cover.) It’s a wonder that this didn’t spend much time on my TBR shelf.

The worldbuilding was decently done—I found it was just enough to pepper the story with interesting details. It was a bit overwhelming at first, especially the geography for me—I had a hard time keeping track of what was where. I consulted the map but it didn’t seem to help me much. That’s probably just a me thing, since I don’t visualize when I read. It wasn’t significant to the reading experience though. The main area we are concerned with is the kingdom of Iraden (though can you even call it a kingdom when its ruler is not a king…?), which is ruled by the Raven god and its Lease. The world had a vague medieval feel to it, which I enjoy in fantasy works, but it wasn’t anything mind-blowing. Still, I liked being in this world while reading alongside its characters.

The characters also add a lot of depth to this story. I quite enjoyed the main character, Eolo, but I was pleasantly surprised by the stories given to some of the minor and supporting characters. I do wish that Leckie had given some of the more prominent characters more personality details or development throughout the story, but this story focuses mostly on the god narrating it and Eolo. Perhaps my favorite character was the narrator god, just because of the complexity of that story and how Leckie weaves it all together with the story about Eolo and Mawat. I also did enjoy that Eolo was a trans character whose identity was not at all relevant to the plot—it wasn’t a big deal, and I wish more writers took this route in writing trans characters.

Since this was apparently inspired by Hamlet, the plot was not difficult to follow and at times quite predictable. But this is not merely a Hamlet adaptation—there are definitely some clever twists and turns in the narrative. It may be that I was in a reading slump, but I found it hard to get myself into the novel—even though I was really captivated by the premise and world and voices, I couldn’t read more than a few pages at a time. There is a lot going on in this book, so I am nonetheless glad I read it a bit slowly and got the chance to take everything in. While some parts were predictable and others slow-moving, the last third or so of the book really takes off and had me speeding through the pages. Perhaps because this is a standalone, the ending felt a bit rushed—we were still given new information where the resolution should have kicked off, which felt odd. As a result, the pacing of this book is a bit over the place, but I still enjoyed how the narrative was resolved and the overall reading experience.

While this isn’t a groundbreaking fantasy novel in my estimation, I still enjoyed the ideas Leckie presents in this novel—and this, more than anything, is the greatest strength of the book. The narrative was decent and the characters enjoyable enough, but I loved the ideas about gods, the use of language, and what all of that could entail. Some parts I felt were more deserving of a 4-star rating while others were 2-star at best, so this was a hard book to rate. If you’re weirdly into those particular subjects like I am, and also enjoy medieval-esque fantasy and Shakespearean style narratives, then this book is definitely going to be up your alley.

If it aint broke, don't fix it. Ann Leckie, once again, has crafted a gripping story filled with political intrigue and fantastic world building, but this time with a fantasy backdrop. I'll always be impressed with the author's ability to weave world building into action, minimizing exposition blocks. Regarding characters, the author continued with her theme of crafting beautifully flawed side characters while making the main character(s) infallible. However, like her previous works, I didn't mind this much because I still found both of the main characters to be interesting enough despite being seemingly flawless. The structure of the story was unique in that most of it was written in second person, which I think is difficult to pull off (N.K. Jemisin notwithstanding) but also stuck with the tried and true shifting POV throughout the book. The pacing of the book felt a bit touch and go, with the action picking up quite a bit in the final quarter of the book with the majority of the book setting up for the end. However, after finishing, I realize that this extensive set-up was necessary given how heavy it was in political intrigue. All in all, I loved it as I expected I would. Leckie is a master in crafting a captivating sci-fi story, and I was so excited to see her branch into fantasy. I was not disappointed.

Ann Leckie is back! I loved [b:Ancillary Justice|17333324|Ancillary Justice (Imperial Radch #1)|Ann Leckie|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1397215917l/17333324.SY75.jpg|24064628] for its unique perspective (an AI on a spaceship that controls a company of brain-implanted soldiers) and quietly unfolding politics.

The Raven Tower is exactly the same thing! The narrator is a billion-years-old god. We have politics with several human and godly factions. It's all made up of personal connections. And it's all laid out in quiet conversation.

These conversations are fantastic. Everyone is quite reluctant to give anything away. But as they probe each other, you see what they are interested in, what they know and what they do not know. Eolo, the main human character, is especially good at polite conversation where he conceals everything he knows.

The political plot is quite tricky. I understand most of it, but still have some questions. (Why did the Strength and Patience of the Hill promise to fulfill petitions at all?) As it should be!

But one more word about the writing. Just the prose is somehow so calming. The two main characters are both extremely patient. It seems that even the words are somehow made more patient by their presence. There are some action scenes, but even that is somehow made stoic. I read it while I was sick and found this especially resting.