The Raven Tower

paperback, 432 pages

Published Oct. 3, 2019 by Orbit.

ISBN:
9780356507026

View on OpenLibrary

5 stars (3 reviews)

Listen. A god is speaking. My voice echoes through the stone of your master's castle. The castle where he finds his uncle on his father's throne. You want to help him. You cannot. You are the only one who can hear me. You will change the world. A triumph of the imagination, The Raven Tower is the first fantasy novel by Ann Leckie, New York Times bestselling author and winner of the Hugo, Nebula, and Arthur C. Clarke Awards. Gods meddle in the fates of men, men play with the fates of gods and a pretender must be cast down from the throne in this breathtaking fantasy masterpiece.

7 editions

Very well written, and definitely not an ordinary sort of tale

4 stars

I particularly enjoyed how the Hamlet elements were woven in well enough for me to recognise what they were, while still keeping the story decidedly not-Hamlet, and not relying on the familiar features despite leaning into them.

The "past" storyline of the narrator is also incredibly intriguing, and plays out very effectively. The use of second person, unusual for novels, is also very effective

Overall, it may not have sucked me in completely, but it was certainly an enjoyable read and very well crafted.

Nice god POV

5 stars

Standard fantasy narrative, except...

The narrator is a god and uses second person narrative to follow a human "main" character. The human is trans, and this isn't a defect, or a super power, it just is present in the world and accepted. Although twins are hated and feared in some cultures, despite not controlling how they are born.

Very Leckie, and also my favourite, I think. It's faster paced than the Ancillary books. Less tea and gloves.

avatar for tastytea@bookwyrm.social

rated it

5 stars