The Raven Tower

I loved this book, as I've come to expect with all of Ann Leckie's work. I love her characters. I love the world building. I love the interpersonal relationships and the acknowledgements that society still has so far to go.This is the story of a god. This is the story of multiple gods. This is the story of faithful service and loyalty. This is the story of promises and duty.There are fascinating jumps between present and past that are fluid and purposeful. The storytelling is brilliant, as always.You want to read this book. And the Imperial Radch series if you haven't read those yet. She is easily one of my favorite authors.

Like her multiple award-winning space opera Ancillary Justice (2013), Anne Leckie’s epic fantasy novel The Raven Tower (2019) does neat things with narrative voice and time. Both books begin disorientingly, because the narrators are not human beings and only gradually reveal their natures, and because Leckie alternates between two seemingly unrelated story strands far apart in time and place from each other and only gradually reveals their connection. Part of the pleasure of reading both books, then, derives from not knowing just who (or what) is speaking to us and not knowing just what is happening. In both books the pleasure of mystery fades when the identity of the narrator has been revealed and the two time strands of the plot have merged. Luckily, Leckie writes compelling main characters, convincing sf and fantasy narrative worlds, and clear prose.The narrator of The Raven Tower is The Strength and Patience of the Hill, a god who inhabits a stone and is one of the Ancient Ones, one of the first and strongest gods that came to the world. Strength and Patience alternates between two narratives, a first person one depicting the long history of its consciousness and life as a god in a stone in the north and its long friendship with the Myriad, another Ancient One manifested in mosquitoes, and a second person one happening in the present of the novel in which Strength and Patience addresses itself to “you,” like this: “Could you hear me, Eolo? Can you hear me now? I’m talking to you.”Eolo is a soldier of the nation called Iraden and right-hand man to Mawat, the heir to the Raven’s Lease. The Raven’s Lease is the ruler of Iraden who must dedicate his life to Iraden’s protective god the Raven (not an Ancient One, but a younger god) so that when the Raven’s Instrument (a raven through whom the god speaks) dies, the Lease will sacrifice himself to the Raven. In return, the Lease rules the land, in consultation with the Directions (men who represent different regions of Iraden) and the Mother of the Silent, the senior priestess of the God of the Silent Forest who supposedly protects Iraden.As the novel begins, Mawat and Eolo ride into Vastia, the capitol of Iraden, because the Instrument and hence the Lease of Iraden is soon to die, so Mawat expects to take over as Lease. Instead, they find that his uncle Lord Hibal has suspiciously become Lease, because, he claims, Mawat’s father absconded from the Raven’s Tower (the center of the god’s power in Vastia and the residence of the Lease). The rest of this part of the novel concerns Eolo’s efforts to find out what happened to Mawat’s father while managing the hot-headed Mawat. The situation is complicated by the presence in Vastia of representatives from an expansionist culture and by the increasingly organized and threatening raids of a barbaric culture in the south.Meanwhile, Strength and Patience is filling us (“you,” because it’s telling the story to Eolo) in on its millennia of existence, from when it found itself at the bottom of a sea and when the sea receded and left it on a hillside, to when it began to be worshipped by human beings and when it met the Myriad (or vice versa), and so on.Apart from its narrative tactics, the novel may sound like a typical epic fantasy (complete with usurping uncle), but Leckie does interesting things that set it apart from the herd. First, her book is a compact stand-alone novel and not first in a door-stopper trilogy or longer series. Second, she doesn’t just write gods as super-humans but as Other beings, as with, for instance, the way they gain power from sacrifices and offerings and the care they take with language and boons and curses because anything they say Will Happen but often with unforeseen consequences that may wind up, say, killing their worshippers or they themselves. Third, she does more cool things with gender than most fantasy novelists do (I can’t say what they are without spoiling a neat surprise, but can say that after a certain point gendered pronouns become problematic).It’s not a perfect novel. Although Eolo and Strength and Patience are great protagonists, supporting figures are not as interesting. For instance, there is a pair of one-dimensional twin villains who do too much smirking skullduggery (though they have their reasons for being reprehensible, as twins in Vastia are cursed and ostracized). Also, the book almost tired me in its first third, when it seemed that Strength and Patience was going to take forever to catch up to the present. And readers who require exciting battles scenes will be disappointed, because Leckie generally avoids them or depicts their aftermaths. There are a couple scenes showcasing Eolo’s man-to-man fighting prowess, but many more showing his diplomatic skills and keen insight into political machinations and motivations etc.Finally, I recommend Leckie’s book because it is thought-provoking and moving (but unsentimental) and uses gods to highlight human brevity and mortality, the power of language, and the wonder of working together to create something better for our posterity.

I've been reading too much underground literature lately--mostly badly translated Russian and Chinese stuff. So I took a break when Ann Leckie's latest novel came out to read it.Leckie made her name with her science fiction novel Ancillary Justice (which I strongly recommend). She won the Hugo, Nebula, and Arthur C. Clarke awards. She followed it up with two more in the trilogy, and each was very well written, enjoyable, fun, and fresh.But this new novel was fantasy--different for her. And it is different for me as well. It's hard to describe. Words that come to mind are: subtle, subversive, experimental, and creative. I love the protagonist. I love the story. I love the way it unfolds. I love the world building. I love the way the book makes you think. And perhaps most of all, perhaps due to the crap I have been reading lately, I love the language and the flow and the poetry of the words and narration.9/10! Get this book!

This book certainly has excellent moments of drama and intrigue. But on the whole, this book hardly fleshes out its cast of characters. They're stagnent, and hardly realize their potential. I would encourage anyone intrigued by the premise to give it a shot as it is a decent book. But in my opinion, whatever it's worth, I can't help but feel that this book has very little exposition and almost the entire cast of characters suffers as a result. I felt that everything happens so fast, that the actions of the characters has very little meaning because of how simple it was to complete their task. And, near the end, someone deacovers something powerful it can only be considered, by me, as a plot filler that drastically increases the speed at which the story travels.However, there are very compelling conversations between members of the book that really do enhance our perception of a polytheistic religion. The author does do a great job of approaching them (gods) in a realistic fashion and their symbiotic relationship between their worshipers.It's is a good book, but I don't believe it is a great book. I wish there was more time devoted to the development of it's characters and their arc's. Plot developments happen far to quickly and their significance is the victim.

I enjoyed the development of the story, how it unfolded and drew me in. I thought it was an innovative and creative treatment of ... well, frankly, a unique (to me) plot in a fantasy universe.After reading Raven Tower, I read Ms. Leckie's other books and enjoyed them as well. It's always a treat to discover a new author and have a whole new world revealed. I highly recommend this book as an introduction to a creative and innovative writer.

This book was a hard one to review! The first half of the book, in fact, was a slow, dry, read. There were enough intriguing elements to keep me invested, but I didn't feel truly immersed until I was at roughly 60% of the way through. So, that's a bit of a mark against it.The book's narrator is an old god, basically a big stone who alternates between talking about his history and how it ties into the history of Vastai, and talking about the protagonist's journey in the second person. It's an interesting choice, and compelling, but unfortunately keeps the protagonist at a distance from the readers. Eolo is a cipher for pretty much the entire novel. Some personality traits do come through- he's superstitious, he's cautious, he's loyal, he's brave... but it's never entirely clear why he's held in such high esteem by some of the other characters. He's given a lot of respect and told a lot of secrets for someone who spends the majority of the book silently standing by his lord, Mawat's, side. Mawat is the Raven's lease's heir, and he's actually pretty interesting, in that he sucks, but in a nuanced way. The exact opposite of Eolo, Mawat is both intensely unlikable, and also fascinatingly human and complex. His story and journey is compelling, but without spoiling too much, the ending kind of tosses it out the window (more on that later). And the last main character, is, of course, the god narrating all this. He was perhaps my favorite character, ancient, patient, with a quiet wisdom and compassion (until the ending kinda threw it all out, similar to Mawat).But yea, back to the first half of the novel, which was BORINGGG. I love a slow-burn, tense, character driven story, and normally I love books that take their time and set up the pieces before moving them around. And I think this book tried to do that, but it kinda failed. Things aren't just slow, they're downright dull, and the political maneuvering - which should be suspenseful and fascinating- is instead predictable and snooze-worthy. The writing is also...not my favorite. Maybe I just have a weakness for purple prose, but a lot of the narration is really bland and not very descriptive, which seems like a waste in a story about gods and strange lands. The simplicity starts to work for it in the end, when the book starts to drive towards it's climax like a freight train, but early on it detracts from it a lot.But yea, the reason it got 4 stars (really a 3.5) is that the last 40% of the book is really, really good. When the pieces do finally start to move together, it's a breakneck, twisty, epic ride towards the finale. The flaws never really vanish, but you'll definitely start to overlook them as the plot sprints towards the finish line. And...the finish is really good! Except the last 2% which is really baffling and confusing. I'm not clear on whether or not there's going to be a sequel - I hope so- but if not, the last part really makes no sense. Mawat sort of abruptly peters out, everything we learned about the character of the god disappears, and two really fascinating side characters are implied to be goners for no real reason at all. And the cliffhanger is...intriguing assuming a sequel, and disappointing if not.

It’s hard to launch a new world in a book series. It’s even less common to launch a book that isn’t the start of a series or trilogy.But, that’s exactly what Ann Leckie was able to do in her new book, The Raven Tower. She created a compelling world that feels new and fresh while also breezing through a story with a distinct beginning, middle and end.In short, The Raven Tower was delightful.Leckie’s first book series was the Imperial Radch trilogy. Following a ship who existed in multiple bodies at the same time, it had a very unique narrative structure. It took a bit to get her style, but after you figured out things like the narrator couldn’t tell gender, so she called everyone “she,” the world clicked into place and the story gripped you.In The Raven Tower, Leckie plays around with some narrative conventions, telling her story in what I guess could be called second person omniscient. After you get used to that, though, the book breezed along. It’s a pretty simple story told well, with a few mysteries and a momentum to the narrative that never lags.The main thrust of the story is so interesting and leads to so many other questions, I find myself wanting to stay in the world longer. In this world that follows the course of Earth, “gods” are real and can interact with humans.Prayers and offerings give these other beings power and what they “speak” happens. But there are limits to that power. There are also wars between these “gods,” as they fight over influence, territory and, ultimately, power.In the book, we follow the course of time, from before life emerged from the oceans on this world so similar to our own, through the age of the dinosaurs, an ice age and humans following mammoths.The characters are all well-drawn with believable motivations, even if there’s not a lot of time with any of them. They have flaws, but are rarely two-dimensional. Everyone has enough motivation to move the plot along and the ending is satisfying without leaving any loose plot threads.The book is 432 pages, but reads much faster than that, flying through a split story of past and current events.In all, Leckie once again created a non-traditional world with vivid characters, color and history that you’ll want to spend more time in.

Ann Leckie's first novel, Ancillary Justice, was only released in 2013 but came out with the poise and polish of a seasoned author's work. None of the three other Ancillary universe books that followed has done anything to lesson that aura. All of her work required a shift of gears to read, she seems to delight in upsetting or at least ignoring convention in her world building but a good plot will only take you so far without giving the reader someone likable to hang the story on and in this Ms. Leckie also excels. Gentle lead characters that were quite capable of dealing violence capably if pushed captured my attention. The Raven Tower doesn't abandon any of these precepts but does so in a new genre for her, leaving scifi for fantasy with her sword and sorcery doing a refreshing take on what would be pablum in lessor hands. The book is narrated from the viewpoint of a watching nonhuman consciousness that alternates chapters between said consciousness's unveiling of its history and its present observation of a human newcomer of indeterminate sex (in her other work few of Leckie's lead characters are gender obvious) who arrives at the stone fortress the consciousness inhabits as the book opens. The initial chapters of the narrator's history started slowly but at some point about a third of the way in I realized I was hooked on the very strange tale that was unfolding. The passages dealing with the newcomer were more accessible at first but gradually both tales became equally appealing. Its hard to go into detail without spoilers so while I don't feel The Raven Tower has the easy appeal and breadth of characterization of her four Ancillary universe entries it still clears the bar as a rewarding read. I will be honest here and say that this book was so unusual and challenged enough of my concepts of god(s) and their relationship to humans that I will have to let it settle while it digests. I will have to let some time pass in order to come to grips with the feelings that arose but things like that don't become clear overnight.Note/spoiler warning to followers of mainstream deities, may be challenging to personal belief systems: I was wrong, I got a good night's sleep and things did become more clear-never underestimate the human animal. Painters make use of a plain background in order to focus attention on their desired subject. in comparison to previous work Leckie's lack of passion and depth of characterization for her characters and their situation may be to allow her main point to emerge, which seems to be humanity's relationship to god. In the past when church and state was combined in one powerful and all to frequently repressive authority she would have been toasted at the stake in many cultures for the unrepentant heresy she presents in The Raven Tower. Back in the 1950's and '60's when it was common to use the capitol G in spelling the almighty's name I have no doubt she would have faced varying amounts of social ostracism, but now the most common reaction (I hope) could well be, "Big deal, what's new."When I speak of the views the book presents by gods I am referring to any consciousness connected to a physical body/object or not that can manifest control or power over aspects of the physical world beyond the abilities normal humans have. In other words small g gods. Neither I nor the book is referring to what might be considered a universal mind/group consciousness that pervades all of reality and non reality. That is another kettle of fish entirely. If you prefer this could be termed a capitol G God, but if I read this book correctly our religions have been infiltrated and are infused and controlled by small g gods masquerading as capitol G Gods. Could be the reason the whole god thing has fallen out of favor, among large elements of the population, huh? In mitigation Ms. Leckie does point out that the little gods can on occasion be caring and supportive in their relations with us humans or selfish, petty, controlling, and blood thirsty as well, but consistently all caring and benign, not so much. A religious treatise on this subject would attract only modest interest, but wrap it in an appealing fantasy novel and us masses might get to thinking. Set no false gods before me, huh? I have spent a large portion of my life either looking for, denying or running away from god/God. Maybe it's time to get over it and be myself.P.S.Apologies for any mashed toes, I would be disappointed if everybody agreed with me, not trying to start a religion here or an argument.

Absolutely splendid. However, if the elements you enjoyed in the Ancillary series were the space opera, sci-fi setting, AI), you may want to look elsewhere. For me, the most moving features of the Ancillary series are present here- spare, powerful prose, flawed human characters and at the centre, a unique perspective I’ve returned to time and time again. I have reread the final lines at least ten times.One can call it poetic fantasy if we must put it in a box, but I recommend reading a sample first if you’re unsure. For me, Leckie is one of those authors I buy without reading a review.

Her first trilogy was original, fresh, and interesting. From page 1 this felt like a rehash of other fantasy novels and TV shows that I have already seen. Except for a convoluted narrative, I could have been reading segments from a multitude of fantasy books from the past two decades. Very disappointing given how good her previous writing has been. I gave it a year until Netflix picks up the rights and you see this sandwiched between Game of Thrones and the Witcher. I hope she goes back to writing science fiction which may give her more scope for her obvious creative vision.

Ann Leckie's writing is some of the best I've read in thirty years. Her versatility is on display with her most recent book "The Raven Tower". It's a departure from her previous science fiction into fantasy.I enjoyed the departure and look forward to whatever path her writing takes next!David Brown

I'm not sure what I expected but that wasn't it. I didn't think I could enjoy a book mainly in the second person this much but it was amazing. It was slow, full of flashbacks and info dumps and yet I was fascinated on every page. The narrator finds life and the nature of things interesting and is articulate enough to draw you in to the world building without it getting dry. The way the gods interact and the relationship between worship and power was so intricately weaved. As is the story of the narrator with the story of Eolo (or you). It feels like a book that perfectly executed what it set out to do which I found intensely satisfying. It's definitely not a book for everyone, the format is definitely strange but if you can get used to the style it is a beautiful piece of story telling.

De los libros más originales de fantasía que he leído. La trama es atípica, una combinación de American Gods de Gaiman con el toque intimista, meláncolico, reflexivo de Rothfuss.