This story is told from the point of view of an ancient stone god who also explains the complex rules that govern these beings around how they are worshipped and how they can exercise their powers. In the background is the story of the gods and a great war that they engaged in through their human worshippers. But the analogy is fairly loose, and none of the characters act as they do in the Shakespeare play, Tikaz is particularly kick-arse at one point. To continue the Hamlet analogy one of the city’s key officials wants his daughter Tikaz (aka Cordelia) to marry Mawat and at one point Mawat’s uncle brings two of Mawat’s old acquaintances (aka Rosencrantz and Guildenstern) to bring him round. Mawat’s father has failed to do that, instead mysteriously disappearing. The Raven is one of the gods of Vastai and protects the Lease from harm on the understanding that they will sacrifice themselves at the end of their reign. Mawat, heir to the “throne” of Vastai (known as the Lease of the Raven) returns from the front with his aide Eolo to find his father, the former Lease, missing and his uncle in power. Secondly, it gives an immediate, almost omniscient feel, which is appropriate given the book is narrated by a god.Īt first blush The plot feels like it is taken straight out of Hamlet. For a start, this technique avoids gendered pronouns and, as with the Ancillary series, Leckie plays with gender and the reader’s (and characters’) understanding of it. But there is method to Leckie’s madness (and great literary skill). NK Jemisin used it to great effect in her Hugo winning Broken Earth trilogy. Writing in this way is always a bit of a high wire act. Using a Shakespeare-meets-Homer scaffold she brings a new twist to the relationship between humans and divine beings. And in The Raven Tower she does a similar thing for fantasy.

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.Ann Leckie practically redefined what space opera could be with her debut Ancillary series. and to set in motion a chain of events that could destroy Iraden forever.Ī 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.

Its foundations conceal a dark history that has been waiting to reveal itself. In seeking to help his master reclaim his city, Eolo discovers that the Raven's Tower holds a secret. It is into this unrest that the warrior Eolo - aide to the true heir to the throne - arrives. But in their hour of need, the Raven speaks nothing to its people. And they have made their alliances with enemy gods.įor centuries the kingdom of Iraden has been protected by a god known as the Raven.

The raven tower series