The Raven Tower

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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 first fantasy novel from Ann Leckie, New York Times bestselling author and winner of the Hugo, Nebula, and Arthur C Clarke Awards For centuries, the kingdom of Iraden has been protected by the god known as the Raven He watches over his territory from atop a tower in the powerful port of Vastai His will is enacted through the Raven s Lease, a human ruler chosen by the god himself His magic is sustained via the blood sacrifice that every Lease must offer And under the Raven s watch, the city flourishes But the power of the Raven is weakening A usurper has claimed the throne The kingdom borders are tested by invaders who long for the prosperity that Vastai boasts And they have made their own alliances with other gods It is into this unrest that the warrior Eolo aide to Mawat, the true Lease arrives And in seeking to help Mawat reclaim his city, Eolo discovers that the Raven s Tower holds a secret Its foundations conceal a dark history that has been waiting to reveal itselfand to set in motion a chain of events that could destroy Iraden forever. New Download The Raven Tower [ By ] Ann Leckie [ Kindle ePUB or eBook ] – kino-fada.fr This is a smart, easy to read Hamlet inspired fantasy novel with some great moving pieces I m starting to appreciate fantasy books that stay tightly focused on a single situation rather than over expanding out This one is a real case study in how to do that.The system of Gods and magic is cool, and there are some larger mysteries around language, worship, responsibility to others, and power that are fun to think about The main point of view is the controversial part, but I thought it was This is a smart, easy to read Hamlet inspired fantasy novel with some great moving pieces I m starting to appreciate fantasy books that stay tightly focused on a single situation rather than over expanding out This one is a real case study in how to do that.The system of Gods and magic is cool, and there are some larger mysteries around language, worship, responsibility to others, and power that are fun to think about The main point of view is the controversial part, but I thought it was refreshing and weird in a good way A lot of the book is written in the second person, which seems to be gettingpopular with masterful writers I guess great sff from surprising quasi human viewpoints is Leckie s specialty Speaking of which, similar to the Ancillary books, there are also some shoe horned gender politics that I would have preferred to bethoroughly developed, but that underdevelopmen...NOW AVAILABLE BOOK SCHWAG i had high hopes for this book leckie s imperial radch trilogy has been so celebrated by the SF kids that even i wanted to read it, and SF books have always had very limited appeal to me when i heard she was doing a fantasy novel this time out, i figured that would be asuitable entry point to her work for me, as i am marginallyqualified to assess fantasy than SF and maybe it would have been, but this was actually my SECOND fantasy novel of the month, NOW AVAILABLE BOOK SCHWAG i had high hopes for this book leckie s imperial radch trilogy has been so celebrated by the SF kids that even i wanted to read it, and SF books have always had very limited appeal to me when i heard she was doing a fantasy novel this time out, i figured that would be asuitable entry point to her work for me, as i am marginallyqualified to assess fantasy than SF and maybe it would have been, but this was actually my SECOND fantasy novel of the month, hot on the heels of Black Leopard, Red Wolf, which took a lot out of the mental reserves required for me to process fantasy i don t think i m dumb, necessarily, but i m fantasy dumb, and i admit i struggled with this one i was wrestling with the challenge of writing this review, which is always an issue when i KNOW my medium temperature reaction is a case of me not being the right reader for a book, and not the book that s lacking in any way, so i decided to check out the starred kirkus review, to see how i fell ...Cue up Simon and Garfunkle for this ride Just a single song on endless repeat Don t talk of love, Well, I ve heard the word before It s sleeping in my memory And I won t disturb the slumber Of feelings that I ve died if I never loved, I never would have cried I am a rock I am an island Now make a novel of a god of a single rock, surround him with endless time, sleep, and other gods getting by or rising into a WWI assemblage of alliances and obligations, always keeping out of the fray Cue up Simon and Garfunkle for this ride Just a single song on endless repeat Don t talk of love, Well, I ve heard the word before It s sleeping in my memory And I won t disturb the slumber Of feelings that I ve died if I never loved, ...2 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum am but a simple reader, with simple tastes I can appreciate when an author tries different things, or when a novel tries to break out of its genre and stylistic norms But at the end of the day, all I want to do is read a good story I can relate to and, above all else, enjoy Which, unfortunately, was not The Raven Tower.Thing is, this novel does in fact contain a fascinating premise in a prosperous kingdom named 2 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum am but a simple reader, with simple tastes I can appreciate when an author tries different things, or when a novel tries to break out of its genre and stylistic norms But at the end of the day, all I want to do is read a good story I can relate to and, above all else, enjoy Which, unfortunately, was not The Raven Tower.Thing is, this novel does in fact contain a fascinating premise in a prosperous kingdom named Iraden, a god called the Raven watches and protects his land and its people, staving off all threats with his magic But this protection comes at a price one exacted in blood To sustain the Raven s power, a sacrifice must be offered...Holy sh t, y all And let me repeat holy sh t.I have to start this review with how I heard about this book I had the amazing opportunity to meet with Ann Leckie twice during SIBA18, both during the Rise of Alt SFF panel and again during the moveable feast of authors, where she had 90 seconds to tell my table about her first foray into fantasy I loved the way she summarized her book and I have no doubt her synopsis will sound way, way better than anything I could pen, so I m going to Holy sh t, y all And let me repeat holy sh t.I have to start this review with how I heard about this book I had the amazing opportunity to meet with Ann Leckie twice during SIBA18, both during the Rise of Alt SFF panel and again during the moveable feast of authors, where she had 90 seconds to tell my table about her first foray into fantasy I loved the way she summarized her book and I have no doubt her synopsis will sound way, way better than anything I could pen, so I m going to unapologetically paraphrase it below The Raven Tower is a book where anything the gods say becomes true They cannot tell lies, and if they state an impossibility, they die This novel is about a god who gets themselves into a predicament, and they need those around them to get them back out of it but they re surrounded by e... Here is a story I have heard.It is a story that is easy to admire, to appreciate, to acknowledge as something wholly unique within the fantasy genre, and yet it is a difficult one to enjoy You likely have never read a story quite like it, and whether you would like to read another is probably what will divide the fans from the frustrated Here is another story I have heard.It is a story tha...3.75ish stars.Leckie slides comfortably into the fantasy genre after receiving much acclaim for her sci fi works I expected this to be as complex as her Radch universe, which was intimidating, but it s really not Maybe even too far in the opposite direction It was surprisingly a simple, fairly quick read despite the majority of it being either set up or history The people and places were easy to keep track of and most of the characters were sufficiently likable or hateable, as they were 3.75ish stars.Leckie slides comfortably into the fantasy genre after receiving much acclaim for her sci fi works I expected this to be as complex as her Radch universe, which was intimidating, but it s really not Maybe even too far in the opposite direction It was surprisingly a simple, fairly quick read despite the majority of it being either set up or history The people and places were easy to keep track of and most of the c...I rushed to Netgalley to get hold of an advance copy of this book based on how much I enjoyed Leckie s science fiction series The Raven Tower is fantasy which I also love, but somehow this one just missed the mark for me.Of course the writing is good and as usual for this author it is presented in an unusual way Very unusual actually since the narrator is a rock who is also a god This god spends a large part of the book philosophising on anything and everything as to be expected since he I rushed to Netgalley to get hold of an advance copy of this book based on how much I enjoyed Leckie s science fiction series The Raven Tower is fantasy which I also love, but somehow this one just missed the mark for me.Of course the writing is good and as usual for this author it is presented in an unusual way Very unusual actually since the narrator is a rock who is also a god This god spends a large part of the book philosophising on anything and everything as to be expected since he doesn t move around a lot He does however tell the story of Eolo and Mawat and the book brightens up every time he gets back to what is happening t...I found The Raven Tower to be both conceptually intriguing and boring I wonder if my general indifference to the novel has to do with the fact that this story s narrator is a rock A rock that is a god, but still a rock that likes to just exist Or be rolled around by someone The most compelling part of this novel, for me, was the concept of gods and how they interact with and are nurtured by humans I thought it was quite interesting how Leckie had weaved the history of the world with the I found The Raven Tower to be both conceptually intriguing and boring I wonder if my general indifference to the novel has to do with the fact that this story s narrator is a rock A rock that is a god, but still a rock that likes to just exist Or be rolled around by someone The most compelling part of this novel, for me, was the concept of gods and how they interact with and are nurtured by humans I thought it was quite interesting how Leckie had weaved the history of the world with the development of spirituality On the other hand, because the narr...After hearing such praise for Ann Leckie s Ancillary Justice series, but having never read it myself, I was really excited to try her fantasy debut, The Raven Tower The premise sounded just my kind of story I mean the idea of a Raven god and a Raven s Lease who s duty is to sacrifice themselves when the Raven god dies, sounded like a bloody good fantasy read Plus the characters were proposed to be e...

The Raven Tower
  • English
  • 22 May 2019
  • Hardcover
  • 416 pages
  • 0356506991
  • Ann Leckie
  • The Raven Tower