Scan barcode
venatrix's review
mysterious
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide
Minor: Transphobia
beforeviolets's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
What a bizarre book.
This book essentially follows two plotlines: one from the perspective of a god/rock, and the other one being a Hamlet retelling, focusing on Horatio (Eolo in this book) but told in second person from the POV of the god/rock.
The magic/godly system of this world was so interesting and unique and provided another level to the already pre-existing theme in Hamlet of control and self-agency and the idea of stealing another being's power.
Especially with Hamlet being one of my favorite Shakespeare plays, I was really intrigued to read this. At first, I was confused why Hamlet was being used as a template for this book's story, as early on, a lot of the themes that I find prevalent in Hamlet weren't really showing themselves. But as the story went on, I realized that instead of focusing so much on the court's perspective on sanity and normalcy, this book turned that focus towards <i>our</i> perspective on sanity and normalcy, which is absolutely blowing my mind in retrospect! It played with our understanding of this world and its rules by using an unreliable narrator, the same way Hamlet would normally be an unreliable narrator to the audience. It is made clear very early on in the book that our narrator had to be particular with words and that it would often be unreliable, but the ways that it plays out isn't really visible until the end, which I loved.
I also think this book highlighted the political aspects of Hamlet a lot more than I expected, which was exciting and enlightening because that is something that I tend to dismiss due to my own lack of interest, but it also sometimes made me feel a little lost and a little dumb. And though reflecting back on my reading experience I loved the effect the outline of this story left me with, it felt a bit unfruitful for a lot of the earlier part of the book, while it was still laying the foundations for the later payoff.
Overall, it was one of the most unique reading experiences I've ever had the privilege to experience and I'll definitely be looking out for more work by this author in the future.
This book essentially follows two plotlines: one from the perspective of a god/rock, and the other one being a Hamlet retelling, focusing on Horatio (Eolo in this book) but told in second person from the POV of the god/rock.
The magic/godly system of this world was so interesting and unique and provided another level to the already pre-existing theme in Hamlet of control and self-agency and the idea of stealing another being's power.
Especially with Hamlet being one of my favorite Shakespeare plays, I was really intrigued to read this. At first, I was confused why Hamlet was being used as a template for this book's story, as early on, a lot of the themes that I find prevalent in Hamlet weren't really showing themselves. But as the story went on, I realized that instead of focusing so much on the court's perspective on sanity and normalcy, this book turned that focus towards <i>our</i> perspective on sanity and normalcy, which is absolutely blowing my mind in retrospect! It played with our understanding of this world and its rules by using an unreliable narrator, the same way Hamlet would normally be an unreliable narrator to the audience. It is made clear very early on in the book that our narrator had to be particular with words and that it would often be unreliable, but the ways that it plays out isn't really visible until the end, which I loved.
I also think this book highlighted the political aspects of Hamlet a lot more than I expected, which was exciting and enlightening because that is something that I tend to dismiss due to my own lack of interest, but it also sometimes made me feel a little lost and a little dumb. And though reflecting back on my reading experience I loved the effect the outline of this story left me with, it felt a bit unfruitful for a lot of the earlier part of the book, while it was still laying the foundations for the later payoff.
Overall, it was one of the most unique reading experiences I've ever had the privilege to experience and I'll definitely be looking out for more work by this author in the future.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Animal death
Minor: Vomit
v171's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Cursing, Violence, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Slavery, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
bluejayreads's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
I picked this up because I needed an audiobook to listen to on a long drive and this was one of the few that my library had immediately available (because I was looking the day before the drive - I am not great at planning). The back cover copy was mediocre and didn't have a lot of expectations, but I figured it had to be on my to-read list for a reason.
This book was incredibly unique and surprisingly engaging. For starters, it's told mostly in second person. The narrator is unnamed (although it's slowly revealed through the story who they actually are) and Eolo's part of the story is told in second person, as if it was told to him. The story alternates between Eolo's story and the narrator's story. While Eolo works through the main plot - a usurper to the throne of the Lease, plus a plot to majorly screw up Iraden in pursuit of personal power - the narrator's parts fill in the world and how the system of gods works.
I'm a total sucker for worlds with really unique takes on gods. Part of the fun of this book is discovering how the gods fit into the world, but I will say this: It is possible to kill a god, and that's a very important fact to the story.
The interesting part about the narration being mostly second person is you don't get a whole lot of characterization. Eolo is clever and the reasonable voice to Mawat's hot-headedness (and also a trans man, although that's just a part of who he is as opposed to anything relevant to the plot). Eolo tends to be withdrawn and not speak up, while Mawat plunges ahead and sometimes acts rashly. They're really good foils for each other, and I enjoyed seeing Eolo step up and assert himself a little bit more as everything goes to hell in a handbasket.
The plot is delightfully complicated, and you don't find out how the narrator's story ties into Eolo's until the very end. Now that I think about it, that's really what kept me engaged in the story - the many layers of complexity to the story (and also the question of how the narrator fit into the story they were telling to/about Eolo). That and the really awesome concept of gods and how they fit into this world.
My only real criticism of the story is the ending - it seemed to come out of nowhere, with the narrator doing something that seemed wildly out of character. I would have accepted it if it had felt like the narrator was building towards something like that, but I didn't get any foreshadowing. (Although my husband, who was listening in the car with me, said he saw a lot of similarities with Hamlet in the story so maybe the author ended it the way she did to keep up the Hamlet parallels. I've never seen/read Hamlet so I can't comment on that.)
This story is highly engaging and very unique. I don't know that I particularly loved it, in the sense that it inspired feelings of enjoyment, but it held my interest the whole way through, kept me curious and anticipating the conclusion, and then satisfied my curiosity with an (almost) completely satisfying conclusion. I thoroughly enjoyed the read.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Gore, and Death
Minor: Suicide
Suicide is mentioned/discussed (not in a mental illness context, but in the context of providing a consenting human sacrifice to a god), but no suicide is actually committed.booksthatburn's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The Raven Tower is a fantasy succession struggle murder mystery, where part of the mystery lies in whether there was truly a murder. An immersive setting and slightly disconcerting second person narration create a tale of gods, the price of power, twisted language, and loyalty.
The story was interesting but mostly fine, but, for me at least, the real strength in this book is in how it slowly revealed what the story actually was, like a tide slowly going out. Most of the pieces were technically in place early on, but the way their importance is revealed creates a slow-burning mystery with a pretty dramatic finale. The world-building is great, the interpersonal relationships are complex in a good way without being too much to keep track of. It felt calm and meditative to read, prompting a lot of interesting thoughts about the nature of language and communication in a practical way (which I quite enjoyed).
This was good but disconcerting for me personally, especially in the early part of the book. A large portion of it is written in second person, and the character addressed in this manner is male, which caused some trouble since my pronouns are they/them (not he/him). After I adjusted to it and felt less like I was being personally being addressed with incorrect pronouns it was fine, but that took at least fifty pages. The narrative decision to use a mix of first and second person results in a book that is narrated from a single point of view while following two main characters. Overall I think I like it, it works very well for this story. Both main characters are very different and I like them a lot. The tropes that were put together to create the characters are ones I've seen before, some of them many times, but something about the way they come together to make them (especially the non-human ones) feel fresh, As much as I like the POV character, I think Myriad is the one I'd most like to meet (followed closely by Eolo).
The story was interesting but mostly fine, but, for me at least, the real strength in this book is in how it slowly revealed what the story actually was, like a tide slowly going out. Most of the pieces were technically in place early on, but the way their importance is revealed creates a slow-burning mystery with a pretty dramatic finale. The world-building is great, the interpersonal relationships are complex in a good way without being too much to keep track of. It felt calm and meditative to read, prompting a lot of interesting thoughts about the nature of language and communication in a practical way (which I quite enjoyed).
This was good but disconcerting for me personally, especially in the early part of the book. A large portion of it is written in second person, and the character addressed in this manner is male, which caused some trouble since my pronouns are they/them (not he/him). After I adjusted to it and felt less like I was being personally being addressed with incorrect pronouns it was fine, but that took at least fifty pages. The narrative decision to use a mix of first and second person results in a book that is narrated from a single point of view while following two main characters. Overall I think I like it, it works very well for this story. Both main characters are very different and I like them a lot. The tropes that were put together to create the characters are ones I've seen before, some of them many times, but something about the way they come together to make them (especially the non-human ones) feel fresh, As much as I like the POV character, I think Myriad is the one I'd most like to meet (followed closely by Eolo).
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence and Death
Minor: Transphobia, Child death, and Suicide
CW for brief transphobia, discussion of infanticide, discussion of suicide, anti-twin prejudice in a fictional culture, massacre, parental death, major character death.
More...