Reviews with content warning for Violence - The Raven Tower

I really enjoyed this book for its premise, plot and the unusual narration style. The story is engaging and I was eager to know what happened. The last quarter of the book in particular was tense and fast paced. The story is really good and told for a unique perspective and Ann Leckie brings in some unusual premises that drive the plot in an interesting way.

I’m unsure how I feel about the queer representation in the book, but I’m also quite new to queer fantasy. i thought the issues and identities were written in a very hamfisted way that was quite jarring given that there is little to no character development or relationships in the book. I would have preferred for there to have been a more natural feel to how this was approached if the author isn’t going to delve into queer experiences.

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mizu's review against another edition

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dark reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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laurareads87's review

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Having previously read and loved Leckie's science fiction, I was happy to pick up her fantasy novel The Raven Tower and thoroughly enjoyed it. The Raven Tower contains so much of what I've really loved in Leckie's other work -- skillful and innovative multi-POV storytelling, compelling worldbuilding that feels unlike anything I've ever read before, and power politics on a grand scale. The religious/political intrigue really worked for me. I feel like Leckie's done something quite interesting here with time scale -- with the story spanning a few different time periods, I feel like Leckie's really effectively incorporated the divergences in experiences of time between the human character and the god characters (who vary in lifespan but who are far far more long-lived than humans). I will note that much of this book is told in second person, which isn't my favourite (and I know some readers really don't enjoy) but in this book, for me, it worked: it is a choice that has a clear reason behind it in the context of the book itself which makes complete sense to me. Definitely recommend.

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beforeviolets's review against another edition

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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.

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v171's review against another edition

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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.

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