Reviews with content warning for Xenophobia - The Raven Tower

Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie

4 reviews

rowancaskey's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I absolutely adore The Raven Tower. Like all good novels written in the second-person point of view, the disparity between the "you" and the "I", the disparity between "you think this" and "I believe you think this", is excellently utilized; in fact, it is not just a consequence of the pronouns to use, but a pointed feature of the narrative.

I don't imagine I have much insight into the specifics of why this book worked for me beyond that, outside of a single spoiler which I will mention below. I enjoy Shakespeare, dark fantasy, trans characters, and grim stories-- a dark fantasy retelling of Hamlet was likely always going to end up being near and dear to my heart.

It delights me that, without dwelling on Eolo's transness (not that you would have caught me complaining if we did) and without the grace of knowing his thoughts during key scenes, Eolo's relationship with gender is given an unexpected nuance from the very first scene: Mawat good-naturedly attempts to offer Eolo what amounts to magical instant gender-affirming surgery, which Eolo declines. I firmly believe that this moment, this first perception of Eolo, is what saves him when Patience brings down the tower in the final pages. If it's not obvious from my tone, I found this bookend extremely compelling and a wonderful take on the character.

On a much shorter note, I particularly enjoyed the fast ramp-up of drama at the end, and the plummeting realization that despite Patience seeming truly unconditionally positive towards Eolo, Eolo is much more afraid of Patience than we, the reader, could have intuited before the final act.

Content Warnings

laurareads87's review

Go to review page

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.

Content Warnings

lipstickitotheman's review

Go to review page

mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The final quarter of the book was incredible. Dare I say brilliant writing? The setup was done perfectly in the first 3/4 for it, but I found that space often quite boring. The world setup is cool as hell, and I really loved that part. Eolo is cool, I liked him. I confess to cheering a little when Myriad returned in the last pages, and when TSAPOTH our POV character said their last line--tear it down!

Content Warnings

v171's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

More...