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A review by annalise
The Crow by Alison Croggon
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I'll admit it, the first time I read this book, I was not as much of a fan as I am coming back to it now. I remember at the time, reading The Crow and waiting for The Singing to come out (which maybe tells you how long ago I first read this), I found it frustrating that this book happened concurrently with The Riddle and that we the readers already knew what happened in the glimpses of Maerad and Cadvan's story we got through letters/visions/etc. in The Crow.
But coming back to it again now, I appreciate this book so much more. Hem is constantly framed as "the brother of the Chosen One," but also has an integral part to play in "Maerad's" story and it's fascinating getting to see him come into his own before the finale of The Singing. The tension and tragedy of the fall of Turbansk in the first half of the book is also incredibly sad but beautifully written (I'd mark that as a spoiler, except we the readers already know that Turbansk falls thanks to The Riddle, and I'd argue that in this direction the concurrent timelines actually do work quite well in giving us a foreseeing of Turbansk's fate).
But coming back to it again now, I appreciate this book so much more. Hem is constantly framed as "the brother of the Chosen One," but also has an integral part to play in "Maerad's" story and it's fascinating getting to see him come into his own before the finale of The Singing. The tension and tragedy of the fall of Turbansk in the first half of the book is also incredibly sad but beautifully written (I'd mark that as a spoiler, except we the readers already know that Turbansk falls thanks to The Riddle, and I'd argue that in this direction the concurrent timelines actually do work quite well in giving us a foreseeing of Turbansk's fate).