Friday, 21 November 2025 09:35 pm
Book Review: The Raven Scholar
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deckardcanineI rarely read a book in its year of publication, especially when the author (Antonia Hodgson in this case) is brand-new to me. I think I was just eager to get one of the largest tomes off my shelf, tho the story doesn't run for quite as many words as I thought.
The land of Orrun has long required its emperor or empress to step down after a 24-year reign. An eight-day Festival then determines which of seven mostly young adult Contenders not closely related to any predecessor will be next. That may sound like a relatively good system, but things can get ugly. Indeed, right before a Festival, one Contender is found dead with a legendary knife in her back. Implicit title character Neema is initially the prime suspect; even she can't swear she didn't do it while drugged. Yet the seemingly fickle current emperor, who has long worked closely with the scholar, gives her four days to solve the mystery -- and assigns her to take the victim's place as Contender. Neema doesn't want the throne, but even less does she want the highly brutal, skilled Ruko to win. (They're on a pretty small island, so the culprit probably hasn't escaped.)
Why the title? Well, the dominant religion of Orrun pertains to eight Guardians, animal spirits of immense if limited power. They have reportedly saved the world seven times, but their next Return is prophesied to be apocalyptic. When someone begins a sentence with "May the Eight...," listeners customarily add, "And remain Hidden." (Get used to seeing "Eight" as an expletive.) The Imperial Island has palaces dedicated to each Guardian and populated by students whose personalities suit that Guardian and who thus take its name. The Ravens, for instance, are the most academic. Each Contender comes from a different palace; only the reclusive Dragons regularly abstain for some reason. Some people, including Neema, disbelieve in the Guardians, but the evidence gradually becomes harder to ignore.
One other Contender worth mentioning here is Cain, who has a complicated history with Neema. As a Fox, he craves chaotic mischief and hopes his last words are a joke. He accounts for about half the comic relief moments. Oddly enough, he's even less of a believer than Neema, dismissing the existence of magic despite readily available evidence among Dragons and Hounds. (I have to wonder about Hodgson's stance on faith.)
Don't get too attached to Yana, the focus of the first few chapters; you won't see her again after what amounts to a long prologue. Thankfully, it's neither nearly pointless nor confusing. It covers a pivotal event for several key characters, including Neema, who plays a role in Yana's unjust punishment, rationalizing that someone was bound to do it, so she might as well advance her career. That and her pedantry (much as I like it) may explain her unpopularity.
Either years of experience have enabled Neema to read court folk like books, or the POV camera gets tossed around too lightly. I won't call it third-person omniscient narration, because too many details are withheld a long while. More awkwardly, we get the occasional first-person plural care of the Raven Guardian. That's not necessarily the Royal We; "the Raven" is a collective entity. (I'm not sure if having all of the Raven in one place means nobody sees ravens anywhere else in the world.) It's a bad sign when the Raven sees fit to ask twice whether the reader has forgotten them. Worst of all, those passages tend to switch to a jarring present tense, yet the last few don't. How did the editor let that slide?
Those aren't the only questionable writing practices herein, but at least they don't affect the plot, which I consider the strong suit of TRS. With only adequate detective skills, Neema unravels quite the mystery. There's always room for another surprise. If something appears to make no sense, keep reading.
Early on, I thought, "Is anyone in this story not a big jerk? Will the sweetest character turn out to be the main villain?" Later, I decided that everyone we get to know, much like the Guardians, is a mix of good and bad. Even the horrific antagonist is no Howard Doyle; he means well for Orrun and feels pity for those he wrongs. The only possible exception meets a fitting end.
Until I had almost finished, I assumed that TRS was a standalone rather than Volume 1, partly because most mysteries are like that and partly because I was getting eager to see justice ensured. Instead, I'll have to wait for The Fox in Winter and then a threequel to come out. Oh well. I wouldn't rush through the series anyway. But I suspect this won't be my last same-year read.
Looking for sci-fi, I picked up Larry Niven's N-Space. A similar number of pages, but I'm not reading all of them.
The land of Orrun has long required its emperor or empress to step down after a 24-year reign. An eight-day Festival then determines which of seven mostly young adult Contenders not closely related to any predecessor will be next. That may sound like a relatively good system, but things can get ugly. Indeed, right before a Festival, one Contender is found dead with a legendary knife in her back. Implicit title character Neema is initially the prime suspect; even she can't swear she didn't do it while drugged. Yet the seemingly fickle current emperor, who has long worked closely with the scholar, gives her four days to solve the mystery -- and assigns her to take the victim's place as Contender. Neema doesn't want the throne, but even less does she want the highly brutal, skilled Ruko to win. (They're on a pretty small island, so the culprit probably hasn't escaped.)
Why the title? Well, the dominant religion of Orrun pertains to eight Guardians, animal spirits of immense if limited power. They have reportedly saved the world seven times, but their next Return is prophesied to be apocalyptic. When someone begins a sentence with "May the Eight...," listeners customarily add, "And remain Hidden." (Get used to seeing "Eight" as an expletive.) The Imperial Island has palaces dedicated to each Guardian and populated by students whose personalities suit that Guardian and who thus take its name. The Ravens, for instance, are the most academic. Each Contender comes from a different palace; only the reclusive Dragons regularly abstain for some reason. Some people, including Neema, disbelieve in the Guardians, but the evidence gradually becomes harder to ignore.
One other Contender worth mentioning here is Cain, who has a complicated history with Neema. As a Fox, he craves chaotic mischief and hopes his last words are a joke. He accounts for about half the comic relief moments. Oddly enough, he's even less of a believer than Neema, dismissing the existence of magic despite readily available evidence among Dragons and Hounds. (I have to wonder about Hodgson's stance on faith.)
Don't get too attached to Yana, the focus of the first few chapters; you won't see her again after what amounts to a long prologue. Thankfully, it's neither nearly pointless nor confusing. It covers a pivotal event for several key characters, including Neema, who plays a role in Yana's unjust punishment, rationalizing that someone was bound to do it, so she might as well advance her career. That and her pedantry (much as I like it) may explain her unpopularity.
Either years of experience have enabled Neema to read court folk like books, or the POV camera gets tossed around too lightly. I won't call it third-person omniscient narration, because too many details are withheld a long while. More awkwardly, we get the occasional first-person plural care of the Raven Guardian. That's not necessarily the Royal We; "the Raven" is a collective entity. (I'm not sure if having all of the Raven in one place means nobody sees ravens anywhere else in the world.) It's a bad sign when the Raven sees fit to ask twice whether the reader has forgotten them. Worst of all, those passages tend to switch to a jarring present tense, yet the last few don't. How did the editor let that slide?
Those aren't the only questionable writing practices herein, but at least they don't affect the plot, which I consider the strong suit of TRS. With only adequate detective skills, Neema unravels quite the mystery. There's always room for another surprise. If something appears to make no sense, keep reading.
Early on, I thought, "Is anyone in this story not a big jerk? Will the sweetest character turn out to be the main villain?" Later, I decided that everyone we get to know, much like the Guardians, is a mix of good and bad. Even the horrific antagonist is no Howard Doyle; he means well for Orrun and feels pity for those he wrongs. The only possible exception meets a fitting end.
Until I had almost finished, I assumed that TRS was a standalone rather than Volume 1, partly because most mysteries are like that and partly because I was getting eager to see justice ensured. Instead, I'll have to wait for The Fox in Winter and then a threequel to come out. Oh well. I wouldn't rush through the series anyway. But I suspect this won't be my last same-year read.
Looking for sci-fi, I picked up Larry Niven's N-Space. A similar number of pages, but I'm not reading all of them.