Lee likes to go to the bookstore/coffee shop in Rockdale, so I went with him one day to order a book. The shop doesn’t have a big variety, mostly historical romances and fantasy. I did need something to read, so I looked at all the covers and titles of the fantasy novels, and chose this one, The Raven Scholar, by Antonia Hodgson. It had an interesting cover, was purple, and featured ravens. All good if a random way to pick a book.
I actually enjoyed the book a lot! It was quite fun to jump into a new world and figure out how it worked. As you might guess, the heroine is a member of the Raven group in her society, which has all kind of animal totems, bears, hounds, tigers, etc.
The story in the book is complex and convoluted, but I could keep track of the characters better than I could The Lord of the Rings, so Hodgson has that going for her. All the characters are well developed, with good features and flaws that make them interesting.
I had a good time figuring out what was going on with the Emperor, who was supposed to be supervising a competition to determine who would succeed him. That’s one of the many interesting aspects of the culture created in this book, which is very well developed and internally consistent. That’s what I think is one of the hardest parts of writing fantasies, creating plausible worlds and cultures. This one is interesting and multi-faceted.
I think anyone who enjoys fantasy will enjoy meeting Neema, the title’s Raven scholar. She’s smart, vulnerable, and creative. And her Fox friend Cain, who happens to remind me of my son, is a great counterbalance.
And of course there is the great bonus that a good fantasy novel is a wonderful way to escape from your own comfortable world and exchange it for an immersion in another strange and fascinating one. For me, that’s a real blessing these days.
So, go ahead and check The Raven Scholar out, if you like to disappear into an engrossing alternate universe, and look forward with me to the next 600-page installment.
The Hermits' Rest 