The Raven Tower

Interesting premise and unusual second person (yes as in “I saw you first when you arrived in ..”) the Gods of this world beg to be explored more - I hope the will be more books in this setting.

This book really had a magical effect on me, commanding my attention in a way that I don't expect from a novel without a prominent romance or friendship plot. There are actually a couple of good friendship plots here, as well as a (very) light romance, but overall, I'd say this is a plot-driven book, although the characters have quite a lot of depth as well. I loved it and I'm so excited to continue reading this author.

I am a cis woman, so be sure to look for reviews from trans readers. One of the main characters, Eolo, is a trans man and I felt that aspect of the story was handled very well. It isn't quite incidental representation, but the book is definitely not about his identity. In general, I feel this is more the point-of-view character's story than it is Eolo's.

I listened to the audiobook narrated by Adjoa Andoh. I have mixed feelings about her narration. I really liked some of her choices, such as the voice and accent she chose for Tikaz. I thought that was perfect, as were most of the other characters. The accent she chose for Eolo worked really well for a farm boy whom others might underestimate, but I really disliked the voice she chose for him. He sounded like a terrified child at several key moments (e.g., when he refuses to go with Mawat into the women's temple, and when he's flirting with Tikaz) and I just don't think that performance fit with the character's words and actions. It is a major flaw of this audiobook. If you are a reader who does either audio or text, I recommend going with the text for this book.

I'm sure there are long essays to be written about this book as a version of Hamlet, but I'm not qualified to do that. Still, as a lifelong consumer of fanfic & transformative works, I want to say that I loved Tikaz on her own, but even more in comparison with the character she's based on. What a wonderful interpretation. I want to draw hearts all around her.

So, I loved this, and I recommend it enthusiastically. It's cleverly constructed, and it touches on some deeper truths, especially about power and loyalty. But mainly, it was just very enjoyable to read.

I loved the Ancillary Series, and I thought Provenance was fun but not quite up to the tightly wound social commentary that Ancillary was. The Raven Tower is Leckie back to her roots, weaving a complex mystery around a diverse cast. It was recommended to me as middle ages Hamlet, and while the parallels are quite clear, it's much richer than just a Shakespearean retelling. I'm an absolute devotee of the gods among us trope, and the gods Leckie imagines are so unique, so perfectly Other. Also, I read this in Ireland where I stayed in a medieval tower while hunting neolithic standing stones, so perfect mood book.

Not at all like the Ancillary books, but even in the genre of Fantasy, Leckie creates a world.unlike any other, and tells a gripping story of gods and their power.

At first I wasn't sure about this one, it had a strange approach in the language and tone used. But as I kept reading, it really drew me in to a complicated but understandable world. 
It did not end the way I thought it would, but the ending fits. 

// the speculative fiction authors challenge
// part 1: Ann Leckie

I asked friends to suggest me must read authors of speculative fiction that bend genre rules and avoid clich?? tropes. The list is long and I'll pluck from it randomly and depending on my mood.

First up on the list is Ann Leckie. I was recommended her sci-fi novel Ancillary Justice, but not being much of a sci-fi fan, I decided to start with The Raven Tower.

I'm so glad I did!

It's ambitious, and I think some of the choices Leckie has made will put some people off. For instance, the use of part 1st POV and part 2nd POV. It reminds me of how NK Jemisin uses the narrative voice in The Broken Earth Trilogy, something I'm a big fan of.

The Raven Tower is slow-paced, deliberate and thoughtful in its progress. I'm an impatient reader, so it surprises me that I actually never was bored. The build-up is handled masterfully to the extend that you don't really notice until you're suddenly caught amidst the explosion.

It's one of those books you'll need to dive into with patience. To me, the pay off is worth it.

The Raven Tower is a standalone novel. It should mean limitations to the level of character-/worldbuilding, but to be honest, I don't feel I miss anything. It's the right amount of the right elements.

I cannot speak of the ending (no spoilers), but I want to acknowledge that I really liked how atypical it was.

The only thing that annoyed me (but only a little bit) was that it felt like the awareness of who the main character is switched from one to another toward the end, and I'm not entirely convinced that's what Leckie wanted.

Getting acquainted with Ann Leckie has been refreshing and someday, when I am in the mood for a bit of sci-fi, I'll read Ancillary Justice.

Leckie's Imperial Radch books easily rank among the best SF I've ever read but they suffer from two flaws: a bizarre fascination with royalty/caste in human society, and an almost embarrassing preoccupation with gods and religious oracles. When these themes kept recurring in the second and third book I assumed Leckie had just painted herself into a corner and that her next works would be free of those incongruities.

How wrong I was: Raven Tower is entirely about them. Hereditary titles, improbable “gods” (minerals, or talismans, even a roving cloud of mosquitoes) with nothing conceivably resembling a central nervous system yet with completely humanlike motivations.

It doesn't work. Not as SF: there's not even a wildly remote scientific possibility for a thinking rock that ”lives” for eons yet develops sentience and then the ability to interact with humans on our timescale. Not as fantasy: even if we accept the impossibilities, the story has no other elements of such. And not as literature: the characters are shallow, impossible to relate to (even the human ones); the second-person narration is clumsy and distracting. The language-as-reality parts fizzle completely. I actually abandoned the book shortly after starting it, then picked it up two months later for airline reading. I regret that.

Leckie is a genius. I will not dismiss her because of this, and actually applaud her for pushing into new and uncomfortable territory. I will continue to seek out more works from her. But, yeah, I‘m disappointed.

I realise I haven't written a review on this book yet which should be criminal considering how much I loved it.

The Raven Tower is one of the most unique books I've ever had the pleasure of reading for so many reasons. It's a book without chapters and a strange combination of first and second person omniscient point of view. It has 2 main characters who's stories touch briefly, Eolo who is the aid and best friend of the prince, and The Strength and Patience of the Hill, an ancient God who watches over Eolo whose existence he isn't aware of at all.

It is a story about devious political machinations, the corruptive nature of power, class divide, and nature versus manmade institutions. The book is a slowburn that happens over thousands or years or maybe even hundreds of thousands which makes the ending even more satisfying to read.

I can already tell it's not for everyone, but if you like slow reads with explosive payoffs, this is definitely the book to read.

wow what an interesting book

The Raven Tower tells the story of a god who lives in a rock. These small gods take the forms of forests, animals and other entities and are sustained by the prayers and offerings from people.

This particular god narrates its own story, as well as the story of Eolo, who visits the town of Vastai, where the Raven god lives. It's an interesting concept but also a bit tiring to read because the rock god narrates it as though it is talking to Eolo with a lot of “you did this, you did that”.

While it is quite unique, for that reason I will give it a 4/5 since it did make it feel like it was dragging a bit at times.

Thoroughly enjoyed this one - a smart piece of story telling. Some nice little twists and turns along the way, some of which I saw coming, some I did not. I'm to be extremely vague in this review, because it would be very hard to be otherwise without giving away important spoilers.

I felt the key characters were perhaps a little under-explored - Eolo in particular, despite being front-and-center for much of the story - while having an intriguing background still didn't feel as fleshed out as I would have liked - there was a lot hinted at which just didn't go anywhere.

I can see why - because this isn't really Eolo's story - but despite that, from a reader's point of view, I would have liked to see a little bit more about Eolo and a couple of the other more interesting characters.

Despite that - I loved the concept of the gods, their power and the effect they had on the world, and the overall arc.