The Raven Ring: A Lyra Novel [Paperback]

Patricia C. Wrede (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Tor Books (1994)
• ASIN: B000OTEN1O
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (44 customer reviews)

More About the Author

PATRICIA C. WREDE has written many novels, including Sorcery and Cecelia or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot and The Grand Tour coauthored with Caroline Stevermer, as well as the four books in her own series, the Enchanted Forest Chronicles. She lives near Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of My Favorites, July 13, 2002

By 

"thepenmage" (CA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Raven Ring: A Lyra Novel (Tor Fantasy) (Mass Market Paperback)

The Raven Ring is one of my favorite books. It was the first book I read in the "Shadows over Lyra" novels, and discovered it was a stand-alone book. This can be your first Patricia C. Wrede book, but it will make you want to read more.

The Raven Ring is about a young woman, Eleret, who goes to visit the city of Ciaron to collect her dead mothers belongings. There, she discovers many people who are interested in the raven ring her mother owned. With the help of her friend, the sly and witty thief Karvonen, and her guide/bodyguard/friend Lord Daner, she solves the mystery of the Raven Ring and finds love along the way.

The Raven Ring is a great book which has just the right amount of mystery, romance, and fun in it. Patricia Wrede is a great author. The Raven Ring is the kind of book you will want to have on your bookshelf to read over and over again.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a really excellent fantasy novel, January 4, 2006

By 

M. F. Lucas (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Raven Ring: A Lyra Novel (Tor Fantasy) (Mass Market Paperback)

There's nothing really unique about _The Raven Ring_. It's a simple enough story about a young woman with a supposedly simple mission to complete in an unfamiliar place. She meets friends and enemies alike, and discovers that one of the items she's gone to retrieve is far, far more than it seems.

But if this book isn't strictly unusual in terms of plot or style, it's special because it's really, really good. The level of writing is very impressive for a fantasy novel, and it's perhaps telling that this was Wrede's last high fantasy novel. I'm not sure that she could improve on it (though who knows what she'll come out with next). If you've read the other Lyra books, it's a great addition to the series. If you read this book and enjoy the world, by all means look up the others, which were written much earlier. But there's no doubt that _The Raven Ring_ is the best of the lot, and better than most other fantasy, too. It deserves to be a classic.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, October 5, 2003

By 

alyssa batterham (Canada, BC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Raven Ring: A Lyra Novel (Tor Fantasy) (Mass Market Paperback)

I loved the book, the characters were realistic and completly based on people you can like and are amazed by. I loved the fact that the main charater was a girl who was a hugely able person. Most books have men as the warriors, but this one proved that women can be just as adept at anything they try as men can be. I loved that the main characters were not all honourable and that they shaped the story with believable actions. It also showed that people with perfectly good intentions can be as annoying as can be. I rate this five star for excellent characters, believable plot, and overall good writing.