Customer Reviews

Raven's Shadow (The Raven Duology, Book 1)

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

After ten years of war, battle-weary Tier is on his journey home and stops at a village for the night. Thoughts of a dry bed and some warm food are quickly wiped from his mind as he sees a dead Traveling man burning in a pyre in the center of town. With his natural charisma and talent for sway he saves the dead Traveler's younger sister and takes her to his home village with him. Out of convenience and a need to once again save the girl after her use of magic strikes fear and anger throughout his home village, Tier marries the Traveler and begins a new life as ex-soldier, farmer, husband, and father.

Twenty years after solsenti Tier saved and married Sereph, Raven of the Clan of Isolda the Silent, she is now a farmer's wife and the mother of three Ordered children. When a huntsman comes to inform her that her husband died while on a trapping venture, Sereph and her children go seeking his body, but instead find themselves wrapped up in a plot more evil than they knew existed. Although Tier is alive, he has been captured by solsenti wizards intent on stealing Traveler's magic and using it to bring back to life the evil Stalker. To save the lives of her husband and the clans of Traveler's she has forsaken, Sereph and her children must fight the shadowed wizards and hopefully bring peace to the blighted Shadowlands.

This is a great story with lots of magic and action. If you've read any of Patricia Briggs other stories, you already know she's a great writer. And "Raven's Shadow" is another example of just how well Briggs can tell a tale. The characters are interesting and believable, and I can't wait for future stories with the children so we can see them come into their magic fully. If you like fantasy adventure stories, you won't want to miss this one.

I had never read anything by Patricia Briggs before, but the cover and the summary looked interesting enough to give it a shot. I wasn't disappointed. It was an interesting, inventive novel with intriguing characters, and I went through it quite quickly. Not because it lacked substance, but because I didn't want to put it down.
The magical aspect was covered very creatively. There are essentially six "orders" of magicians, and each type is linked to a different bird. The Raven of the title is the classic Mage, the order represented by Seraph, the protagonist, a strong woman whose Traveler blood ensures that she's hated by the general populace.
At the very beginning of the story, her brother is killed because he's a Traveler, and she's rescued from joining him on the funeral pyre by Tier, who is not a traveler, but is revealed to be a Bard, linked to the Owl, and so is blessed with charisma and musical talent unmatched. They are married, largely to save each other from unwelcome fates, and not out of love. They're mostly strangers when they wed.
Twenty years pass (which was a little disappointing; I would have liked to see more of Seraph and Tier's marriage), and the two of them have three children. Each of the children is given to an Order, which is extremely unusual. Jes, the oldest, is a Guardian, an Eagle, and sworn to protect anyone he loves at virtually any cost. He is, however, given shape-shifting abilities to help him with this. Lehr, the middle child, is a Hunter, a Falcon, and his powers are exactly what you would expect from a hunter. Rinnie has the gifts of the Weather-Witch, the Cormorant, and has power over the weather.
While trapping one winter, Tier mysteriously disappears. He doesn't come back with the spring as expected, and there are signs of foul play. The entire village believes him to be dead, but Seraph uses her long-unused powers to discover that he is still alive. With the help of Hennae, a slightly mysterious Raven that approaches with a timely warning, and her children, Seraph sets out to rescue her husband from an evil fate.
In the meantime, Tier discovers himself in a prison cell, while his powers have been taken away from him. Bound by magic in a way that renders him unable to get help or to tell anyone about his situation, he is eventually allowed to wander freely... uncovering a sinister plot against the realm and even the Emperor himself.
There was a lot of exposition involved in this story, but it was done in such a way that it remained interesting anyway. The amount of world-building that was required, combined with an open ending promises a sequel that I can only hope comes soon. I'll definitely be picking it up when it comes out.

Usually I don't pick up an author's later books, since usually they seem to decline in writing ability. I picked it up, however, since it sounded intriguing. After a few months of sitting on my shelf, I finally began to read it, and had it finished within the next day.

What a nice break in the cliche fantasy out there. Of course there was romance (I wouldn't read it if it wasn't), but it had a different feel than other stories. The main character get married, even though they aren't really in love, and grow on each other. Usually in a situation like this, the two will spite each other, then fall in love. That's not the case here; they have an understanding with each other, almost a friendship. It makes the scenario almost plausible.

The characters have wonderful and believable personalities, once again making them more understandable. I love a fantasy book that relates to my emotions on a normal level, simply because they're so hard to find. The plot is exciting, with lulls in just the right places, and an ending that granted, makes me ask for more, but I could put it down and be happy with no sequel (I can't stand ambiguous endings). I really grew on the characters, so I was hoping that she'd continue with them, but that doesn't seem to be her style.

All in all, a great read for a fantasy lover, especially if you aren't ready to pick up a new series yet.

EDIT* Just found out there will be a sequel to this! I wasn't expecting this, so maybe thats why I'm so excited. It's called Raven's Strike, and it comes out July 26th, 2005 straight into paperback. Thought I'd let you know ;)

This book is set in a universe filled with magic, where magic is (like Mideaval Europe) mainly mistrusted and magicians often killed by mistrustful villagers. The beginning of the book introduces two main characters (soldier Tier & mage Seraph), neither of whom wants to spend their life doing what their societies think they should. Rejecting what they are supposed to do with their lives, they marry and attempt to spend the rest of their lives as simple farmers. Well, fate has other plans in store.

This is an ejoyable book. There is a bit of a glitch (writing wise) in the middle, where the the book changes focus and hops around several new characters' point of view for awhile. Still, the overall book hangs together and the primary characters' plots come to a satisfactory conclusion.

Briggs has managed to produce another intriguing novel with well developed characters. After ten years of fighting in the war, Tier is on his way home. He snuck away at the tender age of sixteen and is unsure of his welcome at the bakery. In a small down along the way he comes across a Traveler being burned on a pier. Upon entering the local tavern, he observes a second traveler about to be sold or burn and decides to step in and save the young life. He places himself as the young girl's protector even against his own family who do not welcome her with open arms. And this is where Briggs earns her four stars instead of five. She skips twenty years in the future. She literally gets you deeply interested in the lives of young Tier and Sereph and then moves them on to an old married couple with teenage children. I would have loved reading more about how they fall in love. What they had to endure in a world that would look upon the mixed marriage with disappoval. Briggs does include a few flashbacks to their early marriage. The story of the two teenage sons and one daughter is also wonderful. They are interesting and unique characters; so the book is enjoyable regardless. I think you would find it well worth your time.

Ravens Shadow, Patricia Briggs, Ace Books New York

Book Review


"Do you believe in magic?" I did after I read Ravens Shadow by Patricia Briggs. This book is about a soldier named Tier who is returning from the war and meets a traveler named Seraph. Tier and Seraph travel back to Redern Tier's hometown. Tier is welcomed there but Seraph is not. So to save Seraph from being executed, Tier makes the decision to marry Seraph. They start a farm a couple minutes away from Redern and raise a family there. They have three children Jes, Lehr, and Rinnie. One winter Tier goes trapping and gets kidnapped along the way. Seraph eventually finds out and must go to Taela, the capital city, to rescue Tier and save her family. Along the way Seraph meets many friends including Phoran the 27th, the clan of Rongier the Librarian, and Hennea a sole traveler such as Seraph is. This book is full of wonderful adventures, lots of magic, and many climaxes.

There are many characters in this book. Seraph is a traveler, a person who travels and protects non travelers from danger. She is the sole survivor from her traveler clan of Isolda the Silent. She is a raven, which is an order of traveler status that makes her a traveler wizard. She is very stubborn, headstrong, and intelligent, all which help her on her journey to rescue Tier. Seraph is important to this story because she adds a lot of excitement, fun, and her own taste of magic. Tier is also an order bearer, though he is not a traveler. Tier is an owl also known as a bard. He is very good with people and is a good singer. Tier is also very intelligent but is calm and patient unlike Seraph. He is important to this story because although he is held hostage he plays a big role. Both of these characters are believable because I can relate to them in some way or another.

This book is definitely fantasy because of all the magic and types of creatures in it. I would recommend this book to Middle through High schoolers. I would rate this book a 9 out of 10. I would rate it this because it has lots of magic and exciting battles in it. This book will keep you reading because it is bubbling with interest all the way to the top. Patricia Briggs came up with many new twists and turns throughout the book so that your attention will surely be held, mine was. If you read this book I will guarantee it will make you believe in magic too.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, until I got to the end. This is apparently the first volume in a multi-book story. The author left a major plot element unresolved at the end. I wouldn't have minded this if the book had had some sort of warning on the cover, such as "Book 1 of the Shadowed Lands series". I dropped my rating by a star because of this lack of information.

Other than the unresolved plot element, I found this book to be very readable and engrossing. I highly recommend it, though with the caveat that it's not the complete story.

Bottom Line: Try before you buy
I've read all of the book in the Mercy series by Briggs. So, I ordered this book, along with Briggs 'Steal the Dragon' because I figure you find an author you like, order their other works...can't go wrong, right?
Wrong. I found the quality of writing and quality of story somewhat lacking in this series, compared directly to the Mercy series.
It's hard, if not impossible to read several books by the same author and not compare them to each other.
I also found the lack of depth to the foundation of the magic (the explanation of magic, background, etc.) as it relates to the story, well...basic. I wanted to be blown away by this other world the author created, intrigued by the magic, wowed by the variety of characters. And everything seemed, just okay.
I'd recommend the Mercy series by the same author much more than this book.
Or if you want fantasy adventure, The Blade Itself, Winterbirth, Boderlands series by Lorna Freeman, Cal Leandros series by Rob Thurman.

After nine years of fighting the Shadowed, a powerful wizard and his armies, Tier is coming home. When he stays at an inn he saves the life of a Traveler, a powerful mage in a land that hates people who use magic. When they arrive at his village, he marries the mage Seraph and they start out their married life farming a piece of land nobody else would touch. They have three children all of whom have different Talents and they are relatively happy until Tier doesn't return home after a season of trapping.

The leaders of the village tell her Tier is dead but when she and her children investigate the remains, they are magically able to ascertain that the burned body is not Seraph's husband. After fighting a priest and her brother in law who is Shadowed, she learns that her husband was taken to the Emperor's palace in Taela by the Secret Path, a shadow organization of second and third sons who strip the powers of the Talented and use it for their own purposes. Seraph, with the help of other Travelers intends to free her husband but when she arrives at the palace, Tier informs her they must break the power of the Secret Path in order to save the Empire from their behind the scenes rule.

Patricia Briggs is a talented storyteller who enchants her audience with a spellbinding tale. The people who are shadowed are open to the Stalker, an evil entity created by the wizards of Colossae. The few wizards who survived the destruction of the city, a necessary actin needed to bind the Stalker so he won't destroy the human race are sent out into the world as Travelers to fight the evil entities that the Stalker leaks into the world. Saraph, who for two decades, led a normal life, realizes she must fight the Shadowed that is loose in the world in order to avoid another war. This courageous character is only one of the reason's Raven's Shadow is going on this reviewer's keeper shelf.

Harriet Klausner

The tone, the plot, the charcters, the setting...all orginal as far in as I can see. The characters, the most important element in a story, besides originality, are so well developed, and I cried with them, laughed with them, and loved them. The tale was enchanting and different, and even though it isn't a masterpiece, probably like 4.5 stars, its good enough to be a must read by anyone who likes magic and animals, heroes, and unique places and scenes, and love stories... read this book, it's where you'll find it all. (Recomended to all shapeshifting animal lovers with a flare for meeting gentlemanlike characters.)

I am now looking forward to all of Briggs' novels, and hope that after you read Raven's Shadow (a truly marevlous work) you will too!