The Raven Tower

Fantasy novel about power, faith and intrigue inspired by Hamlet

This was the most recent set book for my fantasy book club, which unfortunately I couldn’t attend due to losing my voice. I’ve been a bit uninspired by fantasy recently so I wasn’t particularly excited by the thought of reading this book, even though I really enjoyed other books by this author. I decided to buy an eBook and see how I went.

“The Raven Tower” by Ann Leckie is a fantasy novel told in the second person about Eolo, a young trans man from a rural area who is aide to Mawat, the heir to a position called The Raven’s Lease, a person sworn to serve a god known as the Raven until their death when the Raven’s bird form dies as well. However, when Mawat returns to the city of Vastai expecting to ascend the throne, he finds his father missing and his uncle sitting on the throne as the new Lease. Mawat, who struggles with his temper, hides in his quarters for days before emerging to publicly accuse his uncle of foul play. Meanwhile, Eolo explores the city and meets many different individuals to try to uncover what really happened, all the while being observed by the book’s mysterious narrator.

This was a fascinating take on the fantasy genre and Leckie’s writing continues to impress. Although I frequently lament the lack of diversity and originality in fantasy, especially Western medieval fantasy, Leckie has taken the hallmarks of fantasy and explored them through several different angles. Eolo is a great main character who, although initially underestimated due to his poor background and trans identity, quickly garners respect as someone who is intelligent, courageous and sensible. The second person narration was an interesting style choice, and although it is one that I have seen before, I think in this case it was done very well and kept Eolo’s true thoughts and feelings ultimately unknowable.

Although this is a fantasy novel, Leckie weaves in elements of science fiction by asking the question what if? and imagining how a world where gods could speak things true would unfurl. To complete the tapestry, Leckie also expertly uses a narrative structure more often seen in genres like mystery and horror. She creates a palpable sense of unease and foreboding, and even until the very end it is impossible to assess whether the narrator is good or evil. I absolutely love that this is a standalone novel, and I think that fantasy writers should take note and write more powerful, punchy novels like this.

I really enjoyed this book, but Leckie introduces incredible complex concepts to her readers that occasionally felt a little muddled. While I totally appreciate the value in not handing everything to the reader on a platter, for me at least it felt like there were quite a few questions left unanswered about e.g. the difference between the Ancient Ones and newer gods, why a particular god decided to go to Vastai and what the whole spinning thing was about.

Nevertheless, this was an incredibly engaging novel and Leckie continues to demonstrate how strong and flexible a writer she is. I’m really looking forward to seeing what she writes next.