Okay, so The Raven Scholar is a type of insanely bold, charmingly chaotic, and uniquely unconventional tales that has completely zero enterprise working in addition to it does, and but it completely soars. It’s half intricate epic political fantasy, half riveting homicide thriller, half cutthroat competitors for the crown, and simply 100% playful, creative, magnificent, and unpredictable enjoyable. 

Now, all I knew about The Raven Scholar earlier than entering into was ‘locked room homicide thriller, however the locked room is an island’ and ‘cutthroat trials in a contest for the crown’, and that was all I wanted to be bought. And truthfully, would have been tremendous if that’s all it delivered, however Hodgson mentioned: “Maintain my beer”, after which continued to weave an intricate story that’s really not like something I’ve ever learn and which glad fantasy cravings I by no means even knew I might have.

I imply, we’re transported into a powerful world with an in depth historical past and wealthy mythos that involves life by historic accounts, footnotes and folktales scattered all through the narrative and we comply with a splendidly various forged of advanced characters with robust (hidden) motivations whose vices and virtues are on full show. Then add to that an omniscient sassy sentient raven POV who sweeps us all through time and area, mischievous meddling gods, a second likelihood friends-to-rivals-to-lovers romantic subplot filled with banter and snark, and tons of political intrigue that construct as much as a grand conspiracy ages within the making.

And that, my buddies, solely scratches the floor of all of the wickedly enjoyable and amazingly good issues that you will see in The Raven Scholar. There’s completely no denying that this guide is playfully unconventional and unapologetically indulgent, however there really wasn’t a single facet, scene, sentence or phrase on this story that didn’t entertain me. See, equally to in Jenn Lyons’ A Refrain of Dragons sequence, there’s a sure cheeky allure to the writing that not solely breathed a lot life into this wealthy world and various forged of vibrant characters, however which additionally made these 700 pages fly by with none effort.

Neema Kraa, our titular Raven Scholar, was such a uniquely refreshing and compelling protagonist to me, and I completely beloved following her as she is simply desperately attempting to outlive what’s presumably the worst week of her life. I imply, a Black, neurospicy, socially awkward scholar in her mid-thirties who is usually only a bit too pure-hearted and clever for her personal good? Say no extra, we like to see it.

In some way, she has ended up reluctantly changing into the substitute of the murdered Raven contender, and now she has to unexpectedly compete within the competitors for the crown (wherein her frustratingly charming ex-lover additionally participates because the Fox contender), whereas additionally main a confounding homicide investigation the place she might or might not be a primary suspect, whereas additionally reluctantly forming a bond along with her new solitary raven companion who gives approach an excessive amount of unsolicited recommendation (and who additionally tends to burrow inside her chest). In different phrases, girlie deserves a break.

The uniquely intelligent approach that she approaches the harmful trials and navigates all of the intricate webs of foolish court docket politics had me on the sting of my seat, and I beloved seeing her work together with all of the dangerously bold folks round her, be they fellow opponents or any of the opposite bigger than life characters that she crosses paths with. The difficult interpersonal relationships and razor-sharp, snark-laced dialogue in The Raven Scholar completely shine, and I used to be consuming up the excessive stress, excessive drama, and excessive emotion between all of them as they clashed or labored collectively in probably the most sudden methods.

Now, in a approach it nearly feels unsuitable to name Neema the principle character of this story, not solely as a result of the scope of the story simply grew to become larger and larger as extra views had been added, but additionally as a result of every character on this story simply has massive primary character power. There wasn’t a single character who didn’t leap off the web page with character, however particularly Cain (my favorite crafty chaos queer), Sol the pedantic raven, and, most surprisingly, Ruko ended up actually stealing the present for me.

And if this guide wasn’t already fascinating sufficient by itself, the audiobook expertise simply added a complete new degree of life and immersion to it. The best way that Daphne Kouma captured the legendary but playful vibe of the story and introduced all these characters, each human and non-human, to life is completely nothing wanting masterful, and I believe her narration and Hodgson’s evocative writing are only a match made in heaven.

This guide sunk its claws into me on the very first web page and by no means let me go. It has completely soared straight to the highest of my favourites checklist and single-handedly raised the bar for what epic political fantasy can and needs to be. And if that completely diabolical and bittersweet ending is any indication (good day emotional intestine punches), then that is solely the start of the wickedly wild journey that Antonia Hodgson has in thoughts for The Everlasting Path sequence. So don’t stroll, don’t run, however unfold your wings and flock to the bookstore to get this absolute gem of a guide, I promise you gained’t be disillusioned.

Thanks to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton Audio for offering me with an ALC in trade for an sincere evaluate. All opinions are my very own. The Raven Scholar is scheduled for launch on April 17, 2025.