Raven Tower by Ann Leckie
Introduction
Raven Tower by Ann Leckie is a fantasy novel from an award-winning science-fiction novelist. The Raven Lease is the speaker for the god known as the Raven and the Raven Lease is missing. Mawat is the heir to the Raven Lease and returns from wars in the south with his aide Eolo. Eolo learns secrets about the Raven and must decide what to do with that knowledge. The novel’s one-line preface is “there will be a reckoning”. What reckoning will take place?
Summary
Raven Tower by Ann Leckie begins with an unknown narrator speaking in the second-person to Eolo. The narration is like the narrator telling a story to Eolo after the events have occurred. Eolo is returning to Vastai, the capital of Iraden. Eolo is the aide to Mawat, and they have been at war in the south but must return to Vastai because Mawat is the heir to the Raven Lease. The Raven Lease is the speaker for the god known as the Raven and the Raven Lease is missing. Mawat tries to figure what happened to his father and what is going on in Vastai. Eolo can learn about the situation easier than Mawat could. The narrator influences Eolo and helps Eolo learn secrets. As the novel proceeds, the narrator tells stories that may or may not be told to Eolo. The stories read like parables. Eolo must decide what to do with the secrets learned. There will be a reckoning.
Recommendation
It was ambitious to write a second-person story in a novel-length. I was skeptical of this choice as I read the novel, but I understood the choice and the necessity to write the novel this way after I read to the end of the novel. The identity of the narrator is the whole point of the story. There will be a reckoning. I thought there were unanswered questions that a sequel could answer, but the author has tweeted that she intended the novel as a standalone novel. https://twitter.com/ann_leckie/status/1101144602181025800?lang=en
I enjoyed reading the Raven Tower and think it was the best book I read in 2019.
Links
This is the link to the Goodreads page of Raven Tower by Ann Leckie
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39395857-the-raven-tower
This is the link to the Goodreads page of Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17333324-ancillary-justice
Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie won the Hugo, Nebula, Arthur C. Clarke, and many other awards.
This is a link to my review of her novel.