The Raven Tower Audiobook By Ann Leckie cover art

The Raven Tower

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The Raven Tower

By: Ann Leckie
Narrated by: Adjoa Andoh
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Listen. A god is speaking.

My voice echoes through the stone of your master's castle. This castle where he finds his uncle on his father's throne. You want to help him. You cannot.

You are the only one who can hear me.

You will change the world.

A triumph of the imagination, The Raven Tower is the first fantasy novel by Ann Leckie, New York Times best-selling author and winner of the Hugo, Nebula and Arthur C. Clarke Awards.

2020, World Fantasy Awards Novel category, Short-listed

©2019 Ann Leckie (P)2019 Hachette Audio UK Action & Adventure Contemporary Epic Epic Fantasy Fantasy Fiction Historical Paranormal & Urban

Critic reviews

I've been reading fantasy my whole life. After all these years, it's a delight to read something so different, so wonderful and strange (Patrick Rothfuss, author of THE NAME OF THE WIND)
A powerhouse epic of humans and gods at war, deeply imagined and profoundly thrilling. There are echoes of Shakespeare and Le Guin in The Raven Tower, but its strange dark brilliance could only have come from Ann Leckie (Lev Grossman)
A gripping story that's one part mystery, one part a new history of the world, The Raven Tower is an incredible fantasy, told by one of the most unique voices I've had the privilege of reading (S. A. Chakraborty)
The Raven Tower is a unique, intricate fantasy set in a fascinating world of gods who are at once formidable and vulnerable. Original and powerful - I loved it. Highly recommended for fans of N. K. Jemisin or Guy Gavriel Kay (Django Wexler)
Earthsea's elegance meets Sanderson's clever magic in this talon-sharp saga of divinity and revenge. Ann Leckie is unstoppable (Seth Dickinson)
All stars
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The Raven Tower starts off very strongly, with the first six hours being fun and interesting to follow as we learn more of the world and its inhabitants (god and mortal alike). The second half begins to falter however, feeling a bit messy and without any real direction. The ending is a bit lackluster with no payoff due to little emotional investment. I suspect it was meant as a twist, perhaps, but I just feel indifferent.

The Good Bits:
- I liked the way it was written (one character being addressed by the other)
- The writing is neat, can't quite put my finger on it. Keeps things interesting and fresh... to begin with, at least!
- The setting and world is fascinating!
- The narrator's african voiced are really nice, and I wish there was more who got that treatment.

The Questionable Bits:
- The narrator is hit or miss for me, with a 20 / 80 rate. The Stone God has a good voice, as does... whatever her name was with the african voice. Those were fitting. I find the protagonists voice grating (If I have to hear another anguished "MY LORD!" again I'll go nuts), and I found her redneck accent out of place, while the scandinavian accent was really really annoying. She fails to convey the masculine characters with conviction, but then again I didn't expect her to suddenly go deep and growly so it gets a pass.
- The Stone God's journey is interesting to follow. Surprisingly, I cared very little for the plot around the throne and all the spectacle there. The characters felt thin, not very fleshed out, and Mauat (?) was just overall fairly unlikeable, while Eiolo (?) was just... there, I guess? She got a surprising amount of respect for being seen as a servant/page, and was seldom challenged in any meaningful way.
- The story kind of... goes nowhere for a while. Or I should say, it begs bogged down. Or maybe it's quick? It's hard to tell- events do happen, but at that point I don't really care about the outcomes of the characters very much so it just passes in a blur. The ending comes, and it's kind of abrupt, and it's a bit ominous/dark, but I don't really feel much from it. Just goes "Uh-huh?" and then it ends abruptly.

Final thoughts:

I'd still recommend this book because I enjoy Leckies writing ,and it's a solid, relatively easy read. It had some fun ideas and concepts (such as Gods having to be careful about what they say, lest they make it TRUE, or die trying). The performance, however, leaves a lot to be desired and I think the tone of the work would work a lot better if the reader themselves got to imagine the voices.

Solid 3/5, nothing amazing but it ain't half bad actually. Just wish the characters were a bit... more, and I'd kick it up to a 4/5 for sure.

Interesting and different, but with flaws.

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