Serena’s Review: “The Raven Scholar”

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Book: “The Raven Scholar” by Antonia Hodgson

Publishing Info: Orbit, April 2025

Where Did I Get this Book: ARC from the publisher!

Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound

Book Description: Let us fly now to the empire of Orrun, where after twenty-four years of peace, Bersun the Brusque must end his reign. In the dizzying heat of mid-summer, seven contenders compete to replace him. They are exceptional warriors, thinkers, strategists—the best of the best.

Then one of them is murdered.

It falls to Neema Kraa, the emperor’s brilliant, idiosyncratic High Scholar, to find the killer before the trials end. To do so, she must untangle a web of deadly secrets that stretches back generations, all while competing against six warriors with their own dark histories and fierce ambitions. Neema believes she is alone. But we are here to help; all she has to do is let us in.

If she succeeds, she will win the throne. If she fails, death awaits her. But we won’t let that happen.

We are the Raven, and we are magnificent.

Review: No delay: I absolutely loved this book! It was one of those special reads where I went in with zero expectations and was blown away! I wasn’t familiar with the author (this is her first fantasy novel) and all I really knew about this one was that it featured yet another deadly, magical competition. Which, at this point, is more of a red flag than an interest point, given how flooded the genre has been with these sorts of books for the last several years. But man, this one proved why, in the right hands, even a tired trope can really come to life!

Part of this is the simple fact that, while the competition is the structure around much of the plot is built, it’s not really the main focus of the story. Instead, the central premise of the book is much more heavily focused on what starts as a murder mystery but quickly spirals out into a much larger conspiracy. And this larger mystery encompasses decades of history, some plot points from over 20 years ago, some events from a decade before, and others from more recent years. Much of this is slowly revealed throughout the course of Neema’a investigation, but the author also neatly uses a few chapters of a prologue that follows another character from years before. This was such a brave choice, as this character becomes central to the story, but is also never seen on page again. It’s a show of confidence that the author felt that the narrative voice and Neema herself were strong enough to reclaim the story back from a very different starting focus. With all of this, as the story unfolds, the reader is lulled into a sense of putting things together only to be smacked over the head with several huge late game reveals, some of which truly took my by surprise!

As for the competition, it did stand out from others, both in its simplicity and in its unique points. Some of it is just straight forward fighting, no real gimmicks. And as far as the magical competition portions went, the book was much more focused on the qualities of the groups who put these portions of the event together, what they wanted to see from a winner and a leader. In this way, these trials felt much less like the typical dangerous escapades we’re used to seeing. Instead, several of them are fairly generic, but made interesting by what they say about the individuals who participate in them based on the choices they make. This was also helped by the steady hand the author utilized throughout in creating this cast of competitors. Very early, I felt I had not only a strong understanding of who each of these characters were, but they all felt fully fleshed out and individual from one another, bringing their own baggage and their own motivations to this competition.

And, at the heart of it all, we have Neema and the Raven. Neema was simply excellent, everything I want from a protagonist. Smart, but awkward. Thrust into a situation she was completely unprepared for, we see all the stumbles of a flawed individual, but we also see the way her particular strengths lead her through. And most importantly, the ways in which she navigates these trials and the investigation all felt natural and believable to her history and abilities. Sometimes it’s really easy to see the author’s hand on the wheel with the creation of situations that seem to conveniently just work out for a main character who, by any rights, should fail miserable. Neema doesn’t glide through. People don’t trust her, don’t like her, and if she hadn’t attracted the interest of the Raven, it’s clear she would have done terribly. I also enjoyed the quirks of her characterization, the ways in which her strengths (her incredible scholarly knowledge) has and continues to create barriers to her ability to form connections to others. At times it was hard to see her treated so harshly by those around her, but the bright spots of the Raven’s narration and the very subplot-y love interest balanced these tough moments out.

And, of course, there is the Raven themself. What a unique narrative quality! There’s a way that this could have gone very wrong, that a quirky style like this could have been overplayed and over done. Instead, this has to be one of the most fresh feeling narrative styles that I’ve seen in a while! For those who are concerned, the majority of the story is told in your typical third person past tense approach. But sprinkled throughout, we are reminded that we are being told this story through the eyes of a very specific being with their own goals and perspective. Not to mention, the Raven was hilarious!

This book was pretty much my perfect read! Incredible fantasy world-building, an excellent main character, mystery, action, romance, it has it all! For a book that is 700 pages long, by the final portion, all I could think about was the fact that I wanted it to be even longer and how am I possibly going to wait for the sequel! This one doesn’t end on a cliffhanger, per se, but by the end of the book, this world looks very different than it did when it began and Neema’s journey is a wild ride, sprawling out before her. If you enjoy epic fantasy, this is a must read, as far as I’m concerned!

Rating 10: In a word: magnificent. Hodgson blasts onto the epic fantasy stage with a book that will quickly become a must-read for fans of the genre.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Raven Scholar” can be found on this Goodreads list: 2025 Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction