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The Raven Tower

Leckie, Ann. Book - 2019 Fantasy / Leckie, Ann, Adult Book / Fiction / Fantasy / Leckie, Ann, Adult Book / Fiction / Fantasy / Leckie, Ann 4 On Shelf No requests on this item Community Rating: 4.4 out of 5

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Call Number: Fantasy / Leckie, Ann, Adult Book / Fiction / Fantasy / Leckie, Ann, Adult Book / Fiction / Fantasy / Leckie, Ann
On Shelf At: Downtown Library, Pittsfield Branch, Traverwood Branch, Westgate Branch

Location & Checkout Length Call Number Checkout Length Item Status
Downtown 2nd Floor
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Fantasy / Leckie, Ann 4-week checkout On Shelf
Pittsfield Adult Books
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Adult Book / Fiction / Fantasy / Leckie, Ann 4-week checkout On Shelf
Traverwood Adult Books
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Westgate Adult Books
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Adult Book / Fiction / Fantasy / Leckie, Ann 4-week checkout On Shelf

"Following her record-breaking run in science fiction, Ann Leckie, winner of the Hugo, Nebula, Arthur C. Clarke and Locus Awards, brings her immense talent to an epic fantasy novel about the hidden forces that guide our fates. Having helped win a war at great cost in human lives and to its own power, the god known as the Raven of Iraden was forced to continue to fulfill its commitment to its followers and slowly regain its strength through the steady flow of prayers and sacrifices which are the source of all the gods' powers. Centuries into that toil, a usurper to the throne of Iraden has discovered the Raven's weakened state and sets in motion a plot to gain the favor of younger, stronger gods in a bid to consolidate his power. But the Raven of Iraden is more resilient than its enemies have accounted for, and with the help of some unlikely allies it may still return to glory" -- Provided by publisher.

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COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Story line was interesting submitted by Susan4Pax -prev. sueij- on June 17, 2020, 8:24pm I enjoyed Raven Tower quite well and thought that the story line was interesting. The characters felt real and the mystery compelling enough (even if the answer was mostly obvious, the how-we-got-there was a good read).

My one issue is that the story was told in second person. A narrator (someone from the story) told the entire story to someone else in the story. I utterly cannot figure out why this was. It allowed the author to keep something secret, but in terms of the internal logic of the story itself, there was no reason for it. (For example, the person being narrated to didn’t lose their memory and need the story told.) This kind of thing makes me crazy. If you’re going to do something utterly atypical, it needs to make internal sense, and this deeply didn’t for me.

I Seldom Read Fantasy, But I LOVED This submitted by Meginator on August 27, 2022, 5:48pm This multilayered fantasy novel takes place in a world that seems to be our own Earth, with slightly altered geography and human cultural history and a preponderance of gods. I highly recommend that anyone who is interested in the book go into it knowing as little as possible (i.e., stop here); I read very little fantasy, but I found myself absolutely captivated by the way in which the book’s mysteries gradually unfold to reveal an exquisitely built and wholly lived-in world. Much of the pleasure of the reading experience came, for me, in the joys of discovery, revelation, and reflection. One of the book’s most fascinating elements is its magic system: its gods are all-powerful, in a sense, but granting petitions takes strength and power from them in direct proportion to the tasks’ level of difficulty and they ultimately rely on human worship to sustain themselves. Moreover, linguistic precision is of utmost precision, and it is the primary way that the gods interact with the world around them; Leckie delights in exploring the ramifications of this system throughout the book, and the background information and history is as prominent as the (supposedly) main narrative thread. Notably, one of the two main characters is transgender, although (refreshingly) his gender is presented more as a fact about him than as a defining feature or a plot element. Told in a unique narrative voice, expertly balancing the past and the present, and delighting in the intricacies and imprecision of human language, this is an inventive work of fantasy fiction that is slow to reveal its secrets but well worth the effort, for the reward lies in the reading experience itself as much as in the resolution of the plot.

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PUBLISHED
New York, NY : Orbit, an imprint of Hachette Book Group, 2019.
Year Published: 2019
Description: 416 pages : illustration ; 25 cm
Language: English
Format: Book

ISBN/STANDARD NUMBER
9780316388696

SUBJECTS
Imaginary places -- Fiction.
Gods -- Fiction.
Imaginary wars and battles -- Fiction.
Kings and rulers -- Fiction.
Fantasy fiction.