Blurb: (From Book 1) 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: This was a truly fantastic read, and is already one of the top candidates for my best book of the year. The writing style is beautiful, the world-building masterful, and the story enthralling. I demolished this over the weekend, and lost at least half my awareness to this book even while I wasn't reading.
The setting felt so vibrant, and despite the huge amounts of information needed to follow the story properly, it never felt like there was an info-dump or that I had to struggle to follow. I was constantly invested and kept on my toes while reading too, with the stakes of the story being very much real and present. These stakes were helped by how well the characters were written, and that so many of them were well fleshed out as opposed to one-dimensional minor characters, and therefore less predictable. I don't want to mentioned any characters as that could already induce a spoiler..... Suffice to say that there I adored plenty and hated many, yet was entertained by all. This is the dream-start of a trilogy, and I have insanely high expectations and hopes for the second installment. This is a strong blanket recommend for anyone looking to read something.