The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie

[lightreads]

The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie

4/5. Leckie does fantasy. You should know up front that half of this book is in second person, and all of it is narrated by a rock, and it is great. I fuckin' love that rock.

Seriously, this book is wonderful and unusual. It has this poised, restrained quality, right up to the point where it really doesn't anymore. I mentally shrieked at the last line. And Leckie is in such exquisite control of the stuntwriting here, it's just, I finished this and wandered around saying "Damn. Just damn," for a while. This is my favorite of her books so far, hands down.

I'm not really saying what this is about, am I? Um. It's about a very clever trans man accompanying his superior to the city to undertake a complicated magical inheritance, and plots, and international relations, and oh yeah the wars of gods who make things true by speaking them, so they'd better be damned sure they have the power to back up their words. Also a rock. I fuckin' love that rock.

Comments

[ellen_fremedon]

BEST ROCK. I was about a third of the way through, in the scene where we meet the dog god, when it clicked that Strength and Patience of the Hill was the sampo (or Grótti--the plot shakes out more like Gróttasöngr than the Kalevala in the end) and I had to stop and bounce with glee for how perfectly the source texts were meshed.

[kate_nepveu]

it's a fucking great rock.

[cathexys]

You had me at rock :)

Thanks for the rec! I have a broader tolerance for bad writing, I think, than you do, but when you rec something I'm pretty assured I'll like it.

[aurimae]

Well, you've convinced me. Putting it on my to-read list - thanks!

[cahn]

I really, really liked this book. I really liked it. I need to think more about why I liked it. I feel like it really struck that balance between "wait what just happened??" and "wait that just happened!" for me, if that makes any sense.

Also I was spoiled for the main literary plot correspondence, which I was Not Happy About because I would have liked to figure it out myself, but it was still very enjoyable.

[lightreads]

Yes, I really liked it but am having a hard time explaining all of why, except that it's great.