Cover Image: Ravencaller

Ravencaller

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Member Reviews

The second book in The Keepers series is action packed and keeps you wanting more. Great characters developed in the first book really get into their stride here. You follow the stories of Devin a Soulkeeper and his sister Adria ( Such power, and yet we seem to only destroy) a Priest of the church who’s power grows so much people believe she is now a Goddess. A fight between humans and (monsters) recently revived magical creatures leads to plenty of action and plays on you emotions when you connect with certain characters. I would recommend reading the first book to find the background to our main characters.
I was given an arc of this book by Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

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An excellent grimdark fantasy, gripping and entertaining.
The world building is amazing, the cast of characters well developed and entertaining.
The plot is well told and it kept me hooked till the end.
It was an exciting read, highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

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Classic fantasy in a new garb, with a healthy dose of grimness thrown in, which explodes in the narrative garnished with action, emotion, and solid characterisation. It's a damn fine example of why the old stories and tropes never get stale. Dalglish excellently renews all the elements in a vigorous manner, dressing them in shades of grey. The magic remains for us to uncover.

This is a book that talks about humans and the so-called monsters, i.e., "the others" who are feared and hated by civilization. Honestly, Dalglish blurs the distinction in the story. The conflict that ensues out of the fear, the rage, and the hatred makes monsters from both sides. The truth is always twisted. Power, oppression, war, and destruction plagues everyone, the humans as well as the magical beings who claim a place in the world, a peaceful co-existence never works out due to the destructive streak that belies in every individual.

The characterisation was excellent. Dalglish was able to bring out the complex personalities of each of the characters. I cried at the death of a particular character who was very dear to me in the story. It wrecked me. I admired the way the author has written about two female characters. Jacaranda here grows out of her shell, despite tge struggle and coming into terms with her new life. Adria is struggling with her newfound power. Devin is still the fighter. All of these characters go through their own internal conflicts, doubts, and fears, unabashed in their emotions. And, that's what makes them so relatable. Tesmarie, oh! Sunshine of my heart. I'll miss you.

The world is now in turmoil. The dragons of creation has broken the "chain of being" that governs the universe. The Church also hides its own dirty secrets. Faith in the goddesses have wavered. Children are brutally sacrificed to evoke curses. The motives of the dragons are still not clear, and the magical creatures are hell-bent on destroying civilization for their centuries of imprisonment, and the hatred and fear of humans. The final war is coming. And, Dalglish foreshadows this fact in the story. The action and the bloodshed, the suffering and deaths makes this world grim.

The climax was brilliant with explosive magic and action. Humans and magical creatures wade through a stream of blood. But, what I loved more was the ending, the anticipatory thrills generated by it. I cannot wait to see the final confrontation happen between the characters, as well as the dragonsired. This was quite an enjoyable read for me. I escaped into another world, but, at tge same time it reminded me of the real issues that afflict the human world.

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4.9 / 5 ✪

https://arefugefromlife.wordpress.com/2020/03/15/ravencaller-by-david-dalglish-book-review/

My ninth Dalglish book, Ravencaller might just be my favorite. Read on to see:

Ravencaller is the follow-up to David Dalglish’s Soulkeeper, in which magical creatures and monsters alike have reawakened after centuries spent trapped in a deep, deep sleep. Where in the first book we dealt with the awakening of these creatures, in Ravencaller we deal with the fallout. For the creatures’ sleep was not voluntary. In the times before, humanity and the denizens of the Dragons often clashed, and soon it became clear to one another that each could not exist while the other yet lived. And then something changed. The Dragons were forced under by the Sisters’ power, so that humanity could inherit their world. Imprisoned with them were all of their creations, who so recently awoke.

I was a big fan of Soulkeeper last year, but Ravencaller surpassed even my lofty hopes set by its predecessor.

Magical creatures now roam the land, preying on anything and everything to sate their bloodlust. Their imprisonment was long, and their tempers have frayed. Humans and animals alike suffer their wrath—but mostly humans. Not only the creatures have returned, however. Human servants of the Dragons, called Ravencallers, have emerged, their newfound powers similar to those granted to the Faith- and Mindkeepers but wielded towards a different goal. To drive these ‘men from the Dragons’ land, rather than save it from them. In addition to the these new malcontents, disease has arrived with the magic itself.

Humans awaken hungering for flesh, most often that of their neighbor. Others die, taken by plague or owls, gargoyles and foxes, or other magical predators. One band of creatures quickly overruns the Low Dock, taking it for themselves. Another drives the ‘men from Orismund west of Londheim, demanding past arrangements be honored. An army stands upon the city’s threshold. Another looms in the west. The Sisters’ faithful are pressed back on their heels—with one exception. Adria Eveson.

Transformed by Viciss and his creature Janus, she stands at the head of the church’s army. While magic has returned to the people of the land, Adria is something more. Something far more. And to ensure humanity’s survival, she must become far greater than she’d ever hoped.

Luckily, Adria has allies. Tesmarie, the ebon faerie; Devin, Soulkeeper and her brother; Tomas, newly awakened sorcerer; Jacaranda, newly awakened soulless; and more. The odds are heavily against them, but the humans may yet triumph in this war. Or, they might yet come to another, less bloody arrangement. But time will tell.

Despite a few faults, I loved Ravencaller. More than Soulkeeper. More than any other Dalglish book before it (my personal favorite up til now was probably A Dance of Ghosts). Devin remains my favorite character, but a newbie—Dierk, a Ravencaller—also steals the show. I liked Adria and Tesmarie and others, but Jacaranda’s one-woman revenge mission started to feel a bit worn-out at the halfway point. Nonetheless, I never got to a point in which I was dreading someone’s POV chapter. Not even hers’.

The language remains the same as it was in Soulkeeper. If you didn’t like the casual banter, the common names and words before—you probably won’t like it any better now. If you liked it, that probably won’t change. I didn’t mind it, because it’s what Dalglish used in his Shadowdance series. I’m used to it. But it might annoy you. And if it does, then it does.

The world-building continues to impress, as the changes the author makes to the world mirror the magic awakening all throughout it. Diseases pop up where none were before. Old tensions reawaken. Old disagreements draw new blood. The creatures’ motivations are their own, just like the humans’. It’s a mistake to think either are united in their ideals, their resentments. But can Devin and his friends keep an all out war from erupting?

I really have very little to say about Ravencaller. I loved it—and that pretty much seems sufficient. A classical story with darker elements. Just what I needed at the time. When the world is uncertain, escape into a lovely, well-rendered story.

TL;DR

If you enjoyed Soulkeeper, you’ll probably like Ravencaller. I’d be willing to say you’ll probably like it more. Returning are the riveting plot, the lovely world-building, the interesting and immersive world and its creatures. If anything, there’re even more interesting and unique creatures now. There’s mystery, combat and drama. Love and death. War and… well, mostly war. Action and adventure (though we spend less time out of the city than in Book #1). There’re strong male and female leads. Good characters, POVs and chapters. Nothing too difficult to read or too boring to not suffer through. I’d recommend it, but you’ll have to read #1 first. Honestly, it’s a no-brainer.

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Reviewed by my co-blogger, Petrik Leo, on Novel Notions

There is no lull moment in Ravencaller, this action-packed sequel brings well-written morally grey characters and bloody macabre into one package.

First of all, I’m usually not a fan of sudden cover changes in the middle of a series, but this is, in my opinion, one of those rare cases where the new cover artist did a better job than the previous artist. Don’t get me wrong, I liked the cover art of Soulkeeper, but I LOVE the cover art of Ravencaller that’s done by Paul Scott Canavan; it looked spectacular, and it’s more fitting for the series. Second, look at the Ravencaller in the cover art, it reflects what’s written in the text of this book and—this is very important—it reminded me of Eileen the Crow from one of my favorite games: Bloodborne! Lastly, I know I mentioned last year in my Soulkeeper review that I’m going to read more of Dalglish’s books, especially his Shadowdance series, I’m ashamed to say that I wasn’t able to achieve this yet. After reading Ravencaller, it’s even more evident that I HAVE to read Dalglish’s Shadowdancer series because this sequel was even better than the first book which I already highly praised.

Ravencaller is the second book in The Keepers trilogy by David Dalglish. Same as its predecessor, this is another book of high caliber by the author. I can’t say much regarding the details of the plot in order to avoid spoilers except that it takes place shortly after the end of Soulkeeper, and the story deals with the deadly conflicts caused by long-lasting prejudice between human and magical creatures, and the arrival of the Ravencaller as they attempt to hunt Adria Eveson due to her growing power. I think this is an incredible book, although the entire story of the novel takes place in the city of Londheim, Dalglish was able to keep the pacing of the story thoroughly engaging and full of twists and turns. Constricting the story of the book to one location was a great decision, Londheim was supposed to be a place of refuge and safety, but what happened when that single place of supposed solace ended up becoming a place of disaster?

Chaos and mayhem ensued.

Trouble brews non-stop for the characters; from the ravenous epidemic that haunts the night to the horror brought by the invasion of the dragon-sired, there’s no shortage of new danger for the people of Londheim. The second half of the book, in particular, was practically unputdownable for me. The vile deeds of both races—mostly humans—and the politics of the church continually escalate towards a higher level of threats. However, it’s not all death and gore here, resonating themes and character developments played an equally important role in enriching the compelling narrative. The premise of The Keepers allows Dalglish to successfully incorporate the dreadful nature of humanity in the face of the unknown into his storytelling. For example, even if monsters are virtuous, it will be more likely that humans won’t cooperate and will always seek a way to exact their self-righteousness in the name of their own safety and justice.

The themes and the narrative were then effectively extended by the great characterizations and their respective developments. The moral compass of the main characters of this series has become so much more complex and morally grey than before. In a good way, I was stunned by some of the actions of the protagonists of this series. Ravencaller employed more perspective characters to follow, and honestly speaking, seeing the story unfolds from several perspectives of different oppositions helps enlarged the complexity and immersive capability of the plot; Dierk and Evelyn are two new characters with intriguing backgrounds and character developments that I enjoyed reading. Whether I agree or not with the character’s actions, I found myself engrossed by everyone’s POV chapters. I personally think that it’s intriguing that out of all the characters in the series, the characters that ended up being the most kind-hearted are the monsters: Tesmarie, Cannac, and Puffy. (And hey, Puffy—my beloved firekin—has one POV chapter!) Dalglish writes flawed characters with believable motivations that made me question the nature of good and evil; Jacaranda, Dierk, and Adria, in particular, did awful things during their storylines, but I can’t help but feel compelled to find out what will happen next.

I’ve talked about the characters and the themes, but when it comes down to it, Ravencaller is more action-oriented compared to its predecessor. The characterizations already established in Soulkeeper made Dalglish’s action sequences glistened more. So far, I’ve read only two books by Dalglish, and I have to say that the combination of his characterizations and violent action sequences are the recipe that inclines me to keep on reading his books, and hopefully, I will be able to devour Shadowdance series as soon as I can. I heard from my friend, Mihir, that Shadowdance is Dalglish’s best series so far, and that sounds crazy because I loved the ones I’ve read in Soulkeeper and Ravencaller very much already. The actions are brutal, gory, grotesque, and most importantly, the unstoppable whirlwind of power, magic, and steel was gripping. It’s also good to see that Dalglish has significantly decrease his habit to use the word “tremendous” as a magnifier.

I don’t think I have any issues with my experience of reading Ravencaller. Frankly, if I have to be nitpicky, I would probably settle with saying that the “gigantic dragon” plotline introduced in the first book hasn’t moved forward as much as I hoped. However, it’s not a big deal, and I was entertained completely by every page of this novel. Ravencaller is a pulse-pounding and extensively absorbing sequel. With this book, it’s crystal clear that Dalglish has prepared a lot of set pieces to be knocked down in the final book of the trilogy. Seriously, the final pages of this book prophesize utterly intense confrontations and an explosive final battle to come, and I may have slightly screamed internally when I read the final sentence of the book; the volume of the internal screaming is up to you to imagine. Well done, Dalglish. I look forward to seeing how it all concludes!

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ARC provided by the publisher—Orbit—in exchange for an honest review.

4.5/5 stars

There is no lull moment in Ravencaller, this action-packed sequel brings well-written morally grey characters and bloody macabre into one package.

First of all, I’m usually not a fan of sudden cover changes in the middle of a series, but this is, in my opinion, one of those rare cases where the new cover artist did a better job than the previous artist. Don’t get me wrong, I liked the cover art of Soulkeeper, but I LOVE the cover art of Ravencaller that’s done by Paul Scott Canavan; it looked spectacular, and it’s more fitting for the series. Second, look at the Ravencaller in the cover art, it reflects what’s written in the text of this book and—this is very important—it reminded me of Eileen the Crow from one of my favorite games: Bloodborne! Lastly, I know I mentioned last year in my Soulkeeper review that I’m going to read more of Dalglish’s books, especially his Shadowdance series, I’m ashamed to say that I wasn’t able to achieve this yet. After reading Ravencaller, it’s even more evident that I HAVE to read Dalglish’s Shadowdancer series because this sequel was even better than the first book which I already highly praised.

“Humans have always been reactionary creatures obsessed with the present, ignorant of the past, and fearful of the future.”

Ravencaller is the second book in The Keepers trilogy by David Dalglish. Same as its predecessor, this is another book of high caliber by the author. I can’t say much regarding the details of the plot in order to avoid spoilers except that it takes place shortly after the end of Soulkeeper, and the story deals with the deadly conflicts caused by long-lasting prejudice between human and magical creatures, and the arrival of the Ravencaller as they attempt to hunt Adria Eveson due to her growing power. I think this is an incredible book, although the entire story of the novel takes place in the city of Londheim, Dalglish was able to keep the pacing of the story thoroughly engaging and full of twists and turns. Constricting the story of the book to one location was a great decision, Londheim was supposed to be a place of refuge and safety, but what happened when that single place of supposed solace ended up becoming a place of disaster?

Chaos and mayhem ensued.

“We fear only what history taught us time and time again. It is not we who war against humanity, onyx one. Humanity wars against us, and our very existence.”

Trouble brews non-stop for the characters; from the ravenous epidemic that haunts the night to the horror brought by the invasion of the dragon-sired, there’s no shortage of new danger for the people of Londheim. The second half of the book, in particular, was practically unputdownable for me. The vile deeds of both races—mostly humans—and the politics of the church continually escalate towards a higher level of threats. However, it’s not all death and gore here, resonating themes and character developments played an equally important role in enriching the compelling narrative. The premise of The Keepers allows Dalglish to successfully incorporate the dreadful nature of humanity in the face of the unknown into his storytelling. For example, even if monsters are virtuous, it will be more likely that humans won’t cooperate and will always seek a way to exact their self-righteousness in the name of their own safety and justice.

“Is one lapinkin the same as all lapinkin? Is one human the same as all humans? You are not of one mind. Why do you presume us to be?”

The themes and the narrative were then effectively extended by the great characterizations and their respective developments. The moral compass of the main characters of this series has become so much more complex and morally grey than before. In a good way, I was stunned by some of the actions of the protagonists of this series. Ravencaller employed more perspective characters to follow, and honestly speaking, seeing the story unfolds from several perspectives of different oppositions helps enlarged the complexity and immersive capability of the plot; Dierk and Evelyn are two new characters with intriguing backgrounds and character developments that I enjoyed reading. Whether I agree or not with the character’s actions, I found myself engrossed by everyone’s POV chapters. I personally think that it’s intriguing that out of all the characters in the series, the characters that ended up being the most kind-hearted are the monsters: Tesmarie, Cannac, and Puffy. (And hey, Puffy—my beloved firekin—has one POV chapter!) Dalglish writes flawed characters with believable motivations that made me question the nature of good and evil; Jacaranda, Dierk, and Adria, in particular, did awful things during their storylines, but I can’t help but feel compelled to find out what will happen next.

“The world we live in is not simple…It is not black and white and confined to a flat page scrawled upon by the scholars. You ask about an act committed in a singular moment in time. The context of that moment must be taken into account. Can the Sisters love a person who wields their power into a curse? Absolutely. Might they also hate or condemn a person for the same act? Without question.”

I’ve talked about the characters and the themes, but when it comes down to it, Ravencaller is more action-oriented compared to its predecessor. The characterizations already established in Soulkeeper made Dalglish’s action sequences glistened more. So far, I’ve read only two books by Dalglish, and I have to say that the combination of his characterizations and violent action sequences are the recipe that inclines me to keep on reading his books, and hopefully, I will be able to devour Shadowdance series as soon as I can. I heard from my friend, Mihir, that Shadowdance is Dalglish’s best series so far, and that sounds crazy because I loved the ones I’ve read in Soulkeeper and Ravencaller very much already. The actions are brutal, gory, grotesque, and most importantly, the unstoppable whirlwind of power, magic, and steel was gripping. It’s also good to see that Dalglish has significantly decrease his habit to use the word “tremendous” as a magnifier.

“The sound of metal hitting metal rang out a steady song. In it she heard lyrics, and they spoke to her impending defeat.”

I don’t think I have any issues with my experience of reading Ravencaller. Frankly, if I have to be nitpicky, I would probably settle with saying that the “gigantic dragon” plotline introduced in the first book hasn’t moved forward as much as I hoped. However, it’s not a big deal, and I was entertained completely by every page of this novel. Ravencaller is a pulse-pounding and extensively absorbing sequel. With this book, it’s crystal clear that Dalglish has prepared a lot of set pieces to be knocked down in the final book of the trilogy. Seriously, the final pages of this book prophesize utterly intense confrontations and an explosive final battle to come, and I may have slightly screamed internally when I read the final sentence of the book; the volume of the internal screaming is up to you to imagine. Well done, Dalglish. I look forward to seeing how it all concludes!

“This life we live, these choices we make, become everything. Kindness shown to a stranger echoes throughout eternity. The love we feel, and the love we give to another, will linger unchanging in a cosmic memory.”

Official release date: 19th March 2020 (UK) and 17th March 2020 (US)

You can pre-order the book from: Amazon UK | Amazon US | Book Depository (Free shipping)

The quotes in this review were taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication.

You can find this and the rest of my reviews at Novel Notions

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