I’ve written about Ann Leckie‘s science fiction before on Reading Well. Her initial trilogy was a lovely surprise, and a fresh take on the space opera genre, and her follow-up was quite strong, hinting at her staying power as an author and a creator of worlds. So, I was excited by Leckie’s venture into fantasy marked by The Raven Tower (2019).
The novel is hard to write about in summary mode … suffice to say there is a lot going on here. At its core, it is a story of the relationships and interactions between humans and their Gods. The most creatively worked notion is that Gods cannot lie. That is, what is uttered by a God is necessarily made true … but at the cost of effort and energy on the Gods’ part. So Gods have to be very careful about what they say.
The other key notion–which is far less original, but still great fodder for fiction–is that Gods are able to build and replenish their energy through offerings and sacrifice dedicated to them.
The story itself concerns two related threads. The first is that of one of the aforementioned Gods, and their observations of and interactions with the world since long before humans existed. The other is a struggle for political control in a city ruled by a religious structure that fits nicely within this system (there is a God–the Raven, who inhabits an actual raven–and a human who serves them and who then, at the end of the lifespan of an individual bird, sacrifices themselves and passes their service on to their next generation).
This role is termed the Raven’s Lease, which is a decent summary of the arrangement.
The problem is that the current Lease has vanished, and it seems the Raven itself–who has, for centuries, protected the city and its inhabitants–may be no more as well. The protagonists in the story are the Lease’s son and, increasingly, one of his trusted advisers.
But the real hero is probably the God and, as the book evolves, the question of their motivation and their reactions to what is happening dominate the narrative.
Leckie insists the book is a standalone, despite it feeling an awful lot like it is setting up a sequel. However, much like Provenance is in the same universe as her earlier trilogy, she has teased some more writing within the same world.
I’d certainly read it–The Raven Tower is an entertaining read, even if it doesn’t reach quite the heights of her science fiction work.
#WhatIWishICouldDo
There are books that are driven along by a core idea, a notion so creative and compelling that it creates, almost by itself, the wider context needed for world-building. Leckie stumbled on such an idea here, and it’s a joy watching her extend and play with it.