FORMAT/INFO: The Raven Scholar will be published on April 15th, 2025 by Orbit Books. It will be available in paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats.

OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: Every 24 years, seven contenders from seven warrior temples match wits and blades in a series of trials designed to pick the next emperor of Orrun. It's a tradition that has largely ensured a peaceful transition of power for over 1500 years. But this year, one of the contestants is murdered on the eve of the competition. High Scholar Neema Kraa is charged with solving the murder, plunging her into a web of palace secrets. It isn't long before Neema realizes that people will kill to keep their secrets - and the only path to survival might be becoming emperor herself.

The Raven Scholar is an intricate, mesmerizing tangle of palace intrigue. This is a story with secrets upon secrets upon SECRETS. It's almost too many secrets, except that they are so carefully woven together, it makes the plot a delight to unwrap. Each revelation casts new light on past actions and motivations, while still keeping you guessing as to who the actual murderer is. If you're just here for the murder mystery alone, you'll have plenty to keep you entertained.

All of this is supported by the very deliberate pacing of the book. The Raven Scholar takes its time setting up the story. Lead character Neema Kraa doesn't arrive on the scene for multiple chapters, and the murder itself doesn't take place for well over 100 pages. But every chapter leading up to the murder is all in service of setting up the cast of characters, their relationships, and some very important recent historical events that personally affected everyone.

Most importantly, the story itself never drags, constantly making me want to read more. There are some doozy revelations that left me wide-eyed as I encountered the dark secrets in a character's past or realized the implication of new information. Again, it borders on too many things, but it's all so deftly woven together, it stopped short of feeling overstuffed.

I also applaud The Raven Scholar for being a story that is brutal and bloody without being gory and grim. Make no mistake, people will die and some very bad things will happen, but the author cuts away before it becomes too much. She also balances it out with a thread of humor strung throughout. Characters like the mischievous Fox warrior Cain or the ever dramatic Sol help break up the doom and gloom with some much needed levity.

 I also have to shout out the magnificent use of the narrator in the story. While Neema is the lead character and the story is told in third person, this is being recounted to us by another. I won't spoil the surprise of who, but suffice to say it is deployed wonderfully. The bulk of the story follows Neema, but every now and then it swings away to follow other characters for a little bit, in a manner fully justified by the choice of narrator.

Neema herself is a scrappy, if brusque, lead. But most importantly, Neema is smart and she is competent, two of my favorite things in a protagonist. Her intellect and drive have made her one of the foremost scholars of her day. Unfortunately, her background of hailing from a backwater town prevents her from being able to easily navigate the political waters of the court. It's not that she doesn't understand the game, it's that the elite courtiers would rather shut her down than play the game with her at all, no matter how high she rises.

CONCLUSION: The Raven Scholar checks every box of things I love in a book. It has a compelling lead, a mystery that truly keeps you guessing, and a brutal competition for the throne. This is the kind of book that when I wasn't reading it, I was thinking about wanting to read it. I powered through the final 200 pages in one sitting because I simply couldn't stand dragging it out any longer. I had to inject this book into my veins as soon as possible, and now I'm staring at that most dreadful fate: waiting for the next book. But given how amazingly well done this first book was, I have every confidence that I will devour the sequel with equal speed.