Ravencry by Ed McDonald – Review

Published: August 21, 2018

Publisher: Ace Books

Series: Raven’s Mark #2

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 384 (Paperback)

My Rating: 4.5/5.0

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis:

In the second gritty installment of the Raven’s Mark series, a bounty hunter faces down the darkest evil.

Ryhalt Galharrow is a blackwing–a bounty hunter who seeks out and turns over any man, woman, or child who has been compromised by the immortals known as the Deep Kings. Four years have passed since he helped drive the Deep Kings back across the Misery. But new and darker forces are rising against the republic…

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I’ve mentioned this before, but 2018 has been a fantastic year for sequels, Ravencry among them. Ed McDonald debuted Blackwing in 2017 and what an epic piece of grimdark it was! Naturally I was really excited to pick up a copy of Ravencry as well and it did not disappoint. This was just as dark as the first book and I think is did a good job following up on the events of Blackwing.

This is set four years later and Ryhalt Galharrow is still captain of Blackwing, but things have changed significantly. His former love Ezabeth Tanza sacrificed herself to drive back a horde of the Deep Kings’s soldiers and she’s been manifesting as a ghost in the light to hundreds of people. These sighting have fueled the rise of a cult that worships her and insist she will be their savior rather than the Nameless. With this cult comes and influx of new people into the city, including a one that Ryhalt used to serve alongside though he is now funding the construction of a giant tower dedicated to the Bright Lady that doubles as a foss mill. Oh yeah, and do you recall creepy eyeball from the previous book? Yeah, it gets stolen a handful of pages in and Ryhalt spends a great deal of time trying to track it down.

My summary of the plot pales in comparison to the actuality of the book, so if you think that sounds even remotely interesting, then you’ll find the book to be exponentially more so. Unless a character died in the first book, you can expect them to reappear here and there are quite a few new faces in the crowd as well. I like the new characters, particularly the Blackwing assistant/second in command and Ryhalt’s servant girl who he treats nearly as if she were his daughter. He makes a rather gruff, tough love sort of father figure which is no surprise really. It’s interesting to see how the characters have changed and what sort of mischief they’ve been up to since the events four years ago. Ryhalt is obviously scarred by the loss of Ezabeth and he remains a bit of a loner and a risk taker as well. He’s quite the workaholic, though he at least has some assistance now and then. Nenn is a rough character known for punching people in the face if they disagree, though she begins to show somewhat of a softer side here.

Overall I thought Ravencry was a solid sequel and I will absolutely be continuing on with the series. I just have to know what happens! I want more destruction, more of the Deep Kings, more of Crowfoot and his allies (a bit tenuous), and most definitely more Ryhalt. This is an excellent series and if you’re a fan of the grimdark subgenre and you haven’t checked this out then you are SERIOUSLY MISSING OUT ON AN AWESOME SERIES.