#raven flight

[alcordraws]

My collection of dnd characters grows

[darkartfinds]

Raven Flight by nina-Y

[alcordraws]

Figuring out a design for my tabaxi rouge. Her name is Raven Flight but she goes by Harper

[alcordraws]

Local rogue fucking hates bards

[alcordraws]

Working on making my girl in doll form

[checkoutmybookshelf]

You Have My Attention: The Shadowfell Trilogy First Lines

Juliet Marillier has a unique authorial voice that I absolutely adore, and her heroines run the gamut from grouchy wise women to badass good girls. Neryn is an atypically soft protagonist, but I love her dearly. So how does Marillier pull you into Neryn's books?

As we came down to the shore of Darkwater, the wind sliced cold right down to my bones. My heels stung with blisters. Dusk was falling, and my head was muzzy from the weariness of another long day's walk. Birds cried out overhead, winging to nighttime roosts. They were as eager as I was to get out of the chill.

-- Shadowfell

As the lone traveler approached, the five Enforcers spread out in a line across his path. They waited in silence, a team of dark-cloaked warriors in full combat gear, astride their tall black horses. The fellow was roughly dressed--hooded cloak of gray felt, woolen leggings, battered old boots--and carried only a small pack and a staff. His gait was steady, though his head was bowed. He looked as if he'd been on the road awhile.

-- Raven Flight

Done. He was done. No more lies; no more acts of blind savagery; no longer any need to pretend that he was Keldec's loyal retainer. His precarious double life as Enforcer and rebel spy was over. He had turned his back on it, and he was going home.

-- The Caller

[checkoutmybookshelf]

The Trilogy That Surprised the Hell Out of Me

Tell me if this sounds familiar: You were raised on female protagonists in books who were extraordinarily competent. Whether they had to work for it (think Tamora Pierce's heroines or Patricia C. Wrede's Cimorene) or whether it came naturally (examples abound, don't make me list them), your typical SFF heroine could generally take care of business. So I was surprised as all hell when Neryn, one of Juliet Marillier's heroines, spent the trilogy fragile--for lack of a better word--and still managed to be immensely compelling and pull out some really surprising solutions to conflicts that were not variations on "beat the ever-loving snot out of the bad guys." This trilogy focused on community building and interpersonal support, and in a way that I honestly was not expecting. Let's talk the Shadowfell Trilogy.

The first book in the trilogy, Shadowfell, opens with a classic "dead parent in chapter 1," and just kind of keeps going downhill for Neryn. She is stuck trying to find the rebel training ground all by herself after her father's death (and frankly, that might be a good thing because he was about to sell Neryn off to pay his gambling debts), and despite help from the fair folk and the immensely sketch but seemingly on-her-side Flint, Neryn gets really, really sick.

I have to say, I appreciate that in a world with magic and fair folk, being malnourished, exposed to the elements, and quite frankly just delicate still leads to people getting sick. I also love that Neryn getting sick also connects so well to the wider world and overarching plot, because Neryn is a caller. In this case, a caller is essentially someone who can speak to the fair folk and at some level compel them. So naturally both our rebels and Keldec, our evil king, want to get their hands on this rumored caller. Fair folk intervention would change the balance of power in Alban, but so would Neryn dying of her illness.

Enter Flint. He is very clearly set up as a double agent, but what precisely his deal is in this book is not explained in detail, which lets us as readers judge him purely by his actions rather than his particular set of skills--and those will absolutely be an issue going forward. And in this book, he measures up well.

This book sets up Neryn's physical delicacy, which is going to be a motif throughout the rest of the trilogy, and her ability to still make a difference using the skills and knowledge she does have. Ultimately, Neryn does make her way to Shadowfell by the end of this book.

The second book, Raven Flight, introduces the rebels in more detail, but specifically Tali, who is basically glued to Neryn as a bodyguard because despite better food and care and some training, Neryn will simply not ever be a warrior. I literally cannot express how much I was loving having a physically fragile protagonist at this point, because this particular plot setup almost always requires a battle-capable protagonist who can step into either a hero or leadership role. Neryn is fascinating because she is not and will never be either of those things, but without her behind-the-scenes mission to the guardians, then the physical battles would ultimately not matter at all.

To just briefly take a break from the Neryn love, Tali's grouchy, no-nonsense, "love-is-an-unnecessary-vulnerability" attitude manages to be endearing rather than grating, and watching Tali learn to appreciate Neryn for herself is such fun to watch. Tali's arc, of going from muscle to someone who can lead, is not the main storyline, but makes for a really compelling B plot.

Shadowfell and Raven Flight are a little on the slow burn side (both for plot and romance), but The Caller move a bit faster. It has to, because Neryn, Tali, and Flint are literally in the lion's den when they have to infiltrate Keldac's court to ascertain the truth of rumors of a second caller.

Overall, and without spoilers, I was less of a fan of this trilogy than I was of other Juliet Marillier trilogies, but Iove that all of Marillier's heroines bring something different to the party, so reading her books never ever feels repetetive in the way that other authors with multiple series can. This trilogy is absolutely worth a read.

[ladyandherbooks]

Book Review 17 - Raven Flight

15/20

Raven Flight by Juliet Marillier is the second book in the Shadowfell trilogy. Neryn, now aware as her power as a Caller and living at the rebel base at Shadowfell now feels more secure and certain about herself and her future than she has in years. Now, along with rebel Tali she must find the 3 Guardians would can teach her to master her gifts, which, if mastered she could even amass a powerful army, an army that could free Alban from King Keldec's reign once and for all.