In the Empire of Orrun the people devote themselves to one of eight gods that watch over Orrun: the Fox, the Raven, the Tiger, the Ox, the Bear, the Monkey, the Hound, and the Dragon. Their choice is largely influenced by their personalities, and in turn largely influences how their future will play out. Neema has devoted herself to the Raven and is now Emperor’s High Scholar. She spends her days advising him and researching old folk tales that the Emperor is interested in. Then disaster strikes. It is time to pick a new emperor, but one of the nominees turns up dead. Worse, the manner of her death is prophesied to lead to the end of the world. Neema is both chosen to replace her and to solve her murder. But finding the truth will be very dangerous for Neema. She feels more alone than ever as she tries to navigate court politics while solving a murder and competing for a throne she doesn’t want. Neema is The Raven Scholar in Antonia Hodgson’s new epic fantasy novel, out April 15, 2025.
Warning: light spoilers for this story below! Note: While I am reviewing this book independently and honestly, a copy has been provided to me by Orbit books for the purpose of this review.
The Raven Scholar: A nonbeliever in a theocracy
The world of Orrun is a very religious world. The entire population believes in “the Eight”. The Eight are eight special guardians that have saved the world seven times. But legend says that if they ever come again, they will destroy it. So while everyone prays to these gods, devotes themselves to a special one, and models their whole life around the aspects of their special deity, they also hope to never see them. Whenever someone mentions the eight in conversation, everyone who is listening is expected to parrot “may they stay hidden” to make sure they don’t show up and destroy the world.
In this highly religious world is Neema. She offered herself to the Raven sect, but she doesn’t actually believe in the eight. She just wants to do her research and get along in life. When the emperor ends up being obsessed with her specialty, folk tales, Neema gets swept up into court life. She feels like a fish out of water at court but her emperor demands she be there, so there she is.
But now for the interesting part of the Orrun Empire: Emperor isn’t a hereditary position. In fact, children of emperors aren’t even eligible to rule. Instead, every 24 years they pick a new emperor.
Now it’s not so crazy that they actually get to vote or anything. Each sect of the Eight (Fox, Raven, Tiger, Ox, Bear, Monkey, and Hound) picks a candidate to compete. The Dragon sect wishes to remain self-governed on their own private island so they don’t actually compete, but in the spirit of the eight, they pick a proxy to fight for them. Each sect plans a challenge for the competitors. Whoever gets the most points is the emperor for the next 24 years.
So naturally, it’s time for a new emperor. Everyone gathers to start the festivities, but then the Raven competitor ends up dead. And not just any death, she appears to be murdered with a weapon that is prophesied to trigger the return of the Eight and the end of the world. The Eight don’t immediately destroy the world, so the emperor decides they must find out what really happened. Who better to solve this puzzle than his High Scholar, Neema?
Because the Ravens don’t have a champion anymore, they also need one of those. Because of the extreme circumstances, the emperor is allowed to pick her replacement and who better than, once again, his High Scholar, Neema?! Now Neema has four days to find out what happened to the Raven competitor, and at the same time she has to compete to become emperor and hope she’s not killed in the process.
Neema is out of her league, but she isn’t alone
Neema is less than thrilled with her circumstances. She feels completely alone. But she soon learns that she’s not as alone as she thought. Her childhood friend and ex-lover, Cain, is the Fox contender. He wants to win, but he still has feelings for Neema and wants to help her. But he’s a Fox and the Fox contender, so Neema doesn’t know if she can trust him.
Fenn is the one friend she’s made at court and he is always happy to help. Her new assistant Benna is very helpful, but as a new friend, Neema is unsure of her. And then there’s the Raven.
Yes, that Raven. Turns out the Eight are real after all. Dragon has had a vision that one of the competitors will trigger the end of the world and has sent Raven to prevent it. Raven tries to help Neema, but she’s even more distrustful of Raven than she is of Cain.
Neema must decide who she can trust and solve the mystery of who killed the first Raven contender. And now it looks like she must become emperor as well or the whole world will end. Her patron deity, the Raven, has a saying “We are the Raven and we are magnificent.” Neema will have to be magnificent to save the world, it turns out she’s amazing, but is she magnificent? That remains to be seen.
A long but exciting journey in The Raven Scholar
Whew! Okay, that was a long summary. But to be fair, The Raven Scholar is a long book. Clocking in at over 600 pages, Antonia Hodgson’s book makes a good doorstop. Not that you should use it for one! You should read it.
The Raven Scholar might be long, but it doesn’t feel long when you’re reading it. I managed to finish it in only two days. Now I read fast, it will probably take you longer, but it’s such a good story that you won’t mind. It’s full of fun and adventure, but it never gets overwhelming. On the other end, the story never drags. Nothing feels like filler. That’s quite a feat for over 600 pages, so I commend Hodgson on that accomplishment.
Furthermore, Neema is a great character. She’s the perfect example of my own personal motto, “just put one foot in front of the other and keep going”. She doesn’t feel equipped to deal with anything that’s happening to her, but she just does what needs to be done anyway.
Cain offers some great comic relief while still feeling like a real person. Fenn is so solid and strong. What can I say? Everyone wants a Fenn around! And all the other characters are so well drawn that they feel like real, whole people. Hodgson does an excellent job of bringing Orrun and its citizens to life. I want to go there so badly, although, maybe not until they sort out this whole next emperor problem.
My rating: 10/10
I’m lucky, I already got to have my adventure with Neema and the Eight, you can’t visit Orrun until April 15th. But that’s not too far away, mark your calendar, get your copy, and spend some time in Orrun this April! I swear to the Eight (may they stay hidden), you won’t be sorry.
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