“She might win the throne. She might destroy an empire. Either way, it begins with murder.”
Okay, so The Raven Scholar is one of those insanely ambitious, charmingly chaotic, and uniquely unconventional stories that has absolutely zero business working as well as it does, and yet it absolutely soars. It’s part intricate epic political fantasy, part riveting murder mystery, part cutthroat competition for the crown, and just 100% playful, inventive, magnificent, and unpredictable fun.
Welcome to the deceptively sumptuous and sophisticated world of Orrun, where nothing is as it seems and danger, treachery and deceit lurk around every corner. We are dropped into this world during a pivotal moment in history, as emperor Bersun’s peaceful 24-year reign is about to come to an end. So, per tradition, the seven Animal Guardian Houses have all sent their best representative to compete in the trials to become his successor. But then, one of them dies before the competition can even start, and so chaos, drama and mayhem ensues.
Now, all I knew about The Raven Scholar before going in was ‘locked room murder mystery, but the locked room is an island’ and ‘cutthroat trials in a competition for the crown’, and that was all I needed to be sold. And honestly, would have been fine if that is all it delivered, but Hodgson said: “Hold my beer”, and then continued to weave a tale that is truly unlike anything I have ever read and which satisfied fantasy cravings I never even knew I could have.
I mean, it’s got a magnificent (queer-normative) world with a detailed history and rich mythos that comes to life through folktales, footnotes and all other kinds of historical gems scattered throughout the narrative, a wonderfully diverse cast of complex characters with strong (hidden) motivations whose vices and virtues are on full display, an omniscient sassy sentient raven POV who sweeps us throughout time and space, mischievous meddling gods, a second chance friends-to-rivals-to-lovers romantic subplot full of banter and snark, and tons of political intrigue that build up to a grand conspiracy ages in the making.
And as the cherry on top, we get to watch this magnificent tale unfold primarily through the eyes of our titular raven scholar Neema Kraa, who is absolutely one of the most compelling (female) main characters I have ever met. Not only is she a Black, neurospicy, socially awkward scholar in her mid-thirties (we love to see it), but she is also just such an idiosyncratic, walking contradiction of a woman who is way too intelligent for her own good. From the very first few chapters, which take place some years before the main events of the story and serve as a little tragic catalytic prologue, we see that she is willing to make very questionable choices to benefit herself; choices that will come back to haunt not only her, but the entire empire of Orrun.
As complicated as she is though, I absolutely adored her with all my heart and I had a blast following her as she is just desperately trying to survive what is possibly the worst week of her life. Through a series of unfortunate events, she has somehow ended up as the replacement for the murdered Raven contender and now has to participate in the cutthroat trials, while also leading the confounding murder investigation in which she she may or may not be a prime suspect, while also trying to wrestle with her confusing feelings for her frustratingly charming ex-lover who participates as the Fox contender (THE CHEMISTRY!!), while also reluctantly forming a bond with her new solitary raven companion who offers way too many unsolicited opinions (and who also has a tendency to burrow inside her chest). In other words, girlie deserves a break.
The uniquely clever way that she approaches the dangerous trials (in which she is SO out of her depth) and navigates all the intricate webs of silly court politics had me on the edge of my seat, and I loved seeing her interact with all the dangerously ambitious people around her, be they fellow competitors or any of the other larger than life characters that she crosses paths with. The complicated interpersonal relationships and razor-sharp, snark-laced dialogue in The Raven Scholar absolutely shine, and I loved seeing everyone clash or work together in the most unexpected ways.
Now, in a way it almost feels wrong to call Neema the main character of this story, not only because the scope just became bigger and bigger as Hodgson wove all the seemingly separate threads/perspectives of this story into one magnificent masterpiece, but also because each character in this tale just has big main character energy. There wasn’t a single character who didn’t leap off the page with personality, but especially Cain (my favourite food obsessed chaos queer), Sol and, most surprisingly, Ruko ended up really stealing the show for me.
And if this book wasn’t already captivating enough on its own, the audiobook experience just added a whole new level of life and immersion to it. The way that Daphne Kouma captured the legendary yet playful vibe of the story and brought all these characters, both human and non-human, to life is absolutely nothing short of masterful, and I think her narration and Hodgson’s evocative writing are just a match made in heaven.
There’s absolutely no denying that this book is unapologetically unconventional and indulgent, but there truly wasn’t a single aspect, scene, sentence or word in this story that didn’t entertain me. See, similarly to in Jenn Lyons’ A Chorus of Dragons series, there’s a certain cheeky charm to the writing that not only breathed so much life into this rich world and diverse cast of vibrant characters, but which also made me fly through this 700-page chunker without any effort.
The Raven Scholar just sunk its claws into my heart on the very first page and never let me go. It has absolutely soared straight to the top of my favourites list and single-handedly raised the bar for what epic political fantasy can and should be. And if that absolutely diabolical and bittersweet ending is any indication (hello emotional gut punches), then this is only the beginning of the wickedly wild ride that Antonia Hodgson has in mind for The Eternal Path Trilogy. So don’t walk, don’t run, but spread your wings and flock to the bookstore to get this absolute gem of a book, I promise you won’t be disappointed.
Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton Audio for providing me with an ALC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. The Raven Scholar is scheduled for release on April 17, 2025.
