REVIEWS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: THE CURSE OF THE RAVEN (RAVEN SON BOOK 2) BY NICHOLAS KOTAR

Abstract:  A decent sequel.  This is a short, but packed, story, engaging in its angle and developments if leaning on the generic side.  I didn’t much like one character, but the main character is interesting.  Definitely kept me invested in the series going forward.

Content Warning (highlight to view): violent and disturbing events and images, demonic possession

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This time, we’ve got a short review for a short novella.  Before I get into the review, though, WARNING: AS THIS IS A SEQUEL BOOK IN A SERIES, THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR ANY PRIOR WORKS IN THE SERIES.  Now, onward.

The Curse of the Raven picks up some years after the events of The Song of the Sirin.  Vasyllia was betrayed fell to the Raven and its invading army.  The country is now surrounded by a wall, and the city has fallen into destitution.  While there are hints of insurgence groups, the story itself follows Llun, a blacksmith and one of the last true artists in the city.  One day, a servant of the Raven “requests” Llun craft a peculiar item, and now he faces the choice between losing everything he treasures and aiding the mysterious, but no doubt nefarious, purposes of the Raven.

First off, I am happy to say that Kotar displays a definite improvement in his writing in this novella.  His prose is better, though still rough, and his pacing is stronger.  His exposition flows better, and the conflicts he introduces, while nothing new, are done well enough to remain engaging.  I did find, though, that there weren’t as many stand-out moments as in The Song of the Sirin, which I attribute to the general (and understandable) lack of the Sirin themselves.  There are also still some awkward sections, and even a couple moments where I’m not actually sure what happened due to the phrasing or due to not being able to properly envision what a location looks like or how a scene plays how.  Still, there it is improvement.

I can’t say his dystopia stands out much, as regimes based on Nazi Germany/Soviet Russia are pretty common in fiction, but because the story focuses on an artist rather than the rebels, there is a different feel to it compared to most stories of this type.  Yes, there is a larger context alluded to throughout the book, but at the end it’s simply a story about a single man and the choices he makes when confronted with evil and despair.

In terms of characters, I found Llun interesting.  He isn’t a hero, nor is he a total coward.  He’s beat down and just wants to stay low and hold onto whatever he has left of his life.  But he still fights in small ways, whether he knows it or not, and his conflict is personal and understandable.  I can’t say I especially enjoyed his niece, though.  She’s supposed to be a child, but she doesn’t speak as one, which made her feel less like a person and more like a mouthpiece for the author, and for a good bit of the story, I didn’t find her endearing.  Still, I cared about her because Llun did, and by the end, she grew on me a bit.  The villains are okay, pretty standard, but little details here or there, like a member of the secret police being a lover of beauty, do help to humanize them in a way that I often find lacking in dystopian villains.  They aren’t great, but they work well enough for the story.

Overall, I liked this novella.  It didn’t have as many strong moments as The Song of the Sirin, but it also had fewer faults.  I’m certainly interested in seeing where the series goes next, and I suppose that’s one of the best things a mid-series book can do.