REVIEW: Lord of Ravens

Lord of Ravens is the third book in the Inheritance series. If you've happened upon this review and have not read my reviews of the first two books or have not read the first two books, I would strongly encourage you to start with my review of the first book, Jack of Thorns. The novels are connected, following a larger story arc surrounding the main characters, Laurence and Quentin.

If you've read the first two books, forge ahead!

I need to start by saying that this series just keeps getting better and better, but the situations that our main men find themselves in continue to provide more and more anxiety for me as a reader. I think that this just means that I'm getting more attached...

Laurence and Quentin's relationship continues its painful yet strangely satisfying slow progression. Faulkner's descriptions of their sexual exploits continue to ride the line between poetic and lewd, leaning heavily on the sensual. I find reading these scenes to be a deeply rewarding experience.

Lord of Ravens does quite a bit to expand the scope of the supernatural world that our main characters inhabit, introducing a magic system that is distinct from the psychic powers we've dealt with thus far. Faulkner also further explores the concepts of how gods function in the world, how they are born, and how they can be corrupted. These are concepts that I've seen explored in other non-fiction contexts and it is super interesting to see them play out in these novels, lending more credence to my suspicions that the author is either a magical practitioner of some sort of a great researcher (or possibly both).

Strong character development and world building continue to be mainstays of the series, wrought with a more than capable hand as always. Lord of Ravens starts to dig quite deep into both Laurence's and Quentin's pasts. Some dark themes and events are explored that, while hinted at in previous books, are laid bare in this installment. These were hard to grapple with as a reader, especially since I've become so invested in the happiness of the characters involved.

Unfortunately, Lord of Ravens seems to have a lot more editing errors/typos than I am used to. They brought me out of the moment while reading, as these things tend to do for me. What can I say? They offend my delicate sensibilities. They weren't so egregious as to warrant a demerit in my rating, but I do sincerely hope they are addressed in future editions and in future books. I'd hate to see things go down hill after such a strong start.

Having finished all of the books available at this time, I await the next installment of the Inheritance series with bated breath. I am both excited and terrified to see how things will progress...