Guest Review: Raven’s Quest by Anya Bast

Posted February 8, 2011 by Book Binge Guest Blogger in Reviews | 0 Comments

Publisher: Berkley, Penguin


Mary’s review of Raven’s Quest by Anya Bast.

Epic fantasy romance from the New York Times bestselling author of the Elemental Witch quartet.

Branna ta Cattia is the Raven, a high priestess who has come to Numia to defeat its tyrant. It’s a journey made on the strength of her prophetic dreams, visions of ancient rituals, sacred spells, and of a handsome stranger destined to help her.

Once, Gallus Navius Lucian was in line to inherit the Dragon Throne of Numia—until his future was crushed and his family slain by his malevolent uncle Magnus. Now Lucan has only one ambition: to overthrow Magnus and take back what is rightfully his.

Branna ta Cattia is the Raven, a high priestess who has come to Numia to defeat its tyrant. It’s a journey made on the strength of her prophetic dreams, visions of ancient rituals, sacred spells, and a handsome stranger destined to help her—all in the name of stopping Magnus’s oppression. But Branna’s stranger is more than she expected. For Lucan wants victory his own way. To hell with the consequences.

As the magic of one woman’s love and the brute force of one man’s revenge unfold, Lucan and Branna realize their destiny as spirit mates—and their fears that the ultimate cost of winning freedom could be greater than either imagined.

Branna and her guard, Fiall, sneak into Numia in order to conduct a ceremony that will take Magnus’s ill-gotten magic away and save their country. They’ve trained for this mission for years, sure that their cover is solid. But they’re wrong. Little does Branna know but she’s made the first time she uses her magic. A telltale shimmer gives her away and immediately she’s on the run.

Lucky for her, Lucan, rebel leader extraordinaire (and former heir to the throne), is there to help her out. He takes her under his wing, mostly because he’s inexplicably drawn to her from the first moment he sees her. Branna feels the same way but she can’t do anything about it. She’s on the lookout for a specific guy, the one from her visions who will help her complete her mission. Of course, it’s really obvious to us as readers that Lucan is the man she’s looking for, Branna just needs to figure it out.

I had a hard time connecting with either of these characters. Branna was aggressive one moment then passive another, ethereal and priestess-y in one scene and earthy in the next. Lucan was a bit more steady in his character, though his immediate trust of this woman when he’s supposed to be protecting his people was a little iffy to me. He didn’t really know much about her but he brought her and her guard back to the rebel camp (which is magically protected but still). But love does make people do strange things.

The bad guys were creepy-bad. Magnus was an over-the-top egomaniac with a pet torturer on hand to keep all his people in line. He slaughtered his entire family (except for Lucan, who got away) to take the throne. He has pet sorceresses stolen from Branna’s country broken and completely under his control. Crispus, Magnus’s pet torturer, is a complete psycho who pretty much rubs his hands together in glee every time someone new is sent to him for questioning. Eek! But great bad guys.

While this wasn’t my favorite Anya Bast, I still enjoyed it for the subtle weaving of the love story and the interesting worldbuilding.

Rating 3.5 out of 5

This book is available from Berkley Trade. You can buy it here or here in e-format.


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