Flight of the Raven
(The Ravenwood Saga #2)
By Morgan L. Busse
Christian Fantasy
Paperback & ebook, 352 Pages
April 30th 2019 by Bethany House Publishers
Selene Ravenwood, once the heir to House Ravenwood, is now an exile. On the run and free of her family's destiny, Selene hopes to find the real reason her family was given the gift of dreamwalking. But first she must adapt to her new life as wife to Lord Damien Maris, the man she was originally assigned to kill.
While adjusting to her marriage and her home in the north, her power over dreams begins to grow. As the strongest dreamwalker to exist in ages, her expanding power attracts not only nightmares but the attention of the Dark Lady herself.
With a war looming on the horizon and a wicked being after her gift, Selene is faced with a choice: embrace the Dark Lady's offer, or search out the one who gave her the gift of dreamwalking. One path offers power, the other offers freedom. But time is running out, and soon her choice will be made for her.
My Review:
Picking up right where the last book left off, Selene is adjusting to her new life with her new husband, and continuing her quest to to find the reason behind her dreamwalking gift. With tensions mounting between the great houses and possible war on the horizon, she must choose if she will serve the Dark or the Light.
Selene is courageous and brave leaving everything that she knew to blaze a new path for her and House Ravenwood. She faces the challenges of a new marriage, her growing unknown powers, and the conflict within for her soul. I admired her heart for others, and how even though she plays her cards close to her chest, she cares very deeply.
I think my very favorite thing about this book was the relationship between Damien and Selene. It isn't easy, but Morgan Busse does an excellent job of shining a light on their ups and downs amongst the growing tensions and unknowns on the horizons.
Damien is amazing, he deeply respects Selene and supports her even when he doesn't know if he can trust her or not, he bravely puts himself out there again and again. I loved how even though it would have been so easy to make him some perfect white knight in shining armor, he has his doubts and darks days too. I admired how his faith is a way of life for him and affects everything he does.
Overall, a thrilling follow up to Mark of the Raven, it's rare that I like the middle book in a trilogy, as they often carry the "filler book stigma," but not this one, in in fact I like it more than the first book. In this book the stakes are raised, great risks are taken, there are satisfying beginnings as we see Damien and Selene come to trust each other, as well as a deeper more vulnerable side of Selene that she used to keep hidden. The characters are complex, and you know it's done right when you can sympathize with the villain. I had a very busy week when I read this book, yet I couldn't put it down and often read late into the night, the time and the pages just flew by and sometimes I forgot I was reading. I haven't read a fantasy series this amazing in a long time and it truly checks all of the boxes for me, fantastic plot, compelling balanced characters, great interaction, tension, secrets, actions, mounting stakes, explosive climax and strong faith imagery. You won't want to miss it!
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
My Review:
Picking up right where the last book left off, Selene is adjusting to her new life with her new husband, and continuing her quest to to find the reason behind her dreamwalking gift. With tensions mounting between the great houses and possible war on the horizon, she must choose if she will serve the Dark or the Light.
Selene is courageous and brave leaving everything that she knew to blaze a new path for her and House Ravenwood. She faces the challenges of a new marriage, her growing unknown powers, and the conflict within for her soul. I admired her heart for others, and how even though she plays her cards close to her chest, she cares very deeply.
I think my very favorite thing about this book was the relationship between Damien and Selene. It isn't easy, but Morgan Busse does an excellent job of shining a light on their ups and downs amongst the growing tensions and unknowns on the horizons.
Damien is amazing, he deeply respects Selene and supports her even when he doesn't know if he can trust her or not, he bravely puts himself out there again and again. I loved how even though it would have been so easy to make him some perfect white knight in shining armor, he has his doubts and darks days too. I admired how his faith is a way of life for him and affects everything he does.
Overall, a thrilling follow up to Mark of the Raven, it's rare that I like the middle book in a trilogy, as they often carry the "filler book stigma," but not this one, in in fact I like it more than the first book. In this book the stakes are raised, great risks are taken, there are satisfying beginnings as we see Damien and Selene come to trust each other, as well as a deeper more vulnerable side of Selene that she used to keep hidden. The characters are complex, and you know it's done right when you can sympathize with the villain. I had a very busy week when I read this book, yet I couldn't put it down and often read late into the night, the time and the pages just flew by and sometimes I forgot I was reading. I haven't read a fantasy series this amazing in a long time and it truly checks all of the boxes for me, fantastic plot, compelling balanced characters, great interaction, tension, secrets, actions, mounting stakes, explosive climax and strong faith imagery. You won't want to miss it!
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Other Books in the Series
Mark of the Raven
(The Ravenwood Saga #1)
By Morgan L. Busse
Christian Fantasy
Paperback & ebook, 352 Pages
November 6th 2018 by Bethany House Publishers
Lady Selene is the heir to the Great House of Ravenwood and the secret family gift of dreamwalking. As a dreamwalker, she can enter a person’s dreams and manipulate their greatest fears or desires. For the last hundred years, the Ravenwood women have used their gift of dreaming for hire to gather information or to assassinate.
As she discovers her family’s dark secret, Selene is torn between upholding her family’s legacy–a legacy that supports her people–or seeking the true reason behind her family’s gift.
Her dilemma comes to a head when she is tasked with assassinating the one man who can bring peace to the nations, but who will also bring about the downfall of her own house.
One path holds glory and power, and will solidify her position as Lady of Ravenwood. The other path holds shame and execution. Which will she choose? And is she willing to pay the price for the path
chosen?
You can read my review here: https://labornotinvain.blogspot.com/2019/01/mark-of-raven-by-morgan-l-busse-review.html
chosen?
You can read my review here: https://labornotinvain.blogspot.com/2019/01/mark-of-raven-by-morgan-l-busse-review.html
About the Author
Morgan L. Busse is a writer by day and a mother by night. She is the author of the Follower of the Word series and the steampunk series The Soul Chronicles. She is a Christy and INSPY Award finalist and won the Carol Award in 2018 for best in Christian speculative fiction. During her spare time she enjoys playing games, taking long walks, and dreaming about her next novel.
Tour Schedule
Tour Giveaway
- 2 winner winners will receive print copies of Mark of the Raven and Flight of the Raven
- US only
- Ends June 7, 2019
Hallo, Hallo Faith,
ReplyDeleteI loved the slow burn romance between Damien and Selene!! I felt Busse did a great job at showing a realistic relationship wherein both parties had to grow in their trust of each other (esp due to the circumstances) whilst they each had a path riddled with adverse situations. Selene had to sort through the internal turmoil of her gift and the past legacies of her family but I felt Damien had an equal difficulty in resolving his past against his future. They were beautifully fleshed out and I enjoyed hugging close to both characters to see what they would decide and how they would affect each other's choices.
Similar to you, this was an entry in both High Fantasy and Dark Fantasy I felt was a wicked good unpuntdownable read!! I was so thankful I could focus on this series - I had 4x migraines this month which wrecked my reading life but to think I could enter into these stories and read them back to back within a day's start -- it was its own blessing of grace!
So happy I've followed the blog tour route and have been finding fellow readers to continue to discuss this series! I hope you'll swing by my blog and see if something I've shared has resonated with you as well.
Thanks for stopping by! This is one of the best Christian fantasy books I've read in a long time--so glad you loved it too! I don't know if I can wait a whole year for the conclusion!
DeleteNor do I!! It almost feels like too long to wait but I know the best series I've read in the past have the same wait-time - such as #theclanchronicles - goodness! Therefore, I have to remember to be patiently faithful - its the leaving of this world that is going to be emotionally gutting I think... you and I are just not ready to say our 'goodbyes'...
DeleteSaw you are following me on Twitter and I have followed you back! *waves*