Review – Raven’s Ladder

Displaced King Cal-raven and his people must leave the shelter of Barnasham and head off to the New Abascar Cal-raven has seen in his dreams. But there are many obstacles to re-establishing his people, one of which is House Bel Amica. Their wealth, beauty, bounty, and strange religion all draw Abascar’s remnant in and ensnare them, making them want to stay in the seaside city instead of striking off for their new home.

Even Cal-raven gets sidetracked from his original plan (albeit it’s a good sort of sidetracked), agreeing to help Cyndere, Jordam, and Ale Boy rescue the prisoners of House Cent Regus.

I liked that the author showed us several characters’ points of view, including Jordam, Cyndere, Cal-raven, Tabor Jan, Emereine, Ale Boy, and others. I had hoped that many of the previous books’ characters would come into play, and I was not disappointed.

I’ve loved this series from the beginning. The first two books were incredible. Overstreet certainly has a gift for story-telling and for immersing his readers into the fictive fantasy world. However, this third book in the series made me feel like I was wading through molasses-too slow of a pace. Much of the problem was probably that I didn’t realize there would be a fourth book until the very end. That fact made me accept the open-endedness of this book and see it in a little different light. (‘Course, I’m the person who hated The Empire Strikes Back because it was too dark, hopeless, and left things hanging, so take my opinion for what it’s worth.) I think Overstreet focused more on character development here than packing the action, although there is plenty of that as well.

The positives far outweigh any negatives regarding this story. I have no doubt the last installment will be spectacular, and I look forward to reading it.