Title: The Unkindness of Ravens (Trickster's Mark Book One)

Publisher: Bimulous Books

Author: Abra Staffin-Wiebe

Pages: 114 pp

Price: $9.95 / $3.99

The oba is dead. The Eight Great Houses have gathered to select a new leader from among the royal heirs. Anari of House Crow is one such heir, but he is well aware that his House God does not favor him. He will have to go into exile with a few loyal servants, living out his life among foreigners and the Scorned. But when he is poisoned and nearly killed, Anari is forced to flee the capital. Taken in by a small group of Scorned, Anari's eyes are opened to the reality of what is happening in his country, and the true reasons behind the on-going war between his people and the foreigners. And then he attracts the attention of the Crow God Himself ....

African-based fantasy is hard to come by (or maybe I've just been looking for it in the wrong places). When an advanced copy of The Unkindness of Ravens popped up on netgalley, I read the synopsis and immediately downloaded it. A few weeks passed before I as able to read it, but, once I started, I devoured the book.

The world-building in The Unkindness of Ravens is amazing for such a short novel. Staffin-Wiebe weaves information about the Houses, the Gods, and the society they have created throughout the story, dropping just enough each time to keep the reader from being lost, but not so much as to be overwhelming. It is a rare skill to present such information organically within a story without it feeling like an intrusive "Look, Reader, important info here!" moment. For example, Anari refers to the oba as his "seed father." Eventually, the reader figures out that the oba takes one spouse from each of the Eight Houses, and any children born of those unions are members of that House but also royal heirs. If a woman is chosen as oba, she not only takes a husband from each House, but also has co-wives who wed the same men; and their children are also considered royal heirs.

The House structure is complex, but not confusing. Each House is patronized by a different God (e.g., Horse, Hyena, Viper, et cetera). Each House also has a number of sub-houses, or Bands, who honor a lesser God (e.g., Band Mule of House Horse). House Crow was once a Band within House Raven, until Crow attracted enough followers and gained enough power to break away; hence the rivalry between the two Gods, which is passed down to their Houses. On top of that, the members of each House display physical characteristics modeled after those of their House God, as well as psychological/spiritual advantages and disadvantages. As a member of House Crow, Anari is smaller than most men, but also quick and cunning. The members of rival House Raven tend to be larger, more aggressive, and quicker to anger, but also serve as priests of the dead.

It should be apparent by now that The Unkindness of Ravens is a thoroughly polytheist fantasy. The Gods are very real and very active in the lives of the people, right down to affecting their physical and mental development. And while the people may not necessarily love their Gods (it's complicated), they are deeply respectful of the Gods' power and authority and of the laws they have established.

At only eight chapters, The Unkindness of Ravens is a quick read. But it is exciting and fascinating and fun, with terrific characters, a bit of a mystery, and the fate of an entire kingdom at stake.

Highly recommended to fans of Aliette de Bodard, P. Djélí Clark, Rebecca Roanhorse, and Charles Saunders.

I received an ARC of this from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this Novella. It was a quick, light fantasy read in a world where different clans (?) are fighting for control of the kingdom once the Oba dies. These clans are separated according to specific animals who are their gods. Certain special members of the clans are offered the gods favour in the form of special powers, etc. And when there is a challenge for control of the kingdom, these favours come into play.
I really enjoyed the story and the characters. I wish there was more story to read since this was such a huge tease.
Please continue this story line because I need to find out what happens!

This novel follows the royal heir, Anari. He is from House Crow which worships Lord Crow. There are Eight Houses that each worship a different Lord and therefore have different physical and magical attributes and rules. The current Oba (ruler) is dying and a new ruler must be chosen before he dies. Anari doesn't want this so he decides to go into exile. While in exile he meets some infidels (enemies) and the Scorned (forsaken ones).

The characters were very well written. I liked Anari, in the beginning he is a spoiled heir who knows nothing about the people around him. He is forced to quickly grow and learn how to survive in his new role or die trying. The friendship between Anari and Kayin was well developed in such a short novel. I was worried near the end about how it would all turn out.

The plot was good with a nice blend of action and suspense. The ending surprised me, I really never saw this coming. Not only did Anari save two groups of people but he also increased the power House Crow will have in the future. The backstory was amazing with great detail given to the world at large. I loved reading about each House and their own intricacies. I wish there would have been more though as I really enjoyed this part of the novel best.

Thank you to Bimulous Books and Netgalley for the ARC. I would recommend this novel to all high fantasy fans out there.

this was a very original novella, set in a high fantasy version of a west african country in which the gods are real, and one god presides over each of the eight houses. unluckily for anari, the heir to house crow and a contender for the throne, lord crow is a trickster god. luckily, anari has a few tricks of his own...

i liked the mythology a lot, although because this was a novella there was definitely room for development. although the plot was resolved, there still was a whisper of a suggestion that there might be a sequel in the future, which might expand on the world-building. i also really liked anari's character development from being a somewhat snotty high-class heir to understanding the plight of the lowest caste in the country, the Scorned.

overall, i'd say this was worth reading if you're into high fantasy, because it definitely seems quite fresh, and is a welcome respite from the twelve million high fantasies out there that draw off medieval europe.

Great title. Okay book. I can see some of our YA patrons really enjoying this one though. We'll give it a shot.

This review is the same as on Goodreads, but without the spoilers.

This was not a long book?? I mean, I didn’t expect it to be long for some reason, but it was really short. That was both positive and negative and I’d like to think the fast pace worked in its favor. If you have nothing to do for a few hours, I highly recommend this book.

There are eight Great Houses, let’s see if I can name them all: Crow, Raven, Rat, Horse, Fox, Viper (I forgot about Hyena and Locust).

What do we get in this story? Anari plans on not dying after the old oba dies and a new oba is chosen. So he goes into hiding somewhere. That goes wrong and he has to find a way to survive. The end.

Anari is exactly what you expect from a prince-like character. He knows his own truth and that of his people and doesn’t think beyond that. Until he has to adapt (and he does so wonderfully). I feel like a proud mother when I think of him.
Kayin is his childhood friend but also a rival?? He doesn’t get to speak except in flashbacks and near the end of the book, so it was kind of hard to get to know him. Like Anari said it, both wanted best for their people, but they made different decisions in doing so.
Lord Crow is a trickster god. But also not really. He didn’t do much tricking as far as I know. If anyone did the tricking, it was Anari…
The Scorned were a colorful bunch!

I think the story could have been better developed, with more background information and definitely more about the relationships between the Eight Great Houses. In a sequel perhaps? Lord Crow said he wasn’t done yet with Anari and I hope we’re not either.

I LOVED THIS BOOK!!! (Sorry, had to get that out of the way before I went on.)

From the very beginning of The Unkindness of Ravens, Abra Staffin-Wiebe has you fully engaged in the world of House Crow and House Raven (two of the Eight Great Houses). I didn’t even realize how emotionally attached I was to two of the main characters, Anari and Kayin, until Anari is close to death in the first few pages…

I knew he had to live.

According to the description of the book, there was no book without him. And yet…

My heart was beating hard in my chest and I had tears in my eyes. Not only was I worried for Anari, but for Kayin (who I was both feeling mad at and worried for at the same time)! I couldn’t imagine this world without Anari in it and I couldn’t help but feel for Kayin…what would he do without Anari? What would happen if Anari died right in front him? I wanted to hug him and tell him everything would be okay and smack him at the same time!

This wasn’t chapters in where I’ve been given plenty of time to warm up to these characters, ya’ll…we’re talking the beginning of the story!

The description of both the action and the world is so artfully described that I felt as if I had left this world completely and been dropped right smack dab into the book. At one point, Anari is hiding in plain sight on a battlefield among the dead. I actually wrinkled my nose as if I could actually smell the rotting corpses. Here’s an excerpt from that scene:

…He took shallow breaths through his mouth, but the stench of meat just beginning to go off wormed its way inside his nostrils. He swallowed down an upsurge of bile. He had expected corpses to be stiff, but lying in the heat for hours had made them soft and squishy. They could not be mistaken for living flesh. One of the corpses sighed against his cheek like a love. The fine hairs on the back of his neck stood on end…

I could tell there were a lot of differences between each House. Each member of a House had specific traits, abilities, and tendencies. As you read through the book you learn more about the Houses, but mostly about House Raven and Crow. For much of the book, I kept thinking ravens and crows are so similar, why are there even two houses? (This was explained.) But I got chills when I read Kayin’s explanation to Anari of the difference between Crow and Raven:

Crows like to flock. Together, they make a murder of crows. A group of ravens, called an unkindness, only comes together in two places: battlefields and graveyards, where the bones of men fall.

When I finished The Unkindness of Ravens, I was hungry for more! Not because the ending wasn’t sufficient, but because I feel emotionally invested in these characters and have a deep desire to want to learn what happens to them next.

I’m definitely going to need to pick up a copy of this book once it’s published!

THANK YOU TO NETGALLEY FOR PROVIDING ME WITH A COPY OF THIS BOOK IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW!

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with a free, digital copy of The Unkindness of Ravens, in exchange for an honest review.

Fantasy is my go-to genre, as I've said time and again. And these days it seems that most new stories are focused on fae characters. So the magical world and characters in The Unkindness of Ravens are a welcome breach in the trend. The world building is close to reality and many words in terms of language and currency appear to be borrowed from indigenous regions of Africa and Middle East (to the best of my knowledge). In my opinion this makes the story more appealing especially to a wider, more diverse range of readers, however I did not see this discussed on any sites that I used to read up on the author and book premise before-hand and discovered it on my own upon reading the book. I feel that it is important to mention this here because it might increase the chances of a reader picking the book up as a potential read if they know their culture or values have been referenced (I certainly would be interested!).

The writing is smooth and straight forward. I found the descriptions vivid without being overbearing and the characters well-rounded. They appear unique and the dialogue is simple and friendly enough to engage the reader and make it appear as though you've been familiar with these characters for a while. Some details take a little time to unfurl. In the beginning I would be unclear on minor points such as the hierarchy of the country, who were the Scorned, why they were shunned, why the war was being fought etc but all was explained in due time, and I was definitely intrigued enough to stick around and find out. Anari seems immature and annoying in the beginning (which are not traits I like to see in my main characters) but I believe that this may have been deliberate on the part of the writer as the story shows the extension and growth of his character through his thoughts and actions and by the end he certainly redeems himself as the sacrificing, noble hero that fantasies entail, while still being appropriately flawed and human. I definitely appreciated the exploration of his relationships with other characters (Kayin, his mother, Romesh and Rasee & her family).

One of my favourite things was how monumental his suffering at the battlefield was because usually in these scenarios the character suffers a minor inconvenience and is then saved by a new character and this is considered enough to be contributing to the plot but here the damage is severe and truly instrumental to the outcome of Anari's journey. Furthermore, the language used is raw and jarring which helps deliver the full effects of his ordeal. The book itself is a short read and this makes it great for some light reading without the commitment of a full series.

Overall, the narrative stands out and the conclusion leaves room for the story to continue (even perhaps from the point of view of other characters). If that were the case, I would certainly love to read it and hope to obtain a physical copy of this one when it is published.