Flight of the Raven

Jennifer Roberson has written a fantastic, sweeping series that spans generations. It is so much more than cliche sword and sorcery fantasy. It's about moral struggles, genocide, and prejudice. This installment is my favorite of the series because the main character, Aidan, is such an interesting person with an unusual lir (animal familiar). His inner struggle to find his place in the destiny of his people is so important that he is gently prodded along by several of the Cheysuli deities. The history of what has happened in the series so far is revisited in Aidan's encounters with the spirits of his long-dead royal kin. One thing - don't even bother trying to read this book unless you have read the first six. Briefly: Book One, Shapechangers, is an enchanting introduction to the world of the Cheysuli; Book Two, The Song of Homana, was kind of slow and hard to get through for me, but thank goodness I did because the rest of the series is so fantastic; Book Three, The Legacy of the Sword, covers the struggle of Donal, the first Cheysuli Mujhar, to be accepted by the people he must rule; Book Four, Track of the White Wolf (which is my second favorite of the series), is about Niall, who hovers between the world of the Cheysuli and the Homanans without really being a true part of either one; Book Five, A Pride of Princes, is about the terrible experiences at the hands of the malevolent Ihlini that cause Niall's three sons to come of age; Book Six, Daughter of the Lion, switches gears and focuses on Keely, Niall's daughter, and her fight to accept the womanhood she's tried to ignore; Book Eight, A Tapestry of Lions, is the magnificent conclusion of the series with the fulfillment of the prophecy coming in an unexpected fashion and one of the best endings I've ever read in a fantasy series.

I read the Cheysuli Chronicles as an adolescent but find myself picking them up time and time again to reread them and delve back into the depths of this portion of Cheysuli History in Homana. Flight of the Raven has been a long-standing favorite of mine. Aidan is an excellently developed character--he is probably my favorite out of all the Cheysuli royalty. Ms. Roberson once again manages to portray Aidan and the rest of the characters in a manner that forces you to empathize with them and share in their internal struggles, fears, hopes, and dreams. This novel stands apart from the rest of the Cheysuli Chronicles as it delves more closely into the mysteries of the Gods and is generally more spiritual. As with the rest of the Chronicles this novel pitts Cheysuli against Ihlini, but the struggle in this novel has the highest stakes I've seen yet and is definitely the most heart-wrenching. I recommend it to those who have read the rest of the series.

I have read the whole series and highly recommend all of them. Ms. Roberson is creative and thought provoking. She accomplishes both with a beautiful writing style that evokes very real images of her characters, their personal triumphs and tragedies and that of the Cheysuli race. There is tragedy and triumph in abundance here from a fertile and well thought author and while eight books may seem like many, it won't after you have read the first one! Read and enjoy!

you really cant just read one you gotta read the whole set they are really great Jennifer Roberson really knows how to write a story. Donna Sanchez,Los Alamos, New Mexico