The Raven Scholar

• Author: Antonia Hodgson
• Genre: Fantasy
• Publication Date: April 15, 2025
• Publisher: Orbit
• Series: Eternal Path Trilogy #1

Thank you to Orbit and Oliver Wehner for sending me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

From an electrifying new voice in epic fantasy comes The Raven Scholar, a masterfully woven and playfully inventive tale of imperial intrigue, cutthroat competition, and one scholar’s quest to uncover the truth.

Let us fly now to the empire of Orrun, where after twenty-four years of peace, Bersun the Brusque must end his reign. In the dizzying heat of mid-summer, seven contenders compete to replace him. They are exceptional warriors, thinkers, strategists—the best of the best.

Then one of them is murdered.

It falls to Neema Kraa, the emperor’s brilliant, idiosyncratic High Scholar, to find the killer before the trials end. To do so, she must untangle a web of deadly secrets that stretches back generations, all while competing against six warriors with their own dark histories and fierce ambitions. Neema believes she is alone. But we are here to help; all she has to do is let us in.

If she succeeds, she will win the throne. If she fails, death awaits her. But we won’t let that happen.

We are the Raven, and we are magnificent.

You know those books that just sound so good that you know you’re going to love them even before you start? This book is one of them. If you don’t already have this one on your TBR, if you’re a fantasy lover, add it. 

From the first moment I met Neema Kraa I knew I was going to love her as a character. And I was right. She’s brilliant and ambitious, but there were two things that I especially appreciated seeing in her: her flaws as well as her strengths, making her a much more relatable character, but I also really enjoy a good morally gray character, and Neema is certainly morally gray. She is a scholar who somehow gets thrown into a fierce and dangerous battle for the crown of Orrun, against competitors who seem far more qualified than Neema, yet she is a true underdog in this story.

The plot is incredibly intriguing, and I found each aspect to be equally fascinating, which is a rare gift to find in a book. There are so many different threads in the story, yet it never felt overwhelming or difficult to follow. I found the pacing to be fairly even, although there were some parts that dragged, and I figured that is because it is such a long book. Fortunately, I barely noticed how big it was (unless I had to lift it), because I got super caught up in the story and forgot everything else around me. And what is a royal competition without a little murder? Hodgson understood the assignment, because it is done so beautifully without ever coming across as a book geared towards YA readers.

A wonderful mash-up of fantasy, mystery, thriller, and a teeny hint of romance, this book truly shines in the world building aspect. Hodgson creates such a complex story without it ever feeling that is was as complex at is was simply because of her skill at story crafting. There are some scenes that hint towards a little romance, but that is as far as it really goes. If you don’t like romance mixed into your fantasy, this is a great book for you—instead of chasing potential partners, these characters are chasing ambition, and would could be more ambitious than competing as a challenger for the crown? At the heart of the story is the emphasis on the choices that each character makes and how that influences their lives. Each of the characters is vividly brought to life with Hodgson’s words, and the way that their strengths and flaws are present in the book, I loved getting to know these characters who felt so realistic. 

You might like this book if:

• You enjoy complex fantasy worlds.
• The idea of a royal competition has you already drooling over this book.
• Romance isn’t something you want to read with your fantasy.
• Morally gray characters chasing their goals with little regard to anything else is like catnip to you.

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