Review by Renee Storteboom -- Apollo's Raven
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Renee Storteboom
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- Latest Review: Apollo's Raven by Linnea Tanner
Review by Renee Storteboom -- Apollo's Raven
[Following is a volunteer review of "Apollo's Raven" by Linnea Tanner.]
I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars
The ancient Romans have their gluttonous eyes on Brittania in Apollo’s Raven, a historical fantasy novel by Linnea Tanner. There are druids and magic and curses, oh my!
Catrin is the youngest daughter of Amren, a king in Britannia. The Romans have arrived and allied themselves with Amren’s banished son Marrok, who did something sinister and mysterious to Catrin some years ago in the deep forest.
A mix of historical fantasy and romantic suspense, it also reads a bit like a mixture of Xena, Warrior Princess and Game of Thrones. Minus the dragons. There are ravens, yes. But only the two-eyed variety. No direwolves, just shape-shifting wolves.
Perhaps one of the most interesting elements of the plot is a curse etched on a blade that shifts and changes. Can the curse be turned onto another? Can it be erased?
As the Roman’s land, Catrin is just learning about her powers at mind-melding with her raven. She is tasked with guarding and perhaps seducing a Roman centurion’s son held as assurance as the king meets with neighboring royalty along with the Roman delegation. Everyone is bent on everyone else’s destruction except perhaps for Catrin and Marcellus the Roman. They have eyes—and hands—for only each other. But is this love? And can it overcome the chasm between their cultures and the scheming of the families they are each bound and loyal to?
Tanner is quite good with a turn of phrase. Amid palace intrigue and lusty, forbidden romances she gives such gems as “She felt her stomach drop like a hung corpse.” (18) And later there is a scene where “blood-red clouds began forming fangs in the molten sunset.” (275) Another of my favorites: “The unrequited moment sunk into Catrin’s belly like a glob of tar in water.” (101)
Occasionally, it’s a phrase to far: “His tavern opponent’s face had been sorrowfully ravaged by the storms of alcohol from the feast and the queen’s rebuke.” (109) Some of the action scenes read a bit sloppy, some of the physical couplings are a bit much. At one point a love scene ends with a raven attack. Don’t you hate it when that happens?
It is cleanly edited with a minimal amount of vulgar language. But plenty of sexual euphemism. It helps to embrace the melodrama.
The novel also introduced a new word to my vocabulary: eidolon. I am always glad to have a new word to throw around. You will have to look it up, just like I did.
The story ends on a cliff hanger leading the reader to ask if it is worth seeking out the next installment. If very ancient derring-do and lusty romance is how you like your historic fantasy, than I believe it is worth it.
******
Apollo's Raven
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes
I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars
The ancient Romans have their gluttonous eyes on Brittania in Apollo’s Raven, a historical fantasy novel by Linnea Tanner. There are druids and magic and curses, oh my!
Catrin is the youngest daughter of Amren, a king in Britannia. The Romans have arrived and allied themselves with Amren’s banished son Marrok, who did something sinister and mysterious to Catrin some years ago in the deep forest.
A mix of historical fantasy and romantic suspense, it also reads a bit like a mixture of Xena, Warrior Princess and Game of Thrones. Minus the dragons. There are ravens, yes. But only the two-eyed variety. No direwolves, just shape-shifting wolves.
Perhaps one of the most interesting elements of the plot is a curse etched on a blade that shifts and changes. Can the curse be turned onto another? Can it be erased?
As the Roman’s land, Catrin is just learning about her powers at mind-melding with her raven. She is tasked with guarding and perhaps seducing a Roman centurion’s son held as assurance as the king meets with neighboring royalty along with the Roman delegation. Everyone is bent on everyone else’s destruction except perhaps for Catrin and Marcellus the Roman. They have eyes—and hands—for only each other. But is this love? And can it overcome the chasm between their cultures and the scheming of the families they are each bound and loyal to?
Tanner is quite good with a turn of phrase. Amid palace intrigue and lusty, forbidden romances she gives such gems as “She felt her stomach drop like a hung corpse.” (18) And later there is a scene where “blood-red clouds began forming fangs in the molten sunset.” (275) Another of my favorites: “The unrequited moment sunk into Catrin’s belly like a glob of tar in water.” (101)
Occasionally, it’s a phrase to far: “His tavern opponent’s face had been sorrowfully ravaged by the storms of alcohol from the feast and the queen’s rebuke.” (109) Some of the action scenes read a bit sloppy, some of the physical couplings are a bit much. At one point a love scene ends with a raven attack. Don’t you hate it when that happens?
It is cleanly edited with a minimal amount of vulgar language. But plenty of sexual euphemism. It helps to embrace the melodrama.
The novel also introduced a new word to my vocabulary: eidolon. I am always glad to have a new word to throw around. You will have to look it up, just like I did.
The story ends on a cliff hanger leading the reader to ask if it is worth seeking out the next installment. If very ancient derring-do and lusty romance is how you like your historic fantasy, than I believe it is worth it.
******
Apollo's Raven
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes
Latest Review: Apollo's Raven by Linnea Tanner
