4 out of 4 stars
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Apollo’s Raven by Linnea Tanner catapults you into a daring Celtic tale of forbidden love, magic, betrayal, and adventure in Britannia and Ancient Rome. Tanner has had a passion for ancient history, which all can see clearly in the first book of her historical fantasy series. This story takes place in 24 AD in Britain with the Celtic tribes before the Romans took it over. Tanner does an excellent job of portraying both Roman and Celtic mythology to portray an accurate description of the different cultures of that time.
King Amren of the Cantiaci Warriors has done some things in his past that have come to haunt him. His first queen has cast a curse on him, prophesizing that his exiled son, the blood wolf and his daughter, with the spirit of a Raven will come together to overtake his Kingdom; however, Catrin, King Amren’s youngest daughter learns of this prophecy. Catrin also finds herself in love with Marcellus, Mark Antony’s great grandson. The more Marcellus and Catrin get to know each other the deeper their affection grows. As their love for one another strengthens Catrin soon learns that she is the Raven and knows she must change the curse. As Catrin’s powers strengthen the curse begins to rewrite itself. Torn between her forbidden love for the enemy and loyalty to her family Catrin must summon the ancient powers of the Druids to come to her aid and help her rewrite, not only her future, but the future of those she loves as well.
Although the story surrounds Catrin and Marcellus, there are many other characters, such as Catrin’s evil half brother Marrock, Queen Rhiannon, the warrior Trystan, Catrin’s sister Mor and her forbidden love Belinus who also add their own plots and twist to this unique story. This story emphasizes women’s strength, as Catrin herself is a princess warrior. Another theme underlined in this book, besides mysticism and forbidden love is paying for the sins and mistakes of your parents. Both Marcellus and Catrin must pay for the mistakes their parents have made and both prove their loyalty to their own while trying to figure out how they can love one another.
This story was fast paced, and I found it hard to put the book down. At no point in time while reading this book did I feel bored. I would recommend this book to lovers of fantasy and historical fiction. There are some sex scenes in the book which would not make it suitable for younger audiences. What captivated me most about this book was Catrin’s and Marcelluus’ forbidden love. Along with them I enjoyed the fact that this book is written from multiple points of view and shows what each of the different characters are thinking and feeling throughout different points of the story. I also enjoyed that although Catrin and Marcellus are the main characters, this story has a lot of other characters with their own stories to tell. This gives the novel some extra flare.
I did not detect any significant errors in this book and it appeared as if the book was professionally edited. I absolutely loved this book and have already preordered the sequel; therefore, I rate this book a 4 out of 4 star rating. I cannot wait to read the next book and follow up on Catrin’s and Marcellus’s forbidden love.
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Apollo's Raven
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