Are you interested in hearing a legendary tale from a crow god about a political clusterfuck during the succession of a richly written fantasy empire? If so, stick around. The Raven Scholar has exploded out of nowhere from a book that I hadn’t heard of to one of my top contenders for best of 2025. It is the first book in the Eternal Path Trilogy, by Antonia Hodgson, and while it is only the first (700-page) entry in the story, there is enough in this one book to muscle out most other complete fantasy sagas. Hodgson, according to her bio, has been a historical fiction, crime, and mystery writer for many years. She has apparently taken everything she has learned from those genres and brought it to fantasy to explosive success. There is a lot going on with The Raven Scholar, so let me try to sell you on why this should be on your TBR list as soon as possible.
The empire of Orrun is at a point of inflection. Bersun the Brusque has reached the end of his reign. Every twenty-four years, the bylaws of the Empire state that the crown must pass to a new leader in the government. There are strict rules on who can and can’t qualify for the throne, and even if you are nominated, there is a grueling trial process to whittle down the contenders to the new ruler. Seven contenders from different governmental clans compete to replace Bersun in the dizzying heat of summer. There are fights, puzzles, and competitions to identify the most fit to lead Orrun. Usually, the competition is a source of entertainment and a force that shapes the incoming administration, so every citizen keeps an eye on what is happening to see what the new Emperor might do to change their world. Everything is going very well, but then one of the contenders is murdered.
It falls to our main protagonist, Neema Kraa, the emperor’s brilliant, idiosyncratic High Scholar, to find the killer before the trials end. But as she digs into the events surrounding the contenders, she finds them inextricably linked to herself and begins to uncover secrets that could undermine the entire Empire.
Where to start with a book this vast and with so many positive qualities? I suspect it will be easiest to focus on the book’s three best in class areas: worldbuilding, characters, and exposition–but don’t yell at me as I meander into multiple other avenues of praise. The worldbuilding in this book is phenomenal. In order to have a compelling political intrigue/mystery story, you need to have readers buy into and believe in the structure of the world the author sets up. Hodgson achieves this on a level up there with the greatest in the genre. The entire Empire is a fascinating beast. The governmental departments are divided into eight animal houses (Raven, Fox, Monkey, Ox, Bear, Tiger, Hound, and Dragon) in that delightful classic fantasy trope of “here are cool teams, don’t you want to be a part of their amazing culture and lore?” The interesting twist here is that each of the animal factions has their own spirit god, but no one is born into or predetermined into any of the departments. They are literal governmental areas with divine mascots that must be petitioned and accepted into. The Ravens, for example, cover most of the jobs that align with the patron deity’s interests: curiosity and organization. The Ravens are often historians, bureaucrats, scholars, investigators, and organizers.
Each of the gods of Orrun is made up of all of the mythical versions of their animal totems, and the gods can fragment themselves into their different elements to affect the world for a myriad of different agendas. This creates this endless tapestry of lore where “The Raven God” is essentially the intersection of a Venn diagram of all of the different myths about ravens from the people-–but the different elements of The Raven God all have their own agendas as well. This results in an infinite number of different competing agendas on both a celestial and terrestrial level.
All of these divine plots are assisted by an absolutely legion of fabulous characters who will each endear or revile themselves to you the second you meet them. Kraa is a young, brilliant black woman from the slums of the Empire, trying to carve out an existence for herself in the heart of the capital. After a truly awful and grueling existence at court and the threat of being banished back to the slums, she is offered the chance for status, respect, and a life if she just bears witness to an awful crime. She takes the deal, and so begins the haunting of her life as the choice ties her to the fate of the competition. She is brilliant, inspiring, funny, stoic, and has a wonderful page presence that I loved every moment of. It helps that she is surrounded by an enormous supporting cast that is each so fleshed out that it makes most genre protagonists look bad. I don’t have time to list them all one by one, but please know that her love interest is possibly one of the wittiest characters of all time (he would be a top contender in our 2024 March Madness bracket), and that I would die for the head of the Ox branch of the Empire.
This world and its characters likely feel so impactful and connected because Hodgson is an absolute master of weaving in exposition to her story without using any awkward info dumps. This is the sort of story that is best going in as little as possible (and I have tried to be as circumspect as possible with what I have already told you vs. what I am holding back). The reason for that is that every single interaction, every single glance that a character has at their surroundings, feels like the perfect delivery of new information and mysteries to keep you glued to the page. Hodgson treats it like a murder mystery, being incredibly thoughtful of how much of her hand she shows, and when she shows it. The result is an immediately powerful connection to the characters, world, and intrigues. There are so many twists and upheavals in this story, and they all feel perfect. Every chapter left me hungry for more. Every piece of the puzzle we find expands the canvas’s boundaries.
The result is a book that I read in two days despite its huge size. I have called the other site reviewers multiple times, each, telling them to buy it. I couldn’t even wait until our end-of-the-year book club to force them to read it then, I want to talk to someone about it now. And the best part? It came out this week. You could have it in your hands right now. The Raven Scholar is absolutely going to be a huge hit once people start noticing it. Its blend of multiple genres, rich world, lovable characters, and gripping plot makes it a top contender for the best science fiction and fantasy of 2025.
Rating: The Raven Scholar – 10/10
-Andrew
An ARC of this book was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. The thoughts on this book are my own.
