Ravensoul
Given that James Barclay killed off nearly every member of the Raven in his previous book, Demonstorm, news that he has written one final book in The Legends of the Raven series gave me great cause for concern. When on reading the blurb for Barclay's latest offering, I saw that the dead were coming back to life, I have to say I was given even greater cause for concern. Why would Barclay follow the blindingly obvious solution to his Raven-being-dead problem by bringing the dead back to life? Why couldn't he just let the Raven rest in peace?
In these days of fantasy and science fiction books being a dime-a-dozen, the concept of the dead coming back to life is certainly not a new one. You could say indeed that it's becoming something of a cliché in fantasy concepts. You understand then my concern on learning that Barclay took the obvious route to get round the Raven-being-dead problem. My greatest concern of all perhaps, was that Ravensoul would turn out to be some hashed-together cash-in on the legend of the Raven, praying on the good faith of Raven fans who were so bitterly disappointed by the startlingly poor showing of Demonstorm.
You'll be pleased to learn then, that Ravensoul is something of an unexpected return-to-form for Barclay, and is certainly a much better ending to The Legends of the Raven than the previous book.
Given the obvious problems in dealing with another dead-coming-back-to-life concept, and of course the startlingly bad predecessor Demonstorm, Barclay's achievements with Ravensoul are made all the more significant. The dead-coming-back-to-life issue is actually addressed with some skill, and a certain amount of originality (if such a thing is possibly) and as an issue it certainly doesn't seem out of the bounds of possibility given the Raven's previous adventures and the universe Barclay has spent so long creating in his previous books.
The plot, as you will no doubt have perhaps guessed by now, is fairly standard: the dead are coming back to life, and well, the Raven have to find a way to send them back. Matters are complicated along the way here with the emergence of the Garonin as a new enemy seeking to consume the world's mana.
You really do have to feel sorry for the inhabitants of Barclay's universe. Every other book seems to see the world sent into peril and as with all good heroic-fantasy, the body count is quite high. Indeed it's quite surprising there's anyone left at all after the events of Dawnthief, Elfsorrow and Demonstorm especially.
Regardless of whether there are actually any fighters left on Balaia or Calaius to fight the encroaching Garonin, Barclay deals with the invasion with typical gusto, and never once are we left in any doubt as to the magnitude of the threat facing our heroes.
One of Barclay's strengths has always been the masterful use of dialogue between his characters that show at times a depth far in advance of the generic norm that many fantasy fans will have come to accept as part and parcel of their beloved genre. The interaction of The Unknown, Ilkar, Denser and Hirad especially had me laughing out loud at times, and it was at one such moment that I was finally able to my finger on what exactly it is that makes Ravensoul such a good book.
Put simply, Ravensoul is a book about people.
It's a book about friendship; a book about love. On a deeper level, it's also a book about human motivation and the drives and desires of human beings. The story arc with Denser and his misplaced priorities is certainly the best example of this, and even though you have to feel the decisions he makes are very in-line with his character, you feel sorry for him nonetheless, knowing ultimately he will have to relent and recognize his own failings.
This isn't to say Ravensoul isn't without its failings. As with Demonstorm, there are times when the action can start to feel a bit repetitive as the writing loses a certain momentum (or perhaps the word is ‘flair'). I don't think this problem is necessarily a problem with Barclay's writing per se, but more a problem perhaps with the subject matter itself, and the fact there are just so many battles going on that after a point there is a limit to just how much description of beleaguered defenders a reader can take before it becomes slightly tiresome.
I don't want to disappoint anyone here but the other major problem I have with the book is the ending. The way things are resolved isn't quite as clear-cut as it might be, and I was certainly left with a feeling of confusion - especially when taken in light of Denser's decision and the future of elves and men. I must also give a special mention to the Garonin here. Their appearance in the Barclay universe was certainly unexpected so far as what all the previous Raven books have built up an image of the world, and it seems to me their existence to a certain extent, is to merely create another apocalyptical scenario for the Raven to deal with. Do I believe in the Garonin? In all honesty I'm not quite sure. What I do believe in however, is the characterisation of the Raven, and given the strength of Barclay's creation, I think I'm inclined to let the Garonin pass, even if just to allow the Raven to ride together once more and save the living and the dead, from peril.
Barclay says on his website that Ravensoul is definitely the last book following the Raven and given the ending, you can see why he might say that. As far as I can make out however, it seems that the ending is left in such a way that a return for the Raven is actually far more possible and indeed likely than it was at the end of Demonstorm. If the quality of Ravensoul is sign enough of Barclay's return to form, we can only hope he goes back on his word, as Ravensoul is quite simply, a storming good read, and plot-confusions aside, is one of the best books I've read this year.
