The Raven Tower – Emma Miles

Boy, do I have a treat for you all today with the latest offering from the wonderful Emma Miles.

BLURB:

What price will Kesta and the fire-walkers have to pay to keep their people from enslavement? The raids were more ferocious, more desperate and much earlier in the year. When Kesta sees in the flame who is really behind the attacks the Independent islands of the Fulmers seem doomed to fall. Their only hope is to cross the sea to seek the help of the King of Elden and his sorcerer, the Dark Man.

PURCHASE LINKS:

Amazon.com

Amazon UK

REVIEW:

One of the downsides about being lucky enough to get your hands on books to review before they are released is that occasionally a book comes along that you are desperate to discuss with a friend who has also read it, but of course, you can’t, because none of your friends have read it yet. The Raven Tower is one such book. Once I started reading, I just devoured it! Fortunately, I happened to open it up when I had the house to myself, because to be perfectly frank, I don’t think people would have got a lot of sense out of me while I was reading it – plenty of dirty looks if they dared to interrupt me, but not an awful lot else.

Having previously read another of Emma’s books, Hall of Pillars, I was reasonably confident that I would enjoy The Raven Tower, but it went so much further than that. It just had everything I want from a fantasy novel – foreign lands, ancient magic, and of course a mysterious but irresistible man to swoon over.

As I read, I found that parts of the book put me in mind of C.S. Lewis’s Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (to my mind, the two best books from Narnia), although I must confess, I can’t quite put my finger on what it was. Maybe the oppression of magic in some, and the ability to communicate with animals in others, or maybe just the wonderful descriptions of the different landscapes encountered by the various characters. Whatever it was, this book gave me the warm feeling of returning to my reading roots.

There are so many things from The Raven Tower that I could tell you I loved, but honestly we would be here all day! There are just a couple though that I have to mention. Firstly, I was thrilled to see that for Kesta’s people, at least, women are equally as strong as the men, and in some cases even more powerful and important. As much as they might like to have a man around, they certainly don’t need one to save the day for them. Secondly, although I loved every character that we met and got to know, I wanted to tell you the names of my favourites – Merkis Tantony and Azra. That’s all I am saying on the matter, but pick up a copy of the book and I am sure you will see why.

A part of me feels that I should counter some of this gushing praise with some of the areas of the book that I liked less, but honestly, I can’t think of any. The only negative I can come up with is that there isn’t already a sequel for me to read! Hurry up Emma! Please write me a sequel because I have to know what happens next!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

I presently live in the stunning county of Dorset where I’m a cat slave to Wolfe and Piglitt I spend as much time as I can outside in nature and love exploring and learning about new cultures and languages. I’ve visited Greece, Serbia, Transylvania, Sicily and Norway as well as making several road trips around our beautiful United Kingdom. I paint, sculpt, dabble in photography and do a little archery but most of all – whenever I get a chance – I write.
My writing started from a very young age when I often found myself being the one taking charge of and entertaining all my younger cousins. They loved to hear my stories and although they mostly called for ghost stories it was fantasy I fell in love with when I read The Lord of the Rings when I was ten. I went on to write stories and short ‘books’ for my friends through school and college; then one evening whilst I was waiting for my aunt and uncle to visit an image came to my mind of a boy sitting beneath a bridge. I didn’t know who he was or why he was there, but from exploring those questions ‘The Wind’s Children’ trilogy blossomed and grew with roots going back into his far history as well as stretching out to his future. The boy’s name was Tobias.

I have since left Tobias’s world of ‘Naris’ to explore the Valley with Feather in the ‘Hall of Pillars’ which is now available through Amazon. I am now presently finding my way through Elden, the beautiful Fulmer islands, the ravaged Borrows and haunted Chem with Kesta Silene; a shamaness of sorts with a big journey ahead of her. I hope you come along to share her story and join her adventure; she needs you and you won’t regret it.

SOCIAL MEDIA:

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GIVEAWAY:

Win 5 x Paperback copies of The Raven Tower (Open Internationally)

*Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome.  Please enter using the Rafflecopter link below.  The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then I reserve the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time I will delete the data.  I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/33c69494164/

Many thanks to Emma, and to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources, for inviting me to take part in this blog tour and for providing my copy of the book. Why not stop by the other blogs taking part to find out more about this fab book?