Reviewed by Taylin
TITLE: Descent Of Ravens
SERIES: Bel’s War #1
AUTHOR: AC Andrews
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 354 Pages
RELEASE DATE: August 30, 2021
BLURB:
The old covenant of the gods is broken. Will the world break, too?
When an army of vampires invades their home, Rio and Turi must fight for their future while the fate of an empire hangs in the balance.
The exiled son of an emperor, bitten and infected with the night-curse, seals himself into a tomb for eternity only to be awakened eight hundred years later by an awkward and anxious priest who needs his help saving their people. The healer Rio, a priest of Astara, is lost in grief and rage when war comes to Trosika. Yet he is drawn to the enigmatic vampire prince, pulled by a love that stretches across lifetimes. Can Philip help him save his religion from extinction?
A blind old woman gives Turi bones containing three spirit familiars. As the world around him falls apart, he must learn to accept himself and master his newfound necromancy in time to save his friends, his people, and his island.
How can they survive, when not even their patron goddess could stop the forces arrayed against them?
Descent of Ravens is an exciting new fantasy with LGBTQ+ characters and relationships, rich world-building, and dark adventure!
REVIEW:
Night dreams and tales of vampires cause the medical priest, Rio, concern in his waking hours. Instead of damning one lifeform over another, Rio can see many viewpoints and offers a prayer. He didn’t expect any prayers to be answered. Nor did he dream of becoming a vessel for the goddess, Astara, Goddess of light and mercy – Holy Mother of the order he served, or the adventure she had in store for him.
I’m not honestly sure where to start except to say, wow, I loved it, and I’ll get there with the explanation – I hope.
Descent of Ravens is told in the third person present tense from multiple viewpoints. Technically, I suppose some may suggest fewer perspectives would be preferable, and they would probably be correct, but by the end, I didn’t care as I got lost in the story.
When I’m reviewing, I try to see things from several angles, and it is rare for me to find a story that contains an X-factor which gets under the skin to the point where I forget to make notes and am oblivious to anything but the story itself. Suffice as to say that this 128k novel, was read in two days. From the first chapter onward, I just couldn’t put it down and was fortunate to not be at work for a couple of days. So, I rooted myself in a comfy, quiet spot and got lost in the world created.
Some aspects, especially early on, can get confusing, e.g., the author has a penchant for things that begin with T. Turi as a person, Tyr is the city, Trosika is the island… oh, and Bel is the God of War. But this is a world built for more than one story, and Descent of Ravens is the opening gambit. Therefore, the imagery was intensely detailed, with snippets of interest appearing throughout the regular text, excerpts from journals, and historical writings.
The novel includes a world of vampires, mage’s, healers, priests, clans, and followers where war isn’t pretty. There are executions, loss of faith, combat, multiple faiths, death, ghosts… and more. It’s a veritable buffet of the paranormal, and I haven’t even started on the MCs yet. Suffice as to say that I’ve given the story five hearts – I loved them too.
While reading, I detected the occasional influence from various vampire genres and some well-known movies. Everything was pieced together in an intricate work that – given my love of simple storylines – I should have had migraines but, instead, was captivated.
I didn’t expect to like this so much – what a nice surprise.
RATING: 
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