Master of Crows by Grace Draven the first book in the Master of Crows series.

 

Perfectly imperfect.

“Water sluiced over Silhara’s arms and torso as he issued instructions.  “Prepare one of the chambers on the third floor—whichever one doesn’t have a hole in the roof.”  Gurn’s eyebrows rose.  “I’m inviting a guest to Neith.”

Silhara is the master of Crows a Powerful mage, courted by an evil god to be used as an avatar, by this god. He knows he cant withstand the god forever and invites an apprentice to his home, to help him search for a way to destroy the god. Martise is that apprentice, a young slave, with Magic, but no way to use it despite being trained, is paced in the Master of Crows household as a spy, her reward if she find something to finally bring him down, her freedom, the race begins to kill a god and to teach Martise, to control her power before its to late to do either.

““You have done an unwise thing, Martise of Asher,” he said softly. “You’ve caught my interest.””

Powerful mages and gods that wants to take possession of a mans body, so he can destroy the world. Makes this a prime example of a fantasy, the budding romance that flourishes between the gruff and stern Silhara and the meek and plain looking Martise, represents the romance, and it does a marvelous job.

“A glimmer of approval darted through his eyes before he lowered his hand and stepped away from her.  Martise sighed, relieved.  The Master of Crows was an overwhelming presence, frightening, annoying and fascinating.  Being so close to him, with her senses inundated by the force of his Gift and his very maleness, made thinking difficult.”

Silhara is a gruff and meanspirited man but with a good sense of right and wrong, at least when it comes to the people in his care, or those he cares about. He is the son of a prostitute and as a former thief is not exactly and innocent and virtuous character, he’s more of an anti-hero.

“He cupped the apple in his hand. Paring it into slices, he placed it on the table.  He cleaned the knife on his trousers, turned and, quick as a striking serpent, buried the lethal tip in the back of her ex-lover’s hand where it rested on the table.”

Martise, is a layered, type in the beginning she seems to be meek but sometimes a headstrong streak would show through, that only grows, as we get to know her and she turns out to be one of those people who choses to serve with dignity and grace, not for their masters, but for themselves. I don’t really know how to explain, she is described as if she were a queen, who chose to serve a homeless man. I like that quality in a character, even if insulted she will turn the other cheek not because she is a saint, but because she honestly doesn’t care about the person who insults her.

““No thank you,” she said and walked away.  The outraged growl behind her made her smile.

“A woman like you shouldn’t be so choosey, Martise.”

She turned back to him.  “A man like you shouldn’t aim so high, Balian.””

I liked the plot, the God wish to destroy the world as we know it and needs to possess the master of Crows to do it. It sets the stage for an exciting adventure, a race against time, to kill a God.  A task that can seem impossible.  And it delivers, it not nonstop action and that lends credibility and a god tempo to the story, the travel to the marked town to trade oranges, is mundane enough that it really could have been cut out if the story, but it gives the characters an extra layer of humanity that makes us like them even more.

“He’d caught glimpses of her in Eastern Prime’s marketplace as she followed Gurn from stall to stall.  She might slip unnoticed in most crowds, but he’d spotted her easily enough numerous times.  He’d never seen her so lighthearted or at ease as when she shopped with his servant and surveyed the pandemonium around her—at least until she entered the common area and overheard her erstwhile lover vilify her in the crudest terms.”

All in all, I feel like the prose and the pace of the book matches what I expected form the type, and from Grace Drawn herself, she writes raw, and unpolished, she describes the best and worst traits of her characters, and that makes them come alive somehow. They are not perfect pictures on a canvas, they are imperfect jagged pieces of a story.

I liked the story a lot and I’m definitely going to recommend it to others. I will finish the series.

4 out of 5 stars from me.

The April Challenge 2023 is now over and I am proud to say I actually passed and with 3 days to spear. I don’t know when or if I will do another challenge like this one, but I hope to do a challenge again soon even if it not as demanding as this one.