On Tour with Prism Book Tours
Title: Flight of the Raven
Author: Morgan L. Busse
Genre: Fantasy
Series: #2 The Ravenwood Saga
Publisher: Bethany House
Release date: 30 April 2019
Pages: 352
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Koorong
About the Book
Selene Ravenwood, once the heir to House Ravenwood, is now an exile. On the run and free of her family’s destiny, Selene hopes to find the real reason her family was given the gift of dreamwalking. But first she must adapt to her new life as wife to Lord Damien Maris, the man she was originally assigned to kill.
While adjusting to her marriage and her home in the north, her power over dreams begins to grow. As the strongest dreamwalker to exist in ages, her expanding power attracts not only nightmares but the attention of the Dark Lady herself.
With a war looming on the horizon and a wicked being after her gift, Selene is faced with a choice: embrace the Dark Lady’s offer, or search out the one who gave her the gift of dreamwalking. One path offers power, the other offers freedom. But time is running out, and soon her choice will be made for her.
Excerpt
Time dragged. As she lay on her side, staring at the shadowy area where his back was, her body was almost ready to pass out from fatigue, but her mind would not allow it. Part of her wanted to sit up and scream, another part wanted to curl up and cry. She couldn’t function without sleep. If only there was a way to diminish the images trapped inside her head. Someplace safe for her mind—
Her heart stopped and her middle tightened as she listened to Damien breathe. There was one place full of peace and light, one place that might give her a reprieve from her previous nightmares. Those dreams could not follow her there.
Inside Damien’s dreamscape.
Her mouth went dry, and her heart began to beat again, so loud she could hear it inside her ears. She hadn’t dreamwalked since the night she’d chosen to let Damien live, and the memory of his luminous soul had faded in her mind as she was thrust into this new life.
But now it all came back, and with it the craving hunger inside of her to have it.
She clutched the covers beneath her chin. She could almost see the outline of his body from the dim light streaming in from beneath the shutter. The gap between their beds was only about a foot. If she slid to the edge of her own bed and reached out, she might be able to touch—
Damien moved, kicking the covers away from his upper body, and faced her.
Selene froze, waiting to see if he had awakened. Mintues ticked by, but Damien didn’t move again. She let out her breath and her body relaxed. He was now closer to the edge of his bed, and she was fairly sure his hand was hanging over the side. That meant all she had to do was lean a little closer. . . .
One touch, and she would be able to sleep. Just one touch . . .
She pulled her hand out from beneath the blanket and reached over. The moment her hand made contact with his skin, she lightly moved her fingers, feeling along the lines of his knuckles. Then she wrapped her fingers around the narrow part of his wrist.
Within a breath, she was yanked into his dreamscape.
Review
The tension definitely ratchets up a notch in the second book in Morgan L. Busse’s Ravenwood Saga. I can safely say that if you enjoyed the first book in this series, you will want to get your hands on the second. In fact, you’ll probably want to get your hands on the third, too, but unfortunately we have to wait six months for that!
This book starts right where the first left off: With Selene having fled Ravenwood, leaving her younger sister Amara to step in and try to fill Selene’s shoes both as a dreamwalker and, potentially, as the future head of House Ravenwood. The story also continues to follow Selene and Damien, who are trying to adjust to their new circumstances as well as prepare for the war they know is coming.
I love the mix of personal and political tensions in this story. Fantasy isn’t a genre I dive into often, but when I do, I love to get a feel for the political tensions in the world that’s been created, and that’s done really well here. The tension between Selene and Damien had the potential to become angsty and riddled with mistrust and misunderstandings, but these potholes were completely avoided in favour of a much more nuanced tension that befitted the complexity of these two characters and their situation.
But of all the elements in this story, I think I’m enjoying Selene’s personal journey the most. She has only been trained to use the dreamwalking gift for ill, but as she becomes more and more intrigued by the Light, she needs to find a new purpose, and I can’t wait to continue that journey with her into the final book in the series.
I received a copy of this novel from the publisher. This has not influenced the content of my review, which is my honest and unbiased opinion.
Previous Books in the Series
Read my review for Mark of the Raven
About the Author
Morgan L. Busse is a writer by day and a mother by night. She’s the author of the epic fantasy Follower of the Word series and the award-winning steampunk series, The Soul Chronicles. Her debut novel, Daughter of Light, was a Christy and Carol Award finalist. Mark of the Raven, a new fantasy series, releases Fall of 2018 from Bethany House. During her spare time she enjoys playing games, taking long walks, and dreaming about her next novel.
Connect with Morgan:
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
Tour Schedule
Tour Giveaway
– 1 winner will receive print copies of Mark of the Raven, Flight of the Raven, and a $20 Amazon gift card
– 2 winner winners will receive print copies of Mark of the Raven and Flight of the Raven
– US only
– Ends June 7, 2019
She’s a new-to-me author I’ve been wanting to read for a while now. Thanks for the review!
Hope you get a chance to read this series!
The series sounds like something I would really enjoy reading. Would love the boooks.
Hallo, Hallo – travelling through my WP Reader to chat about this series!
I *definitely!* want to get my hands on “Cry of the Raven” — as soon as I concluded my readings of the first two novels for the blog tour (which coincidently posted on my blog today) I had one of those rare bookish hangovers where I literally could not stop thinking and pondering *everything!* I had read / experienced / felt whilst I was emotionally attached to the journey Lady Selene and Damien had taken within the first two installments of the saga! This was the kind of High Fantasy I long to discover and it was such a pure joy to soak inside and feel I had become a part of this world I did not want to stop exploring by the time I reached the very last word on the very last page!!
I concur with you – the whole battle between the Dark Lady and the Light is what keenly interested me as much as the conceptional back-histories of spirituality and religious history within this world Busse has created. I loved how she approached this aspect of the story-line but also at the heart of the series how this became a non-traditional INSPY narrative and captured the beauty of mercy, grace and redemption.
So happy I stumbled across your lovely blog!