Praise for Beware the Raven
T.M Roche writes beautifully,
If you are not a fan of this genre of fantasy, as I have not been preferring the kind of fantasy found in such works as the Arthurian legends, Beware the Raven would make a good introduction for you.
It tells the story of Elizabeth and Daniel, mother and son, who are involved in a car accident during an argument, and though not killed or even injured, they awake to find themselves separated and in an unfamiliar world with characters and rules they have to study and learn to cope with just to survive. The novel focuses first on Daniel’s struggle with key figures who are unpredictable and puzzling in their beliefs and behavior and their control of a world unlike the world he actually lives in. He shifts in and out of this new world for brief periods of time to his usual world. Chief among these characters is Grim who controls this new world, and even life and death. Elizabeth (Mom) does come back into the story but not in the way you might expect. Alice, too, is intriguing and you will surely wish to know more about her and her relation to Daniel.
T.M Roche writes beautifully, with a vocabulary suited to the story and the characters which she creates with apparent ease, whether using strait prose or figurative language: “Her needle moved in careful spirals, thread catching moonlight that had never touched living skin.” or, “That’s what family is. A conspiracy of ravens, just holding on till the world makes sense again.” or “The candle on her table sputtered, casting flickering shadows on the wall like ghosts dancing beyond the flames.”
Beware the Raven, Roche’s debut novel, is a book worth your reading, not just for the story or the characters but for its reflection on themes such as conflict, separation, loss, guilt, reunion. But probably its major theme is love in its various forms and uses and effects. At one point Daniel even says, “Fear made me silent…. Love taught me to speak.” If you loved this book, you should know T.M. Roche is at work on her next novel for her planned three book series. Raven introduced me to a genre of literature unfamiliar to me. Perhaps it will do the same for you, or broaden your experience of a literature you already love. I hope and expect so. TFW
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