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I decided for June 2022 to start doing a tbr as part of a revamp of my Booktube Channel. I had prompts with multiple options: backlist author, new to me author and continue a series. For backlist author I ended up choosing Grace Draven! A favorite fantasy author of mine, I decided to pick up Master of Crows. This is the first book in her Master of Crows series (and is set in the same world as The Wraith Kings!). I was able to use this for Summer of Swoon to cover the prompt indie romance and the Ripped Bodice Summer Bingo to cover the prompt takes place in a made up country.
Silhara is the Master of Crows, a mage with a lot of magic power. He is fighting off becoming the avatar for the god Corruption. As Corruption continues to try to seduce and blackmail Silhara giving in to his power, he starts looking for ways to defeat the god once again. He reaches out to the Conclave for help, specifically an apprentice that can read/translate ancient languages. Martise is brought to be his apprentice, but that's not all. She's also expected to spy on Silhara for the Conclave and report anything they can use to finally be rid of him once and for all. Also asked is for Silhara to try to figure out what Martise's magic gift is and activate it. As Silhara and Martise work together in the library and tending his orange grove, they start to become close. Silhara guessed she was a spy from the beginning, but as he starts to see who she really is, he struggles with falling for the woman sent to spy on him and is worried that if he has to kill her, he won't be able too.
I have to say, this one took a little longer for me to really sink into. I think you can tell it's an earlier book by Grace because it doesn't quite grab you as much as other books I've read from her. I think once we got the setup done and through the first little bit where Silhara and Martise aren't interacting as much, things started to pick up. I loved that they had this push and pull relationship. Silhara is such a grump with Martise, partly because he knows she's a spy and partly because he keeps finding himself drawn to her. Every time they start to get close he gets grumpy and pushes her away, but we see that he is just so torn on wanting her but also trying to protect himself and her from the influence Corruption is trying to enforce. For me, things really starting picking up once they started working together in the orange grove, but really got going once they went to "visit the lich."
I also loved the mystery and delve into what kind of magical gift that Martise had and how it manifests for the first time. I also love how when she finally is able to tap into her magic and Silhara asks her to bond with him so he can learn more about it she completely opens up to him and allows almost too much; she practically drains herself. The way that she pushed back and really forced him to allow her to help, even knowing what could happen was just so awe-inspiring. She was more than happy to make the sacrifice to bring down Corruption. I do have to say though, I do wish there a little more emphasis on the romance and it felt more romantic overall.
I'm so happy to read more of Grace Draven and have another book of her backlist done! She's one of my favorite fantasy romance authors and I always love getting lost in the worlds she creates. While I understand why a lot of people don't like this one as much, especially when compared with Radiance, I think this is a beautiful and special fantasy romance in it's own right. It's just a different vibe and an earlier work. If you've enjoyed a lot of Grace's other books, definitely give this a try. Just try to temper your expectations a little.
Have you read Master of Crows?
Bookishly Yours,
Stasi🍎
STATISTICS: Master of Crows, Grace Draven, 4-stars, 4 days, Paperback, 392 pages, published in 2009, indie published
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