The Lady of Crows

Raven's Shadow #0.5

by Anthony Ryan

A quest for bloody vengeance forces Derla, a skilled veteran of the Varinshold underworld, into the service of arch schemer King Janus. Charged with protecting the renowned drunkard and cardsharp Sentes Mustor, Derla finds herself drawn into a high stakes game with the notorious criminal overlord known as One Eye.

Genres: Fantasy, Audiobook, Short Stories, Fiction, Epic Fantasy, Dark Fantasy, Novella

Audible Audio

First published January 3, 2017

About the author

Anthony Ryan was born in Scotland in 1970 but spent much of his adult life living and working in London. After a long career in the British Civil Service he took up writing full time after the success of his first novel Blood Song, Book One of the Raven’s Shadow trilogy. He has a degree in history, and his interests include art, science and the unending quest for the perfect pint of real ale.

For news and general wittering about stuff he likes, check out Anthony's blog at: http://anthonystuff.wordpress.com

Reviews

[Choko · Rating 4 out of 5]

*** 3.65 ***

Well, this was one dark short story... Maybe should have read it after the first actual book of the series so I have a better idea about the world, but here we are introduced to the rough life of the criminal underworld and a prostitute who thinks she has lost everything only to be recruited for an interesting job... Not bad at all for a very short story.

[Elena Rodríguez · Rating 4 out of 5]

“There are times when a reputation born of excesive violence had its avantages. ”

3.5

Primera novela corta que forma la precuela Blood Song. En Goodreads aparece que en cuanto a nivel de historia principal es un 0.5 sin embargo para mi sería en realidad 0.7 porque el segundo relato es una década anterior cronológicamente de este relato, pero es mi opinión, nada más.

“Loyalty. Also a useful trait”.

Me ha encantado, sobre todo la forma de escribir del autor y su capacidad para sumergirte en los mundos oscuros y grises que él crea. Solo tengo una pega y es que ha habido algunas escenas con la protagonista que me han parecido un poco fuera de lugar, por lo demás, estoy muy contenta y muy enganchada a este señor.

“Curiosity is the principal trait of all scavengers, coupled with keen eyesight and remarkable patiente. ”

Por otro lado, tengo que admitir que me he leído este relato y el siguiente (del cual haré reseña, obviamente) antes de la novela principal. Puede ser un poco caótico, sí, sino conoces del todo el mundo, pero creo que merece una pena. Yo, sinceramente estoy enamorada y demasiado enganchada.

“What a clever crow you are. ”

[Dannii Elle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first of two prequel novellas in the Raven's Shadow series.

The criminal underbelly of this fantastical world is explored as unlikely allies must come together. This informs the readers of the origins for Derla, the Lady of Crows, former prostitute and present-day royal spy.

I had a fun time with this dark and tragic little read but it has only been a handful of days between me completing it and writing my review and already some of what it contains is lost to me. I think this, despite being a prequel, would be better read after the first full-length series instalment as I couldn't properly grasp how the world was formulated and I think this is resulted in some of the facts being quickly forgotten. I did, however, really enjoy the experience of reading it so am sure I will enjoy my return just as much.

[Deb✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun, quick novella that develops the character of the Lady of Crows. It was suspenseful and high stakes. 3.5 ⭐️ One of the prequels to the Blood Song novel that I am looking forward to reading by Anthony Ryan.

[Dave DelFavero · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick fun read with great character development that makes you eager to check out his novels!

[James Morpurgo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would usually recommend to avoid prequel novellas and short stories ahead of a main series. I've been meaning to widen my Grimdark experience and Anthony Ryan was certainly on my radar and I had this prequel lined up in my audible library - however the clock was ticking as it would cease to be free in my library this month so it had to be now and not later..

Well, it was certainly Grimdark! Ryan seems pretty competent in the genre, maybe this was too short to fully appreciate his range but I enjoyed it enough to be confident to pick up a full book of his in the future...

[Caleb CW]

I listened to this while wrestling the Christmas lights off of my reusable tree. While I was entwined in that I could not become as engaged with this, mostly due to frustration. However, what I did gather while listening was that if I had read this ten years ago I would have loved it. It's along the same lines as Scott Lynch's storytelling. But, I read it now, and it was a clear case of the wrong book at the wrong time. I haven't read any other books in this series so I found myself lost. That's on me. It's a short story, so clearly there is not time for much world-building, and because I didn't know the dynamics of what was going on I was just kind of swimming in a dark pool. There were some interesting dynamics after the main murder took place but it didn't wow me. I'm willing to continue reading the series though, so there is some intrigue. I just didn't know what the hell was going on.

There it is and there you have it.

[Alex Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

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[Nicholas Talty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wish it was longer, but I suppose that's part of the joy of a short story.

[Craig · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lady of Crows by Anthony Ryan is a book that takes place in his Ravens Shadow series. Now I have heard great things about the series and how “Blood Song” is such an amazing first entry in the epic fantasy series. I have been on the fence if this was something I wanted to pick up. I recently found out that there was a prequel to the series, Lady of Crows, that was not very long. So instead of diving into an almost 600 page book I decided to check this out instead. It however was not to my liking.

Couple negative things that have to be pointed out. First the story. It had an interesting premise, but lacked good execution, simple as that. Secondly I found the prose to be kind of flowery at some points and extremely bland at others. It never felt consistent. Next I was expecting since it was a prequel we would have some world building to help establish a fantasy world, but it felt nonexistent. Last thing that bothered me was the title Lady of Crows that was bestowed on one the main character. I’m going to spoil how this name came to be. The king is naming a character. He tells her (paraphrasing) “You will be my Lady of *looks around a sees crows eating a body* Crows”. Then proceeds to leave and we don’t deal with him again. Such a boring way to come up with a cool name. It felt like zero thought went into it. Just irked me. Think maybe the biggest problem was it was on audio. If I was handed a printed copy, I’d probably like it better. The narrator just made it harder. First Law narrator Steven Pacey spoiled me.

All in all the story was bland and not really fleshed out. Maybe this is one of those prequel you should read the main series first, but in my opinion a prequel should be able to stand on its own. Like the Witcher prequels. This really soured my taste to check out Blood Song. Maybe once I catch up on everything else I’ll check it out, but it definitely moved down my TBR a bit.

[Phillip · Rating 3 out of 5]

Serviceable and I think there was enough there that a novel could've been made from the bones of the story. But in novella form I found it a bit perfunctory. Absolutely should not be read by anyone that hasn't already read Blood Song, imo.

[Karla Schneider · Rating 5 out of 5]

The origin story of Derla, the whore spy of King Yannis. Reading this before the main series doesn't hurt or help as she doesn't play a major role.

[E.A. Newton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the backstory on Derla - she was such an interesting character in the Tower Lord with only a minor part, but in this, you get to learn more about the foundations of her character. You also get to hear about One Eye and his hunt for Frentis...
This backstory, though not one that is as enthralling as Bloodsong (which, as others have stated over and over, is probably one of the best Epic Fantasy books ever written), adds texture to the tapestry that is the overall series.

[Ashley McCartney · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a short novella to open a series. As it being such, I was expecting a lot more background to be laid out for the characters. I can only assume the characters will carry over to the series, other wise there was not much point in this short story. The beginning seemed to not have much to do with anything until the end of the book. The relationship between the main character and her first love was utterly skipped over and one doesn’t even understand her overwhelming feelings. The action scenes seemed to roll rather well and were the keen points of the book. I only wish more character development had been presented. I am, however, intrigued to know if the story grows in book one, or becomes something else entirely.

[Theresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Lady of Crows
Raven's Shadow, Book 0.5
By: Anthony Ryan
Narrated by: Steven Brand
Series: Raven's Shadow, Book 0.5
Length: 2 hrs and 1 min
Unabridged Audiobook
Release date: 01-03-17
Language: English
Publisher: Podium Audio
Placed before the first novel this book gives the history of a main character in the series, the reason for her life, and behavior. This is a great story of the sacrifice for love that people are willing to do. the reader makes the story more poignant and devastatingly sad

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's been eight years since I read Blood Song, and I remember very little of it beyond the fact that I greatly enjoyed it. (Yet another series I've been meaning to continue for ages... *sigh*)
This prequel novella, featuring the origin story of a very compelling character, might be just the push I need to get me back to this world.

[Mari · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although I suspect this story would make more sense had I read at least the first Novel in the series first, It gave me a nice intro to the authors style and storytelling (which at this point was my goal - letting me know if I stood a chance of enjoying if I dive deeper in). The main character was well developed for a short story, or novella as some might call it. The atmosphere and the basic world-setting, if not yet world-building, were likewise intriguing. I believe I will try this author's longer works.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

As read in Grimdark Magazine #10. The story itself I quite enjoyed, especially the writing style made this a quick and entertaining read. So from that point of view I was leaning towards four stars. However, the story itself is not really that memorable and feels somewhat unfulfilling as a short story on itself. In the end, I got myself acquainted with Anthony Ryan, and I will definitely read a full novel from him somewhere in the future.

[Carlos Xavier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very short interesting story about the smart and cunning hooker under king Janis command. The one Vailin encounters and how she comes to meet a comrailin prince. I'm still so hooked up on this world I hope he keeps making stories about the characters within. A very entertaining book for fans of Raven's Shadow.

[Lloyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having been published some 6 years after the first book of the series, this may not have been the most sensible place to start, however, I'm assuming it's the back story to one of the characters of the series. This novella is dark and twisted in places, but left me wanting more. So I will be interested to see where the story goes from here.

[Jia Cherng · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great backstory of a side character, and to be honest, I find this to be the best sequence in the series thus far.

A tiny bit touching, more than a little dramatic, and more importantly full of intrigue, this novella is one of the high points of the series.

[Evil Secret Ninja · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a nice introduction to the series. I don't understand much about the world yet but I have the three main books in the trilogy so this got me interested. Spies, games and stuck up royalty what else is there.

[Troy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

This was a well written and nice little addition to the Raven's Shadow universe. Blood Song is still one of my favorite books of all time.

It's been several years since I've read any of Ryan's work, and this was a nice little wake me up to get me back into his more recent novels.

[Trevor Sherman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short but interesting novella. It is not a must read but for anyone that enjoyed the main Raven's Shadow series I highly recommend it

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thief's King or Kingdom. I'm really enjoy the world described in these stories. Both of the short stories leading up to the first full novel. Highly recommended.

[Alan Standsalone Bryant · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic characters and insight on some new ones within the series.

[Alan Behan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great little short story, a nice little introduction in to Raven's Shadow series, if this short story is anything to go by, I can't wait to get stuck in to Blood Song...😊

[Vagabond of Letters, DLitt · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25/5

[Raghabendra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fills in some characters in the Ravens Shadow series.