Crowfall (Raven's Mark, #3) by Ed McDonald

Jan 22, 2019 Sean Barrs the Bookdragon rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: my-most-anticipated-reads-of-2019, reviewed-for-fantasy-book-review, fantasy

Crowfall provides a spectacularly epic conclusion to a trilogy that has the potential haunt your nightmares in its creepiness; it’s so dark, so bleak and so wonderfully written. Everything is brought together here perfectly, a very clever ending indeed!

And I must admit, I’m pleasantly surprised. Going into this I felt that there was a little too much to conclude in just one book, but it all slots together. Ed McDonald demonstrates his ability for planning as he delivers the final strokes of the ...more

flag 111 likes · Like · see review

May 26, 2019 James Tivendale rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, freecopy

"Another Heart of the Void? The sky is shattered, the rain sends men mad. Even the geese are trying to eat us. What the fuck do we have to gain by unleashing that kind of power again?"

I received an advanced reading copy of Crowfall in exchange for an honest review. I would like to thank Ed McDonald and Ace Books for the opportunity. May contain spoilers for Ravencry.

Crowfall is an engaging and thrilling final chapter to an excellent dark fantasy trilogy. I have seen the Raven's Mark series ref "Another Heart of the Void? The sky is shattered, the rain sends men mad. Even the geese are trying to eat us. What the fuck do we have to gain by unleashing that kind of power again?"

I received an advanced reading copy of Crowfall in exchange for an honest review. I would like to thank Ed McDonald and Ace Books for the opportunity. May contain spoilers for Ravencry.

Crowfall is an engaging and thrilling final chapter to an excellent dark fantasy trilogy. I have seen the Raven's Mark series referred to as Grimheart. I thought that tag was a joke initially but the more I have thought about it the more fitting the label actually seems. However chaotic, gruesome, or terrible things may seem in this world there are always underlining currents of hope and love.

This narrative is set six years after the conclusion of Ravencry when Shavada was blasted from the grandspire's roof and the city was saved. We see a very different Ryhalt Galharrow. Since that event, the Blackwing Captain has been residing in isolation in the Misery. Eating the monstrosities that lurk within the land, conversing with the ghosts that haunt it, and every night returning to the Always House, a comfortable country cottage, seemingly unaffected by the magic of the Misery except that it resets once a day. The reason for Galharrow's need to be alone and in the Misery of all places is unclear but the Misery has changed him and become a part of him. He's become an expert navigator and converses with the Misery frequently. He is even referred to as the 'son of the Misery.' Although he's been living as a hermit it seems everybody wants Galharrow eradicated, from the Nameless to the men of the Citadel. If that wasn't bad enough, the Deep Kings now have an Emperor and are looking to march on the living with their Drudge army. Galharrow knows he has an important part to play in the upcoming war.

I've always enjoyed following Galharrow's first-person perspective. He's such a likable character throughout the series although he really shouldn't be. In Ravencry he was traipsing around the fringes of madness however for parts of Crowfall he is as good as insane. It's written and presented in expert fashion and as a reader, I tried to analyse reality and exactly what was going on in Galharrow's mind.

The characters that have been crafted by McDonald are brilliant and jump off the page here. Series mainstays such as the aging navigator Tnota and no-nosed violence adoring Major Nenn (even though she's dead) are as important as ever in Crowfall. Joining these and other players such as Dantry, Maldon, and Valiya are new and influential characters such as sharp-eyed shooter North and marble guardian, First.

I'm not sure what the technical phrasing is but the way McDonald wrote led me to create amazing visuals of all the places frequented and portraits of all the characters in my mind. I was so engaged that I almost felt that I was there alongside Galharrow throughout his adventures and struggles. I was fully invested in him and the narrative as a whole.

I won't divulge too much information about what takes place in Crowfall other than that there are so many standout moments and stunning set-pieces. As the conclusion to one of my favourite recent fantasy series, I was not disappointed by any aspect. In a few years time when fans of dark fantasy think of standout characters in the genre, Galharrow is a name that will be uttered alongside Jorg, Geralt, and Locke Lamora. The finale was epic, lasted for about twenty percent of the novel and often left me breathless with the battles, showdowns, twists, awesome reveals, and betrayals. Essentially it had everything I required on my epic fantasy bingo card. Blackwing remains one of my favourite ever books. The following two books in the series never quite reached the lofty heights but are still pretty damn awesome. This is a series that needs to be read by all dark fantasy and grimdark fans. ...more

flag 81 likes · Like · see review

Mar 28, 2019 Emma rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasybookreview, netgalley

Galharrow has been monstrously changed by his time in the Misery; underneath the transformation, a desperate plan to make himself powerful enough to alter the future. And he’s not the only one. Time has passed and people are not who he remembers them to be. Everyone has their own hopes, their own schemes, their own… betrayals? The Deep Kings are coming. And now a new weapon has been found, strong enough to crack open the skies once again. But who in this world can be trusted to use it?

‘[I] still Galharrow has been monstrously changed by his time in the Misery; underneath the transformation, a desperate plan to make himself powerful enough to alter the future. And he’s not the only one. Time has passed and people are not who he remembers them to be. Everyone has their own hopes, their own schemes, their own… betrayals? The Deep Kings are coming. And now a new weapon has been found, strong enough to crack open the skies once again. But who in this world can be trusted to use it?

‘[I] still had a pistol left, and so long as you have a whisky and a gun, how bad can your luck be?’

Answer: pretty bad. This is a book of last chances and Galharrow has had more than his fair share. Meeting him again is a blow, for the Misery is nestled bone deep and his outlook turned bleak enough to chill the heart. In every sense, this feels like the end of the road. He’s a scavenger, a loner, lost to himself in ways that make him almost lost to the reader. The madness of the last book is here tenfold, his life a surreal dreamscape that comes close to making him too alien to feel. I struggled with his choices in ways I have never done before, asking questions of him as his friends do. We cross our fingers and hope that he will hold on, that we can trust him as we always have. Because there is a plan, of a sort. Or at least, there is his plan. As characters converge, old faces and new enemies, the labyrinthine plots of the Nameless become ever clearer, each manoeuvre pushing their human pieces into whatever endgame they have planned. There is one last chance to save the world, to prevent the Deep Kings from turning everyone into drudge, but it seems like the side most people are on is their own. To say it provides an unproductive working environment is the understatement of the century, but of course it’s all fun and games and sly words and tension until someone gets stabbed in the back. Actually, if you make that multiple someones and a whole bucket load of inventive ways to die, then you have some idea of how this all goes…

Especially because so much of the action is set in the Misery. Which, for me, is the absolute best part of the whole series. Talk about a character arc with some serious surprises. I’ve loved every second spent in her twisted landscape and this book was no exception. It’s a place of ghosts and monsters, an ever changing terrain where you can both lose and find yourself. As Galharrow has done, in so many different ways. Yet it’s so much more than that, it’s a massacre, a memory, a trial, an ending… The Misery is Ed McDonald’s masterwork and what he does with it here is so far beyond perfection I don’t even have the words to describe it, even if it wasn’t way too spoilery for this kind of review in any case. I have never wanted to see a place so much while at the same time never, ever wanting to go there.

But I have to be honest, there were some issues with the ending. One classic move had been signalled pretty heavily right from the outset and I was getting a bit annoyed at Galharrow not getting it. He clearly hasn’t been reading the same fantasy books I have or he’d known what he was supposed to do, it’s been done before. A lot. It was all a little too pat, a little too offscreen. Of course, the way things end is always the most divisive part of any series and this is something you have to decide for yourself. Either way, this series is a MUST-READ. It’s clever, creative, and such an intense mix of real/unreal that it burns fire bright in your mind. I hope this is not the last time I get to visit.

ARC via Netgalley ...more

flag 44 likes · Like · see review

Apr 22, 2019 Lukasz rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: dark-fantasy

There is no mistaking the distinctive voice of Ed McDonald and his protagonist - Ryhalt Galharrow, a captain of shadowy Blackwings. His story ends here*. If you thought that Ryhalt went through hell, and nothing worse would happen to him, you were wrong.

Crowfall concludes Raven’s Mark trilogy, and it’s epic. Not only does it reveal schemes and treasons of various parts and characters, but it also riffs on the themes of belonging, love, honor, identity and the ability to find a home in hostile n ...more

flag 19 likes · Like · see review

Apr 05, 2019 Peter McLean rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

They say that misery loves company, and in the Misery you're never alone. Especially If you're Backwing Captain Ryhalt Galharrow, haunted by the bitter ghosts of the past.

This book is raw and emotional in a way I didn't expect. It's a very different book to its predecessors, yet is still an almost inevitable conclusion to Galharrow's character arc. Watching him fall apart through his own narrative brings a fresh edge of pain to the storytelling.

This series is ultimately a story of love and remo ...more

flag 18 likes · Like · see review

Apr 23, 2019 Adam rated it really liked it · review of another edition

When facing duress for long periods of time, sanity can be fleeting. It’s no stretch of the imagination to see how prisoners, hostages, or fugitives can be driven toward poor decision-making when lives are at stake. If the stakes are raised to apocalyptic levels, then any form of predictive behavior becomes unreliable. Enter: Ryhalt Galharrow. Savior of Valengrad. Captain on the Blackwings. Desolate madman. Ed McDonald’s previous novel Ravencry concluded with Ryhalt leaving Valengrad to go live When facing duress for long periods of time, sanity can be fleeting. It’s no stretch of the imagination to see how prisoners, hostages, or fugitives can be driven toward poor decision-making when lives are at stake. If the stakes are raised to apocalyptic levels, then any form of predictive behavior becomes unreliable. Enter: Ryhalt Galharrow. Savior of Valengrad. Captain on the Blackwings. Desolate madman. Ed McDonald’s previous novel Ravencry concluded with Ryhalt leaving Valengrad to go live in the Misery for reasons unknown. Crowfall picks up six years later. Six long years living in madness, constantly poisoning your body and mind. But what is it all for? And is it worth it in the end?

Galharrow is still reeling from losing his love Ezabeth to the phos light. He has shunned himself from civilization, only visiting the Range to re-up his meager supplies. He subsists on consuming the raw flesh of Misery creatures, which also gives him the ability to navigate without needing the moons to point his way. Ryhalt begins to become one with the Misery, tapping into its vast, horrific powers but losing his sanity each day. Ghosts of his past visit him daily, and the line between reality and madness starts to blur into non-existence.

Why has Ryhalt chosen this path? This is one of the great mysteries of the story, and we begin to piece together parts of his ultimate plan as some of his co-conspirators come under threat. This mystery works both for and against the story. Not knowing why Ryhalt is doing what he’s doing is enticing, but it also becomes frustrating at times because we don’t understand his motivations for most of his decisions. I enjoyed how McDonald kept forcing the reader to question Ryhalt’s actions, as he is clearly being driven insane. Are there enough shreds of Ryhalt’s morality left to achieve his goals, or will he lose himself entirely to the Misery?

New characters and new locations help separate Crowfall from its predecessors, and McDonald takes full advantage of his new cast and environments. Themes of treachery, regret, and sacrifice are leaned on heavily, and it culminates into an emotional final act.

However.

The end of the story did not sit well with me. Some of the decisions made by the main cast seemed incredibly shortsighted and out of character. Some big revelations left me scratching my head, and there was an explicit Deus Ex Machina that attempted to wrap up the story but didn’t quite land with me. It was difficult not to let the ending affect how I felt about the rest of the book, which was largely entertaining, fast-paced, and original. But I’m still hung up on why certain plans were made, as it felt like a wild deviation from everything up to this point.

Ryhalt is a stubborn fool, but he tries to do the right thing… usually. Getting a first-person perspective of him slowly descending into madness is an appealing hook that I quite enjoyed. Although I didn’t agree with some of the content decisions made at the end of the story, Ryhalt’s journey is still well worth taking. McDonald’s world of elder gods, torn reality, and light magic is dark fantasy at its finest. I hope to return to the Misery again someday, and I’ll be sure to pack my own lunch.

7.5 / 10 ...more

flag 14 likes · Like · see review

May 19, 2019 Justine rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: most-anticipated

Never alone.

All things must end, and the saga of Ryhalt Galharrow comes to a close with one magnificently striking and emotional conclusion. All the events of McDonald's Raven's Mark series have brought us to this moment, as the threat of the Deep Kings hovers like a black cloud about to release a cascade of poison rain upon the Misery and beyond. Galharrow stands alone against the storm, persevering in the face of failure and forging ahead when the world is set on relentlessly beating him down. Never alone.

All things must end, and the saga of Ryhalt Galharrow comes to a close with one magnificently striking and emotional conclusion. All the events of McDonald's Raven's Mark series have brought us to this moment, as the threat of the Deep Kings hovers like a black cloud about to release a cascade of poison rain upon the Misery and beyond. Galharrow stands alone against the storm, persevering in the face of failure and forging ahead when the world is set on relentlessly beating him down. Crowfall is a story underlining the willingness to do whatever must be done, including the sacrifice of every last bit of yourself, for those you love, of finding purpose, even when surrounded by the bleak oppression of guilt, and most importantly, choosing your own side. What begins as a much-appreciated "Previously on Raven's Mark...", quickly becomes a harrowing adventure of life and death as we journey towards the final stand, but the Deep Kings don't realize we bring along with us the pain and wrath of the Son of the Misery. This story is dominated by hunger and betrayal, yet ultimately retribution and redemption reign supreme.

In the six years following the events of Ravencry, time and circumstance have taken a great toll on the characters we've become acquainted with, most of whom are but a faint echo of the person they once were. After years of subjecting himself to the lands under the fractured sky, Galharrow is beginning to resemble many of the things he has sworn to protect the Range against. I've been vocal about my love of Galharrow since I first dug into Blackwing, and all I can say is that my admiration for him has only grown, regardless of how monstrous he has become. His strength has him barreling towards a seemingly hopeless end, but his iron will to fix his mistakes continues to propel him forward. Valiya and Amaira have both sacrificed much in the name of duty. Tnota is torn between love and loyalty. Dantry continues to sow havoc across the states. Maldon remains comfortable in his role of prickly genius. The Nameless are still gridlocked in their battle with the Deep Kings, who now march under a unified banner. And finally, a mysterious player in this game of fate refuses to admit defeat. We see a lot of familiar faces, some new, and ghosts of the past insist on fighting to fix this broken and threatened world.

McDonald masterfully crafts some of the most intriguing and intelligent landscapes that dig their claws in, unwilling to let go. Crowfall allows us to spend some more time upon the ever-changing sands of the Misery, and we are able to witness its strangeness in a way we couldn't before. It has always been known that it's not just a physical place, but also a thing of sentience, which is explored in great detail in this book. The howling sky, blood-thirsty grasses, and shifting dunes, all evidence of Crowfoot's attack on the Deep Kings; the land is just as haunted and pained as it was when he released the Heart of the Void almost a century prior. We march to Adrogorsk, the melted remains of a once-great city, where Ryhalt Galharrow was born under the battered and broken banner of a silver fist lost in a crimson sea. What better place to fight for the future of mankind than where it all began? While I knew we'd be spending quite a bit of time in these poisoned lands, I was not expecting to venture into the Nameless' place of power, a world of shattered ice and solitude - a strangeness that seems all too familiar - where the secrets to victory lie buried deep within.

Like the rest of the series, Crowfall is a first person narrative told through the eyes of Galharrow, and it's blatantly clear how much he has evolved from the beginning of book one to now. There's a certain poise and maturity radiating from him that we have yet to see, at times oozing with truly tragic undertones - a broken man feeling right at home in a broken world. The prose is beautiful, the sentiment is hard-hitting, the ultimate goal hidden from readers until the explosive final moments. All of the pieces we've been collecting over the the series' 1,000+ pages beautifully come together to reach a remarkable climax where the fate of all hangs in the balance.

Crowfall was one of my most anticipated reads of the year, and I couldn't ask for a more fitting conclusion to this series, which I absolutely adore. Everything is as it should be. I'll admit, I'm a little sad I have to say goodbye to Galharrow and crew, and even though all the threads have been perfectly tied up, I can only hope this isn't my last time visiting the Misery. If you haven't yet started the Raven's Mark series, you're only doing yourself a disservice and should rectify this right away. If you're already a fan of the series, you're in for a treat. I highly recommend. ...more

flag 9 likes · Like · see review

May 14, 2019 Kristen rated it it was amazing

Full review is here on my blog!~

Everything is coming to a head in this final volume of The Raven's Mark series. That said, I'll try my level best not to spoil anything from the first two books for those of you who haven't read them.

But, I mean for those of you who haven't read them... go... go do that thing. :D

Things between the godlike Nameless and their nemeses, the also-rather-godlike Deep Kings are coming right to a head, and where 90 years earlier, Crowfoot detonated a weapon that created t Full review is here on my blog!~

Everything is coming to a head in this final volume of The Raven's Mark series. That said, I'll try my level best not to spoil anything from the first two books for those of you who haven't read them.

But, I mean for those of you who haven't read them... go... go do that thing. :D

Things between the godlike Nameless and their nemeses, the also-rather-godlike Deep Kings are coming right to a head, and where 90 years earlier, Crowfoot detonated a weapon that created the pestilent land of the Misery, he plans to do it again, and Ryhalt Galharrow, Blackwing captain, Misery resident, seer of ghosts, and generally not bad dude... is set to lead an army through the Misery to its core to hopefully end this thing once and for all.

This was a brilliant conclusion to the series. Very fast-paced and full of twists and turns. It's certainly a dark story, in a world that is often quite grim, but it's not totally devoid of light. Galharrow, for all of his faults, is actually not a bad guy, and he does what he can to help his friends. He does what is in their best interests from his point of view at any rate, which isn't always what they want, but sometimes what they need. Or what he needs.

This story is told from the POV of Galharrow, as the last two were, and it's interesting to see this world from his point of view, especially considering how much he has changed over the course of this series, which has spanned more than an in-world decade overall. Galharrow is, just by the circumstances of his life, much, much different than he was in the first novel, but he hasn't lost that sort of snarky charm that has made him so easy for me to cheer for throughout.

This volume, just like its two predecessors, was full of really great quotes. I have many, many highlights of just... well, deep thoughts with Ryhalt Galharrow, I guess. Thoughts on love, and loss, memory and guilt, time and aging.

Time will numb you to anything. There is nothing that a determined human being cannot come to cope with in time. It doesn't mean that the pain of the loss is gone, or that it's embers cease to burn, deep in your core. It just changes. It changes from the incapacitating agony of a gut punch to the solid, deep aching of a broken bone. It becomes familiar. You carry it with you, accepted, never to leave.

This was a fantastically written and well plotted out conclusion to The Raven's Mark series. I had a fairly good idea by about the 3/4 mark of the book what was actually going to go down to finish up the story, but I wasn't quite sure how it was going to come about, and so the book had me on the metaphorical edge of my seat for a lot of the end. It was a little predictable in that, and there was definitely a dash of deus ex machina, if I'm being honest, but.... I find that I didn't really mind so much. It was entertaining to me, and that's what counts to me. :)

So, all told, I really liked this final installment. It wrapped up Galharrow's story quite well while leaving the world open for further exploration. Here's hoping that it gets explored! I definitely hope to read more from Ed McDonald in the future. 4.5/5 stars!~ ...more

flag 6 likes · Like · see review

Jul 07, 2019 Shree143 rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Damn! This is Some Great Stuff! You Should Try This!
And if you haven't read this series yet then you're wasting your time, literally.

flag 6 likes · Like · see review

Jun 10, 2019 Chris rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

*copy from the publisher in exchange for a review*

Crowfall is the conclusion to Ed McDonald’s “Raven’s Mark” series. I’ve been a big fan of the series since the get-go. There’s something about the hard-bitten cynicism of (most of) the characters, the haut-feudal world run by gangs of squabbling, unknowable gods, and the twisted, broken border between them which makes for a compelling read. That compulsion is, of course, helped along by the well observed and convincing characterisation.

At the cen *copy from the publisher in exchange for a review*

Crowfall is the conclusion to Ed McDonald’s “Raven’s Mark” series. I’ve been a big fan of the series since the get-go. There’s something about the hard-bitten cynicism of (most of) the characters, the haut-feudal world run by gangs of squabbling, unknowable gods, and the twisted, broken border between them which makes for a compelling read. That compulsion is, of course, helped along by the well observed and convincing characterisation.

At the centre of the series stands Galharrow, a captain of the Blackwing, a special-circumstances group thrown together by one of the horrifying Nameless, the sorcerous Powers that rule his part of the world. The Blackwing do all sorts of dirty jobs for their master, usually involving fighting against the encroachments of the Deep Kings, an entirely different, even more awful group of sorcerous horrors. Galharrow has always been hard-bitten and lethal, a person struggling under a cloud of internalised guilt and rage, whilst having enough self-awareness of his own flaws to keep moving forward. This Galharrow, however, is something new. Exposed to the influence of The Misery, the liminal land twisted by magical weaponry, Galharrow is becoming less and less human, seeming to be deliberately walking down the path ending in monstrosity and madness.

At the same time, his voice remains familiar on the page – acerbic, flensingly unforgiving, pragmatic, occasionally brutal. There’s a construction here of a person struggling to do what they believe is right, fighting against themselves as much as anyone else.

In this struggle – and the others throughout the text, Galharrow is aided by a wonderfully drawn cast. There’s the Nameless, whose otherworldly visits tend to end in an explosive demise. There’s those of Galharrow’s friends who remain – most of them in some way broken or twisted by the events of the past. And then there’s the enemies. Oh my, so many enemies. If you’re coming to Crowfall, you probably already know about the Deep Kings, the ancient monstrosities that want to take the already unpleasant world our cast lives in and make it worse – replacing individuality with a commonality of thought and purpose in every individual, that purpose being service and worship of those Kings. They’re unknowable and malevolent, and the fusion of the scale of their thoughts and designs with a very personal pettiness is done with pitch perfect precision.

They’re joined by a whole host of new awfulness, though, as horrors crawl out of the Misery which will make your skin crawl. The Misery itself is as artfully drawn as ever – a wasteland of constantly shifting norms, populated with creatures which tend to be, tactfully, less than benign. The ever-changing ground of the Misery is shaped by some truly psychedelic prose, and the mental and physical pressure it exerts on those within it is often felt by the reader as well. The Misery is a weird, terrible place, where weird, horrible things happen. But for all that, it feels like a living place, not just words on a page. Admittedly, it’s not somewhere you’d want to go on holiday (or ever, really), but it’s vividly described, even if the pictures it will paint in your mind are ones you’d rather not have seen in the first place.

And outside the Misery, the world continues. The soaring heights of the city of Valengrad still stand tall. At the same time, strange rains are falling, and beneath them the streets feel narrower, darker, more lethal than they did before. And it wasn’t exactly a high bar to start with. But in the slow-dripping desperation of Valengrad is wrapped the sensation of implacability, the sense of endings. As the Deep Kings once more look to the Misery, searching for ways to break through and end their Nameless rivals, with everyone else caught in the middle, it’s difficult to see the existing system as sustainable, even as those within it struggle to maintain it, struggle to declare its normality, struggle to survive. There’s a wonderful feeling of tension wired through the pages, each one carrying the feel of an indrawn breath as the ice beneath your feet begins to crack. Each page you’re listening for the creak a little more, and getting a little closer to the end. But there’s no safety there, no. This is a story which builds and builds and builds on the foundations laid by its predecessors, but isn’t afraid to tear down what it’s built, one brick at a time, to bring about an ending which feels right, feels true, and packs a serious emotional punch.

I won’t get into the plot, for fear of spoilers, but I will say this: this is the ending to a series filled with blood, grime and horror. It’s the end of a series of people facing up to darkness, in others and in themselves. It’s the end of a series where the heroes are people doing their jobs, and willing to do terrible things. It’s the end of a series which was never afraid to show emotional depth, or how easy it is to hide those emotions away. It’s the end of a series which has, in the past, blown up entire regions, laced in horror and washed down in gore. This is the climax of a series which has given us some genuinely impressive endings.

It. Does. Not. Disappoint.

Crowfall is, in sum, a wonderful end to a sequence that can be regarded as modern classics. If you’re wondering if it’s worth reading, then the answer is simple: Yes. ...more

flag 4 likes · Like · see review

Apr 18, 2019 Koeur rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Rating: 4.7/5

Review: Wow, what awesome cover art.

The world building is what sets this novel apart from others in the genre. It is built around the characters in order to influence the direction of the story line. Very clever writing, as it also develops the characters in various ways as to be mesmerizing at times. This novel does not lack in creativity or poignancy. The distressed often have personal insights that are not only deeply appropriate for the scene but might churn the thoughts of the ...more

flag 4 likes · Like · see review

Apr 29, 2019 J.L. Scritchfield rated it it was amazing

Crowfall delivers.

McDonald manages to work a substantial amount of worldbuilding into his third book so that a number of the history questions I had were answered. Not all of them. This world feels ancient, and she hides her secrets well. I hope to learn more about her someday.

McDonald's writing (in Ryhalt's voice) continues strong throughout, and the philosophical journey the reader takes with Ryhalt over the series is impressive. From cranky man with a deathwish to cranky man with a...lifewish ...more

flag 5 likes · Like · see review

Jun 04, 2019 Minx rated it it was amazing

Shelves: copy-from-publisher, 2019, netgalley-arc-2019, dark-fantasy

Crowfall is the third book in the Raven’s Mark series and it was a truly visceral read filled with raw emotion, schemes, and double-crosses. This story picks up six years after the end of Ravencry and much has changed over the years since Ryhalt Galharrow chose to live in isolation in the wastelands of the Misery. Spending time there was not safe or healthy and to willingly subject oneself to such a sentence was pure insanity. Which was exactly what was taking place with Ryhalt. The writing desc Crowfall is the third book in the Raven’s Mark series and it was a truly visceral read filled with raw emotion, schemes, and double-crosses. This story picks up six years after the end of Ravencry and much has changed over the years since Ryhalt Galharrow chose to live in isolation in the wastelands of the Misery. Spending time there was not safe or healthy and to willingly subject oneself to such a sentence was pure insanity. Which was exactly what was taking place with Ryhalt. The writing describing his decent into madness was enthralling because, through it all, there remained an awareness that Ryhalt was holding firm, staying just sane enough, to follow through on a bigger picture plan that he committed to years ago. Which coincidentally made choices, made on Ryhalt’s part, in the previous book, make much more sense.

Ryhalt chose to descend into the Misery, come what may, but he always held a part of himself back from her, a part which she wanted. The relationship between Ryhalt and the Misery was well written and complex. She had always been on the periphery but in this story, there is a true understanding of the Misery’s place in all things which was fascinating and horrific. I loved that! With time spent in the Misery, Ryhalt was a changed man, barely fit for society, which led to complications when he returned to town. Despite the challenges, he knew the time for action was drawing near and he had to make the most of the moments he had left. I loved how he used his time to settle some old scores, make amends for past transgressions, and to finally have some closure. A lot was unpacked in this story and tied together. I did not think that all the questions I had would be handled but they were and it was stunningly done!

What makes this series memorable is Ryhalt Galharrow. His character’s development was nothing short of a deep-seated and impactful journey. To hear his story told through his narrative adds a depth of feeling filled with remorse, honor, and resignation. Everything he did was to make whatever difference he could for the existence of others but never for himself. He counted himself out a long time ago but still carried on to do what he could in the time he had left. He was admirable but not in a way that most would see. For so many reasons I loved his character but above all else it was his commitment to what held his heart that endeared me to him. Crowfall is by no means a love story but there is an element of love and commitment that would make any romantic swoon, it is just buried under layers of blood, sacrifice, and dystopia. Which happens to appeal to me, so there you go. If you have not started this series, then I urge you start today. There is nothing to lose and everything to gain!

This review is based on a complimentary book I received from Penguin Random House. It is an honest and voluntary review. The complimentary receipt of it in no way affected my review or rating.
...more

flag 4 likes · Like · see review

Jul 13, 2019 Miriam Michalak rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Wow! That was some fucking ride!!

Dark, monstrously brutal, visceral, grimmer than most grimdark novels but oh, the humanity. The wonderful, awful, beautiful, flawed humanity of the book. Hope in a dark world shines through and the ending was unexpected and really rather good :)

A fabulous end to a great series. Am already missing the Misery.

flag 8 likes · Like · see review

Jun 30, 2019 Patrick St-Denis rated it liked it

Despite certain flaws, I felt that Ed McDonald's Blackwing was a promising debut. The kind of work Joe Abercrombie and Glen Cook would come up with if they ever teamed up to collaborate on a novel. And even though the second volume showed marked improvement regarding certain facets, it did suffer from some of the same shortcomings that had plagued its predecessor. In my review of Ravencry, I opined that the author needed to elevate his game if he was to finish this trilogy with panache and if he ...more

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Jul 01, 2019 Mike Shackle rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Sheer bloody genius. What an ending. Grimdark, grimheart. Galharrow is a modern fantasy icon and Ed is up there with my favourite authors

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Jul 02, 2019 H. P. rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: modern-sf

Ed McDonald does something remarkable with Crowfall. Crowfall is the third (and presumably final) book in his stellar Raven’s Mark series. Third books—especially third books that close a series—follow a certain pattern. The first book sets up the world; the second book in particular sets up the story for the third book. That is certainly true here. But McDonald places a major event—the titular Crowfall—in the six year gap between the events of Ravencry and Crowfall. Doing so helps him sneak a st ...more

flag Like · see review

Jun 25, 2019 Will rated it it was amazing

Ravencry ends with Saravor thwarted, Nenn slain, and Ryhalt staring out over the Misery. Crowfall opens with Galharrow hunting drudge. The Deep Kings (shockingly) didn’t abandon their plans to overthrow the Range following Saravor’s defeat atop the Valengrad spire. They had since evolved a new breed of servants; drudge that are blue in pallor and cast, noseless, featureless, they retain very little of their former humanity. He has recently come across quite a few of their number and left their b Ravencry ends with Saravor thwarted, Nenn slain, and Ryhalt staring out over the Misery. Crowfall opens with Galharrow hunting drudge. The Deep Kings (shockingly) didn’t abandon their plans to overthrow the Range following Saravor’s defeat atop the Valengrad spire. They had since evolved a new breed of servants; drudge that are blue in pallor and cast, noseless, featureless, they retain very little of their former humanity. He has recently come across quite a few of their number and left their bodies broken in the wasteland.

Since the events of Ravencry, Galharrow has made a home for himself in the Misery, leaving his old life behind. In return, the Misery has grown within him, changed him. In many ways, he is no longer the man he once was. And, alike the drudge, he seems to retain little of his former humanity. But a trip back to the Range proves that he still is—while reminding Ryhalt of the life he left behind him.

For not only the Deep Kings have been restless since the Crowfall—a “sorcerous cataclysm” that had occurred three years prior, very reminiscent of the strike that once created the Misery itself—the Nameless are moving as well. And events have somehow become even more dire.

But something more moves in the dark. Something the likes of which Galharrow has never seen, and it will take all his strength and cunning to deal with this new threat, while not sacrificing the last shred of his humanity in the process.

It’s humanity’s last stand—an epic conclusion to an epic series.

Crowfall really is epic, and brilliant.

What starts with a changed Galharrow kicking about the wasteland, soon returns to the Range itself, in a scenic tour around humanity’s last bastion of the continent. Old friends, old enemies join the fray, which is peppered with gods and mortals both, each with their own agenda. Crowfall incorporates much of the past two adventures with fresh content: places, people, monsters, things. It’s a pleasant mix of past and present, without leaning too heavily on either.

Galharrow’s personal story is a bit of a quagmire of emotion. It’s a bit of a convoluted mess—quite like real life, in fact. I guess that’s why McDonald didn’t like the term ‘Grimdark’ applied to his work and instead coined the term ‘Grimheart’ for it. Much of the book—inhuman monsters and immensely powerful magic and gods aside—explores a very real world, with very real emotion. Ryhalt’s passage through the story is but one of many, something the book does rather well at relating. That McDonald managed to pull this off is impressive, especially when writing with a 1st person POV. And yet, at times Galharrow’s story sometimes interferes with the mood of the overarching plot. Its feeling. It’s not that his journey is at odds with the plot, it’s just that occasionally one might distract from the other. I found it a bit of a stutter at the time, but no more. Crowfall races along quite nicely once it gets going, with only this slight impediment to the pace.

There’s a real sense of desperation in the story, one that’s only built upon by the past desperations of the previous two books. I really enjoyed the book, the story it told, the lasting mood that it imparts. Galharrow takes some surprising steps—some that may seem contradictory, ablative, yet rarely out of character—to achieve his ends. It all feels very human, raw and emotional, to an extent I didn’t expect. Blackwing was a great book, Ravencry almost as good—but Crowfall was an experience for me, a journey I won’t soon forget. Now, everyone will have their own reaction to the story, but really, if you enjoyed the first two, you’ll enjoy the third.

Crowfall is much more than the end of a series, it’s the creation of something new. McDonald has expressed a desire to return to the world—and while Galharrow’s own story seems pretty much wrapped up by the end of the book—the sheer amount of half-rendered lore and untold stories of war, toil, and survival certainly give him a multitude of places, and times, to begin anew.

https://arefugefromlife.wordpress.com... ...more

flag Like · see review

Jul 13, 2019 Lashaan Balasingam (Bookidote) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: read-in-2019, fantasy

You can find my review on my blog by clicking here.

To make a long story short, there are only a few authors who manage to successfully deliver a perfect trilogy in my books. They come once in a blue moon and leave an everlasting impression on you with their characters, their worlds, their ideas, and their prose. When I first came across Blackwing, my heart was stolen and sealed in a lockbox for Ed McDonald to do whatever he wishes with it. With Ravencry, he manipulated my emotions and broke me d

You can find my review on my blog by clicking here.

To make a long story short, there are only a few authors who manage to successfully deliver a perfect trilogy in my books. They come once in a blue moon and leave an everlasting impression on you with their characters, their worlds, their ideas, and their prose. When I first came across Blackwing, my heart was stolen and sealed in a lockbox for Ed McDonald to do whatever he wishes with it. With Ravencry, he manipulated my emotions and broke me down to my knees. What was in store for me in his grand finale was sure to kill me as you can’t expect Ed McDonald to not flex his creativity muscles once he goes up the stage. The third and final chapter to his dark fantasy trilogy thus delivers the epic and gritty conclusion to the adventures of Blackwing Captain Ryhalt Galharrow.

What is Crowfall about? Set six years after the events that transpired in Ravencry, the story continues to unravel the world-ending war between the Republic and the immortal Deep Kings while Ryhalt Galharrow ventures in the Misery accompanied by the ghosts of his past and the creatures of the land. With only the weakened Nameless—the gods who protect the Republic—serving as the last line of defense, the future looks bleak and danger roams just around the corner. It’s when the Blackwing captains who serve the Nameless are taken out of the equation one by one that Ryhalt Galharrow has to further sharpen his senses to embark on his final mission into the Misery before the Deep Kings deliver the killing blow as their strength grows exponentially by the second.

To beautifully wrap-up the adventures in the Misery, Ed McDonald’s approach to this story focused greatly on the gritty and damaged protagonist, Ryhalt Galharrow. Where he starts off as a pawn in a giant game of chess between entities that were out of his reach, he now finds himself in the middle of the cruel and complex schemes at play. Psychologically-damaged by the decisions that were made and the actions of others that he kept close to his heart, he now lives a life of solitude, roaming in the deadly plains looking for solace. What Ed McDonald accomplishes with this protagonist is a stellar example of a perfectly-flawed hero whose experience in the world is brilliantly translated through his way of life and his perception of the world. The first-person narration allowed the reader to deeply connect with his dilemmas and the weight of the burden that he has to carry around as he looks out for the well-being of others before his own sanity.

It would be a mistake to consider this finale—and trilogy—anything but a classic with its masterfully-paced, beautifully-written and cleverly-developed story. From the characters that are introduced to the creatures who rise from the dark recesses of the world, Ed McDonald achieves the impossible as every little detail lives and breathes within this world. While the Misery was a threat to every mortal’s life in Blackwing, Ryhalt Galharrow now becomes one with his environment as he embraces the treacherous and sinister lands to survive the events that unfold in Crowfall. While the world in itself might seem bleak to the unwary, Ed McDonald creates the perfect blend as he gives his story so much heart and hope that the light at the end of the tunnel isn’t always as small as you would imagine. With plenty of action, the story still delivers an engrossing and emotional tale for fans to experience as the Raven’s Mark trilogy comes to an end.

Crowfall is the long-awaited epic finale where creativity meets passion as Ed McDonald creates the perfect grim playground in which he showcases his exquisite prose filled with darkness, hope, love, and betrayal.

Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada and Ace Books for sending me a copy for review!

Yours truly,

Lashaan | Blogger and Book Reviewer
Official blog: https://bookidote.com/ ...more

flag 4 likes · Like · see review

Jul 08, 2019 FanFiAddict rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Rating: ★★★★☆+

Synopsis

Crowfall is a gritty epic fantasy for fans of Mark Lawrence, Scott Lynch and Daniel Polansky.

‘Dark, twisty and excellent . . . Grimdark with heart’ Mark Lawrence

A sorceress cataclysm has hit the Range, the final defensive line between the Republic and the immortal Deep Kings.

Tormenting red rains sweep the land, new monstrosities feed on fear in the darkness, and the power of the Nameless, the gods who protect the Republic, lies broken. The Blackwing captains who serve them ...more

flag 5 likes · Like · see review

Jun 28, 2019 jonathan finn rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

A stunning ending..

Crow fall is the final book in the raven mark sequence and reads as grim dark, dark violent morally ambiguous fantasy as written by a hopeless romantic.

The book is set in the Misery, a area of the world despoiled by magicial fallout from the unleashing of a powerful weapon known as Nalls engine by a group of immortal wizards known as the Nameless agaisnt there enemies a group of lovecraftian entities known as the Deep kings, this isn’t really a story of good vs evil then as no A stunning ending..

Crow fall is the final book in the raven mark sequence and reads as grim dark, dark violent morally ambiguous fantasy as written by a hopeless romantic.

The book is set in the Misery, a area of the world despoiled by magicial fallout from the unleashing of a powerful weapon known as Nalls engine by a group of immortal wizards known as the Nameless agaisnt there enemies a group of lovecraftian entities known as the Deep kings, this isn’t really a story of good vs evil then as not quite as bad vs evil, and it becomes obvious that the nameless and deep kings are more embodiment of a particular concept then a individual.

The protagonist for the series is Ryhalt Galharrow a aging soldier one of crowfoot, one of the nameless, Captains a occupation that has becoming increasingly dangerous as it becomes obvious that some one is hunting him and his colleagues, devastated by the loss of his love in a earlier and further damaged by subsequent events Ryhalt haunts the misery in service of a mission that doesn’t become clear till near the end of the book changed by the unstable Magic’s of the Misery and bearing there taint he has become known as the Misery’s Son, tired and exhausted changed by magic mentally and physically he is kept company by the Ghosts of those he failed to save. While all across the Range defenses fail as the nameless fall one by one and a new threat by the Deep king rises.

So the above is the grimdark where it differs is in the details Ryhalt does what he does out of love, his friends refuse to abandon him even beyond the grave, and the Misery itself a post apocalyptic wasteland also knows guilt and its own strange way a drive for redemption. All the strengths of previous books are here but less of the weaknesses, more details are given, the world building is expanded on and while still a mystery a slightly better understanding of what exactly the nameless are is given.

So if you like me adore Grim Dark, but despise the sort which is pointless nihilistic where nothing means anything and everyone is out for themselves, then this book are more to the point this series is probably exactly what you are looking for. ...more

flag Like · see review

Jul 09, 2019 C.W. Snyder rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I've loved this series since book 1, and there's a reason for that. It's brilliant. It's mutable. It's just so well put-together that it's almost impossible to dislike it. Each book is a solid collection of theme and story that changes just enough to keep the series fresh with each entry without alienating readers.

While book 1 is a gritty fantasy noir, and book 2 a race against time with the backdrop of a looming war, book 3 is the slow burn of an impending apocalypse. Or in the case of the Ran ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Jul 15, 2019 Colin rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Awesome. Simply Awesome. What a satisfying conclusion to what for me was the best fantasy trilogy going since last year. I absolutely devoured these books and loved every second of them. I've been reading for 40 years, have sampled most fantasy and sci-fi writers out there and Mr. McDonald has soared to the top of my must-read-their-book-the-day-it-comes out authors list. Beautiful writing, damn near poetic at times, but also visceral, grim, and realistic without ever becoming hopeless. Characte ...more

flag Like · see review

Jun 23, 2019 Sarai Henderson rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, review-books, 2019-books, scifi

See the full review at Book Confessions of an ExBallerina

The one thing that draws me to this series is the way the author has built this amazingly rustic fantasy world. It almost feels like an old western at times, but the fantasy elements that weave through the story give you a sense of the magic that holds the story together.

Our main character is back, aging, but has spent so much time in the Misery that his body has changed. He can heal faster than a normal person. The problem is, everyone w ...more

flag Like · see review

Jul 13, 2019 Micah Hall rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

4.5/5

Ed McDonald with another stunner, although looking at the standard of the previous 2 books in the trilogy, this one is my least favorite (but it's still awesome). I struggled at points with the decisions of Ryhalt bc I felt you got to know the loveable curmudgeon so well in the previous entries and in this one he descends into further madness, distancing you from him. While done on purpose and the revelations provided near the end explain this purpose, it made for some tough reading at time ...more

flag Like · see review

Jul 09, 2019 Nichole rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This book was AMAZING!!

I had never heard of Ed McDonald until I saw Blackwing on Net Galley. It sounded pretty good, so I requested it. It ended up being one of my favorite books of all time. I love his writing style. The world he has created is fascinating. I can picture the Misery in my mind. I love the magic. I can picture the raven coming out of Rhyalt's arm. The writing makes everything seem so vivid in my imagination.

This series also has some of my most favorite characters. Ryhalt, Nenn, ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Jul 14, 2019 Elana rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

I loved the first book in this series for its intricately imagined world and it’s tough-guy narrator. The second one was almost is good. This third one is disappointing. The problem is that the two winning aspects of the series cancel each other out. The narrator is a complex character but it is impossible to sustain the reader’s interest in a single man, no matter how conflicted, for three long novels. And the more the last novel centers on the narrator, the less space there is for exploring th ...more

flag Like · see review

Jun 24, 2019 Andrew rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Full Review Here: https://grumpyscotsman.home.blog/2019...

An absolutely spectacular conclusion to one of my most hotly anticipated books of 2019. Ed McDonald has absolutely killed it with this series!

I recommend McDonald’s work because he writes the stuff that people need to read in times like this. He packages himself up like another Grimdark author, while under it all he’s a man out there preaching a message of love and hope, and the danger that both can cause to their enemies. That's what set ...more

flag Like · see review

Jul 06, 2019 Becky rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Crowfall is such a satisfying conclusion to the Raven’s Mark series.

The detail about and use of the Misery is particularly inspired, wonderful, haunting descriptions enough to give you nightmares and yet Mcdonald manages to create a character out of a location.

The plot moves well and as always you are not quite sure of people’s plans and motivations. I loved the way McDonald brought together the varying threads of individual character’s stories and the way they interacted. Galharrow in particul ...more

flag Like · see review

Jul 09, 2019 Mark Mieczkowski rated it liked it · review of another edition

Satisfying conclusion to an amazing trilogy.

I absolutely loved the Blackwing trilogy. The final installment was a satisfying conclusion to the series but it wasn't quite as good as the first two books. I enjoyed the gritty, noir fiction tone, amazing world building, and deeply flawed characters.

IMHO the book delved a little too deeply into nihilism. That aspect got tedious at times. But there was plenty of action to balance out the navel-gazing.

flag Like · see review