RAVENSOUL - JAMES BARCLAY

[drosdelnoch]

Known for his Raven series, James has been nominated for the forthcoming (as of the time at writing this) RAVENSOUL. Please chat about James and his work here especially the novel for which he has been nominated.

[Peter Elliott]

I have read all of James other books and am eagerly awaiting the delivery of this one . I believe James has something of the spirit of DG in his writing, and they both stand as my favorite authors.

[Drenai Twin]

Excuse my ignorance. Is this book a collection of short stories (as I've been led to believe), or a 'proper' novel?

[Glenn Thomas]

It's a proper novel, and a very good one at that.

[drosdelnoch]

The other angle with this is that James Raven series have all just been repackaged by Gollancz to match the new cover. So rereads all round.

[disrepdog]

This book is a very fitting end for the Raven, full of action and tension as you'd expect from James and also has his usual wit and one liners. I was delighted to see my favourite mercenaries ride once more and really do think this book deserves to win the first Gemmell award. What makes them so good? Is it the fast pace, the stunning fights, the knowledge that no one is safe from being killed off, or the fundamental relationships that grow within each book? Like the Raven themselves, individually each book is fun and fab but as a whole, the collection is simply heroic fantasy at its very best.

[Ryan]

I went to my chapters today, and picked up two books by him. Ravensoul was not there, but I ended up getting Dawnthief and City of the Newborn.

[Rob Mackellar]

It was like the reunion tour of a once great rock band. You hear it's coming and find yourself bursting with excitement while at the same time praying it's not going to be that one step too far and destroys the whole legend for you. Thankfully though, this reunion was worth it. It's good to see characters you thought long gone, living and breathing and bickering again.

[Renegade Fire Mage]

Ravensoul was a more than fitting end for fantasy's greatest mercenary band (in my opinion, and I hope others too) not to mention being a refreshing return to the world of Balaia for one last time. Barclay's fast pace, tense action and ability to show that main characters can be killed just as easily as normal men were what got me into the books, and ensured my vote went to Ravensoul.

[Catiri]

Like some others i was a little apprehensive about this one having loved all the other 'Raven' books. How on earth could you make another one?. Well i was soon shown exactly how you manage it. I love the fact that he does not cling on to his characters but is willing to 'dispose' of them as needed, and also that not all of them re appeared in Ravensoul. If the award goes to an author who writes with the style and panache of DG then Barclay has it (who i found through DG reccomendation actually)

[finalfunk]

This was the first Raven book I read. I found it dissapointing. I expected more from this friend of DG. Maybe I have to read his earlier Raven books to fully appreciate the Heroes but stand-a-lone value just wasn't there.