The Wolf's Call: Raven's Blade

Anthony Ryan, author of the Draconis Memoria novel series, starts off a new series, Raven's Blade with The Wolf's Call. The story primarily follows Vaelin, a soldier with a storied past, to be sure, and a legend to go with it, inspired and reinforced by his prowess with a blade, his skill as a strategist, his resilience, his "blood song" - a magical ability that allows him to sense when danger is near - and, perhaps, his luck. However, Vaelin's time in the wars is long gone now, as is his blood song, somehow, leaving him a respected and efficient lord of a province and a servant to his queen, but with a legend that proceeds him. He has become known as "the Darkblade," a name he dislikes and one he never asked for. Unfortunately for him, it also happens to be the name that becomes assigned to a young, talented and ambitious warrior, Kehlbrand, in a Stahlhast tribe on the Iron Steppe. Kehlbrand works to build a following even as he works his way up through the ranks in his tribe, displaying a knack for politics and leadership, as well as proving to be one of their mightiest warriors. In addition to merely building a loyal following, he also seeks out those among them who have a "gift" or, as the Stahlhast refer to it, "Divine Blood," to leverage their special abilities for his cause. Kehlbrand has no gift of his own, and relies on his sister, Lauralyn, to find these gifted followers.

While the story primarily follows Vaelin, bits here and there are also written as Lauralyn's account of how her brother rose to power. Lauralyn's gift is that of prophetic dreams or the "True Dream" as she calls it. Early on, she uses her ability to help her brother. When she discovers the name he shall be called by and reveals it to him, it turns out his name is also "the Darkblade." When Kehlbrand discovers there is another who goes by that name, he dubs Vaelin "Thief of Names" - despite the order of things - and swears to punish him for the insult.

Meanwhile, Vaelin is troubled greatly when a messenger brings a warning that his great lost love, Sherin, from before the war - who now lives in a different country, where he stranded her (it's complicated) - is in grave danger. He's responsible for her being there and, whether she likes it or not, he feels it his duty to return her to back to his country and protect her from whatever darkness is to come. He won't be traveling alone, however, as his sister is training under him and an old friend, Alum, is on a quest for his tribe, but it has been predicted that Vaelin will be with him when he succeeds, so he travels with Vaelin until he succeeds in his quest. Alum also has a life-servant, who was spared a death sentence, and instead, given to Alum to serve him until Alum considers his debt to be paid.

Our heroes will have to travel through the far West (which bears a resemblance to our far East) to rescue Sherin. Of course, when they get there, they find things to be already afoot and their rescue goes from "difficult journey" to "epic quest." Along the way, they'll make some enemies, make some friends, and make some enemies into friends. They have a good bit of skill among their ranks, but they'll need all the skill, friends and luck they can get, as Kehlbrand a.k.a. "The Darkblade" has decided - and convinced a growing mass of followers - that he is a living god.

When I heard about The Wolf's Call, I thought it was the first book in a series. When I read it, it felt like a first-in-a-series, meaning I never felt "lost" like there was something I should have known from an earlier book. Only after reading the book did I discover that Vaelin comes from another series of books by Anthony Ryan, "Raven's Shadow." I found the story to be quite interesting and easy to read, becoming more and more captivating as I read on. The events in the book worked out in a believable fashion (well, you know, given a world filled with people with magical abilities) and I found the scene at the book's ending to be unexpected and definitely a crescendo, but another book is definitely needed to continue the story. I don't know that I could recommend The Wolf's Call as a standalone book. Of course, that shouldn't be a problem, as this is just the first half of the Raven's Blade duology and the second book, The Black Song has been written and delivered to the publishers, Anthony Ryan assures us on his website, and is currently slated for a release on July 2nd, 2020.

So, by all means, read The Wolf's Call and you'll be ready for the conclusion in The Black Song and, like me, anxiously awaiting its release. In the meantime, if you haven't read the six or so Raven's Shadow books either, maybe check them out while you wait.