Extending
the Mystery and Character Development in this Second of the Series
Raven’s Fall is the second in the World on Fire Series by Lincoln
Cole.
One
question readers often ask about a series is, do I need to read the books in
order. In this case, I would highly
recommend that you do. This work extends
our understanding of a couple of the main characters, Abigail and Haatim, as
well as our feel for the Council. The
foundation in book 1 is important to these developments. And besides, you only need to see the acclaim
book 1, Raven’s Peak is achieving, to
know that it’s the place to start.
The
first book used a formula featuring action, supported by some good character
development and a touch of humor. Raven’s Fall, on the other hand, delves
much more deeply into the mystery and suspense of our demon-plagued world. Most of this tension is created through the
storyline, as unfinished thoughts and events that don’t quite add up fuel our
interest. But there are also occasions
where, for want of a better description, we’re told there’s a mystery. It occurs in conversations of the ilk, ‘you
wouldn’t be mad if you understood. So
tell me. No, I can’t, it’s too
dangerous.’ These more blatant
proclamations that there’s more than meets the eye are somewhat overused for my
tastes. But most of the mystery is
resolved by a strong, action filled finale.
I
said ‘mostly resolved’ because the book does end with a cliff hanger. For readers that prefer books of a series
that are self-contained, please be forewarned.
From
book 1, it is clear that Abigail is somewhat reckless and clearly not bound by
rules not of her making, i.e., the laws of the Council. In Raven’s
Fall, we learn much more about how flawed she might be. Haatim, on the other hand, continues to
adhere to his principles…at least for now, and achieves his successes through a
combination of blind luck and knee-jerk reactions when he has no time to
think. He also engages in a series of
mental debates with himself, which is fine in principle. But sometimes, he goes back and forth so much
that ‘paralyzed by indecision’ seems to fit his personality better than
analytic. And some of the dialog also
involves these protracted debates. When
this happens, the story can drag a bit, but it generally moves at a good pace.
We also
get a more complex view of the Council, which seemed largely stodgy and out of
touch with reality in book 1. But in Raven’s Fall, it’s clear that their
members are both more in-tune and more flawed than we might have thought. It almost gets to the point where picking the
protagonist and antagonist from the cast of characters is impossible, they all
have their pros and cons. Well, I guess
the demons are always bad, but the good guys?
Not so much.
Personally,
I loved that fact. There’s no one white
knight, which in thrillers is often the young, handsome Navy Seal turned
brilliant neuro-surgeon after running an orphanage for 5 years. Raven’s
Fall offers us a wonderful quagmire of personal strengths and weaknesses, abilities
and flaws, good intentions, successes, and utter failures.
So,
if you are a fan of stories of the occult and the battle between sometimes and
in some ways good vs. always and utterly evil, you’ll love Raven’s Fall.
In the Space of an Atom is my working title for NaNoWriMo, the National Novel Writing Month. Writing starts in less than a week, but the cover is here now.
