Flight of the Raven

The Ravenwood Saga, Book 2

By: Morgan L. Busse

Narrated by: Jaimee Draper

Length: 12 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

Selene Ravenwood, once the heir to House Ravenwood, is now an exile. On the run and free of her family's destiny, Selene hopes to find the real reason her family was given the gift of dreamwalking. But first she must adapt to her new life as wife to Lord Damien Maris, the man she was originally assigned to kill.

While adjusting to her marriage and her home in the north, her power over dreams begins to grow. As the strongest dreamwalker to exist in ages, her expanding power attracts not only nightmares but the attention of the Dark Lady herself.

With a war looming on the horizon and a wicked being after her gift, Selene is faced with a choice: embrace the Dark Lady's offer or search out the one who gave her the gift of dreamwalking. One path offers power, the other offers freedom. But time is running out, and soon her choice will be made for her.

Download the accompanying reference guide.

©2019 Morgan L. Busse (P)2019 Oasis Audio

Amazing Book 2 and Well Done Audiobook

I pre-ordered the audiobook and literally set aside the audiobook I was listening to so I could jump into this one right away. After the sort of cliff hanger ending of the last book, I've been impatiently counting down to this book.

The audiobook is just as well done as the first one. I'm so glad they stuck with the same narrator to keep the same voices through out.

Very Satisfying Read

Great story! Rich development of characters. Very moving towards the end and allows the reader to understand the characters’ emotions.

Grand Slam in the bottom of the ninth with two outs and two strikes, down by three!

I am stingy with stars, but Morgan L. Buses and Jaimee Draper pounded an over-the-fence home run with Flight of the Raven. Morgan L. Busse touches deep into the soul with her inspirational fantasy. She does a masterful job engaging you in her story world. You will cheer for her heroine and chide the villains. I’m upset the third book has not yet released, and I’m more than a bit jealous of her talent.
Jaimee Draper, you are a master storyteller. I will look for your name and choose those books with confidence.
If you have the least interest in inspirational fantasy, this series will make you a devoted fan.

Sweet story

The book is definitely geared towards females. It is a fantasy but also a romance. The magic system is not completely explained or consistent, but it definitely is steeped in Christian terminology and meaning. It was particularly touching when Seline comforts others, especially those who were dying or grieving.

More than once in the series, I found myself identifying with the characters' own feelings and trials. I often thought that the author knew my own thoughts in some ways. I have had sleep paralysis which made me absolutely terrified to fall asleep. I identified with Seline and Damien in almost an uncanny way. The book made me feel heard and understood. I am grateful to the author for this.

Readers should know that the book is not explicit in romantic scenes, but there is definitely enough sensuality to let the adults in the room understand what was going on. This particular book, The Flight of the Raven, is the most sensual of all in the series. Selines's relationship with her husband, while touching, is still explained in maybe too much information at times for some readers.

Seline's relationships are a central theme in the story. Much of her healing is accomplished through the relationships she shares with her mother, sister, husband, and others. This is really where the author excels.

The author often retells certain parts of the story to prolong dramatic moments. This makes the book tediously slow at times. Sometimes the magical system and fantasy world is a little too obviously "Christian." This is not really a problem because it is more a matter of personal preference than weakness on the part of the author. Others might enjoy the clear symbolism while I prefer more subtlety.

The narrator has a pleasant voice; though, she does not adequately give voice to the very strong personalities of the characters. Some of this is likely due to the author's own word choices and some due to the lack of character acting on the part of the reader. This problem becomes worse as the series progresses.

In all, I liked the series and own both Kindle and Audible versions. I appreciate most the author's understanding of pain. nightmares, forgiveness, death, separation, and betrayal. I have never read a series that made a hero out of a comforter. Good job, Ms. Busse.

Awesome!

I listened to this every chance I could get. Such a good read! Now to find the next one.

Narrator was excellent!

Absolutely enjoyed the audio version! The story was more romance than action/adventure but still enough intrigue to carry me along.

Great storyline

Great second installment in the Ravenwood saga. It has great characters and the plot keeps you interested.

Satisfying

I enjoyed it, won’t label it as the best book I ever read but it was enjoyable, loved the fact that we got to see the world through Amara’s lenses as well, I think that added a lot more flavor to the story.

If you enjoyed Mark of the Raven, you’ll definitely want to read Flight of the Raven.

Couldn’t put it down! (Or “stop listening” rather as I listened to the audiobook edition). If you enjoyed Mark of the Raven, you’ll definitely want to read Flight of the Raven. This book picks up right where the first left off, so it appears this series is more in the mold of Lord of the Rings in that it is more like one novel published in separate installments. I think this aided my enjoyment the book, for even though some of my favorite elements of the first book - such as the political machinations and world building - fade into the background to focus on the romance of the main characters - I don’t usually read romance novels - I still found myself interested, even enthralled. I think this is partly because it felt like a continuation of the same story with all the elements I loved as opposed to a separate story with the same characters. But I certainly also enjoyed the plot of this installment in and of itself. Again, I couldn’t put it down! Busse managed the tensions within the romance to keep me engaged while effectively keeping the looming threat of House Ravenwood and the Dominia Empire simmering in the background.

This book is not near as dark as the first, reflecting the change of setting from the foreboding Rook Castle to the welcoming Castle of the Northern Shores. However, darkness does remain looming in the background as another key element of the story is the main character’s spiritual journey and The Dark Lady’s nightmarish (literally) pursuit of her. When comes down to it, this book is quite explicitly one of Light vs. Darkness. Thankfully this is done in a nuanced way as every prominent character clearly has elements of both light and dark within them, with the exception of the spiritual characters that are the external forces of light and darkness. And the main character’s wrestling with this forces is the book’s true main plot. The climax of the book is not the consummation of the romance (for which I am thankful), but the resolution of the protagonist’s spiritual tension.

The spiritual elements of this book are clearly drawn from the author’s own Evangelical spirituality, and I think she incorporates them well. The Christian themes felt natural to the storytelling, perhaps even more so in this installment than in the first. Thankfully She also didn’t meld the spirituality with the romance in awkward or weird ways as I feel some writers do. She also allowed the spiritual practices of the characters to fit well within the medieval inspired setting as well as the world’s fantasy elements. In the end, the spiritual resolution to the story was one satisfyingly told.

The end of the book brings the looming threats back to the forefront in apparent anticipation of the final installment. Busse does so in a way that not only makes me excited for the next book, but also with a tragic twist that left me in tears. TEARS I TELL YOU!!! It was so sad, but that is because it was good storytelling. Well done, Morgan Busse, well done.

Audiobook note: they had a different narrator for this book, and I think that was a good decision. I think the new narrator was noticeably better.

Excellent series!

This is an excellent series, a very well written story of light vs darkness, personal growth, and romance. The characters are realistic, the magic/gifts unique, and it kept me reading well past my bedtime.

The series is clean in language and without sex. There’s some heated kissing, but it’s tasteful… and oh what a beautiful love story :-)

Highly recommended!