Master of Crows

By: Grace Draven

Narrated by: Jay Britton

Length: 12 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's Summary

In an isolated fortress, the Master of Crows battles an ancient god for possession of his soul. Renegade and heretic, he dreams of ways to defeat the god and destroy the priesthood who would execute him. Sent by her masters to betray him, a woman comes who possesses a weapon he can use to triumph over both, but only with the ultimate sacrifice. A tale of love and allegiance.

©2005 Denise Shaw (P)2016 Denise Shaw

Miscast Narrator for a Lovely Novel

Would you try another book from Grace Draven and/or Jay Britton?

Grace Draven has become one of my favourite writers of late. Her luscious prose, unique characters and sharp wit are delightful. Jay Britton, not so much.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Silhara, of course. However, Martise, Gurn & Cael also fit the bill.

Would you be willing to try another one of Jay Britton’s performances?

Doubtful. He turned this unusual, charming, funny yet albeit unperfect story in to part BBC newscast and wildly overacted folly. I laughed outloud a couple of times!

Was Master of Crows worth the listening time?

Yes, but only in that I enjoyed the novel by reading it myself prior to listening to the narration. I only bought the narrated copy because I liked the story so much. I did not end up finishing the narration as it completely destroyed the way I read the novel. Ms. Draven's lovely use of language, lor, and humour to envoke the sensuous, the macabre and the saracstic was completely destroyed for me by Jay Brittons performance.

Any additional comments?

Just curious: why was a female narrator not commisioned for this? Not always certainly, but many times I find that I prefer the way a woman reads a book written by a woman unless the book is exclusively from a man's perspective. While this novel was about Silhara's experiences, it was equally about those of Martise and I believe I would have appreciated a female perspective in this case far more. Will there be a narration prepared for the follow-up to MoC - The Brush of Black Wings (which I much prefferred to MoC)?

Weakest of Draven's audiobooks

What would have made Master of Crows better?

The book leaned heavily into well-trodden tropes without any attempt to subvert them in any meaningful way. The arc of the story felt meandering and without any real underlying meaning. What is the protagonist's deeper purpose? Is it truly just to serve men? Is she allowed to be the protagonist in her own story? Do the men allied around her consider her to be their equal or do they feel ownership over her?

For a modern story within the Romance genre (by a writer whose other books feel very progressive), the story felt surprisingly anti-woman. Despite having a female protagonist, the crux of the story revolved around men, men's desires, men's rules of conduct and ownership of women, without any questioning or subversion. The thrust of the story, its climax, and resolution are all reactive to the actions of men, while the protagonist doesn't have any power or say regarding any of it. Frustratingly, none of these masculine constructs feel deliberate; they all seem written unquestioningly, without self-reflection, and without a strong editorial hand.

Would you be willing to try another one of Jay Britton’s performances?

Possibly not. It was hard to take Britton's BatmanVoice seriously at times.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Over time, I became increasingly disengaged from and disappointed in the story. The relationship had a obvious power imbalance but not one that was acknowledged or leaned into within the narrative. That's likely why the romance felt weak and unexciting to this reader.

There was also a good deal of exoticism that I could do without. The dark mysterious not-Bedouins, whatever is going on with Gurn and his gentle savage mute Giant role. The end result was a uncomfortable other-ing by creating a fantasy race of brown people where women aren't allowed to make eye-contact with men but are allowed to own property so it's okay? These archetypes can have a place in stories but I wish there'd been an amount of thought or depth or research put into them.

Any additional comments?

As a fan of Draven's Radiance, I was surprised to read such an unstructured book with a protagonist given zero agency. It felt like many of the themes that appeared in the book were not intentional and happened organically, and were likely the opposite of the author's intention. It felt like a freshman work.

Worth a Listen...

Grace Draven is a master storyteller, engaging and entertaining. I recently discovered two of her books (Radiance and Eidolon) and thoroughly enjoyed both. Master of Crows is another example of her skill in creating strong, intelligent characters, dealing with high stress under extraordinary circumstances. I love her use of humor in surprising moments and deeply appreciate the way she slowly builds credible, intimate relationships despite justifiable mistrust. Other reviewers found the narrator's performance uneven and distracting. I understand their point of view, but I got pass his limitations because I was drawn into the story. In closing, I think it's important to note that Draven originally wrote Master of Crows in 2005, more than a decade before Radiance and Eidolon. It's obvious she got better with time, so it's not surprising that Master of Crows is not as fully developed as her later books. But it's still worth a listen, in fact, more than once...

Amazing and unique!

Grace Draven does it again. Awesome story, great narration, and hot like a thousand suns. At first I didn't understand why The Master of Crows had such a gruff voice, but the plot reveals why. And Jay Britton, I commend you on doing such a difficult voice and pulling it off spectacularly! I can't wait for more!

Excellent writing

A little light on plot but good writing. Grace Draven puts authors like JLA to shame.

This story could have used a little more action. Her writing style is very descriptive without being flowery. Corruption could have made a few more appearances. Draven did an excellent job of conveying his vileness. She could easily write horror if she wanted to.

The romance was believable and the MCs were likable. Silhara was down to earth for a powerful mage and Martise was not some over powered goddess of beauty and seduction. She was intelligent and witty. It is mentioned that Silhara smells of tobacco and oranges but unlike another male lead from a book I recently read (Casteel from “A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire”) he smells of those things because he smokes tobacco and works his own orange grove.

Gurn was an excellent character, especially for a mute. I kept waiting for someone to bathe poor Cael though. The narrator was not my favorite so I would suggest reading the book in print.

Incredibly boring!!

I absolutely loved Radiance and Eidolon from Grace Draven so I couldn't wait to get this book. I waited and waited and waited for it to get good, for something to happen, anything. But it just didn't. it's incredibly slow and way to descriptive about things I could care less about. Silhara is not a likable character at all and it doesn't help that the narrator voice for him sounds awful. I found myself drifting and not paying attention to the book and that' when I know it's not a good one. So bummed, wish it would've been more like the wraith kings.

enjoyed the story, hated the narration

This was a solid, slow-burn fantasy romance story. Probably better off just reading this one though, the narrator sounds like he's reading the news

Don't understand all the five star ratings

I thought the characters were flat, the romance unconvincing, and the fantasy, while it could have been interesting, pretty much ignored until the last quarter of the book.

While the narration was fine, there were weird pauses every couple of sentences. I think it may have been taken from a CD and no one thought to take out the pauses between tracks. Made it drag more.

Love his voice.

Wow, Jay Britton does an excellent job. I hope he does the rest of Grace's books. I'm right there. Silhara voice is true to life. Thanks

A beautiful love story!

The writing is so beautiful. The love story is adoring! It has the essence of a beauty & the beast, but not a retelling. Definitely a favorite of 2020!!

*Buddy read with Candace Robinson