The Raven Heir

Stephanie Burgis’ new fantasy adventure features transformation scenes T H White would be proud of. Cordelia, her central character, has the ability – more than that, an almost constant urge – to transform into animals – swift, mouse, wolf, bear, any and all.  The descriptions will fill readers with a real sense of wild creatures and their wild natures, though any joy in this for Cordelia is quickly replaced by desperate necessity as she and her triplet brother and sister are forced to flee from the enchanted forest castle that has been their home since they were born.  One of them is the heir to the Raven Crown and rival factions in a generations-long civil war are keen to put whichever it is on the throne as a puppet ruler, or to prevent that possibility, permanently. As they leave the forest for the first time, thanks to her special relationship with nature, Cordelia can physically feel the agony of hills and fields that have been the setting for so many bloody battles. As with the best quests, the ability to make things right rests with her, but it will come at huge cost. The presence on the quest of Giles, always ready to break into song, and Rosalind, equally ready to go into battle, lightens what might have been a sombre adventure, and the triplet’s relationship is one of the joys of the book, their frequent exasperation with Cordelia, whatever form she happens to be in, is very well observed. Fantasy adventures generally tell us a lot about our own world and while Burgis has said the Wars of the Roses were the inspiration for her story, it will leave readers with a sense of the urgency of protecting nature and the overwhelming importance of love and unity that is very powerful.