Book Review: Stars and Ravens by Francis Deer & Mika Hunter

Sometimes all it takes is for a passing comment on social media to direct your eyes to a new book, and that was just the case for me with Stars and Ravens, co-written by authors Francis Deer and Mika Hunter. I was told only that the book had a solid opening chapter, and that it might inspire me to read some more; and now here I am, over 600 pages later. 

That is a lot of preamble because I feel it might help identify what Stars and Ravens actual ‘hook’ is, more so than simply trying to define what the book is, because Stars and Ravens is a lot of things. It is a sprawling multi-genre work of fantasy. It is influenced by folktale, at times written like literary fiction, and full to the brim with detailed character work. It has bearded female dwarfs, a dapper thief and sharp witted investigator. It is many things, but never just one, and I think that flexibility and fluidity is what pushed me to read it all the way through. Make no mistake, this book has flaws, but it is also unique and promising, and as someone who writes reviews instead of stories, that quality is what enables me to talk so fluently about it.

For everything that Stars and Ravens is, I believe what shines above the rest is its commitment to good character work. It is a multi-pronged approach that Francis & Mika took, using contextual motivations, well carved dialogue and personality-fuelled interactions to shape how the reader perceives the characters. It is because they do this, and do it well, that I finished Stars and Ravens with a pang of sadness. I knew I would miss these characters because I had such a clear image of who they were, because I was fond of how they acted, and because I had been invited to understand them so well.

And I think this point serves as a good example of how carefully structured and intentional the writing can be, which is not only an accomplishment in and of itself, but also singularly impressive for how it resulted from two separate writers combining their styles to create one consistent voice. While I can’t say their writing always succeeded for me, which I do want to get into, it never took me out of the experience or made me question their decision to write together, and that is a challenge not easy to overcome.

So what were the sticking points? I think the biggest obstacle I faced, and what prospective readers might also come up against, is the overall pacing of the book. Seemingly as a result of the fact that this book dips into various subgenres of folktale, mystery, comedy, mundane drama and even a little horror, alongside whiplash inducing perspective switching, the pacing does stumble at points. These changes in focus can be long, disorientating and range from being the best showcase of what Stars and Ravens has to offer to being the least enticing and justified detours.

I’ve read enough books to know that all it takes is for one extended section, that feels like a slog, to make someone drop a book for good. And I think that while I can speak for the praise Stars and Ravens earns for itself, I also have to acknowledge that some people will struggle with the book. My advice is that it was worth the commitment but that I cannot provide guarantees for anyone but myself, in part because I cannot identify what exact type of reader this book is appealing for, and in order to appreciate the strong points you have to be ready to take the weak as well.