While he wants to stay loyal to his creed, he cannot help but wonder how near the end is, as he is deeply aware of his own invincibility and vulnerability. According to his detractors, the protagonist here is paying for the sins of his father.

While he struggles between conflicting emotions, the premise here is that he must kill to live. The odds here seem to be stacked solidly against Vaelin. The plan is that Vaelin is going to die, because at the end of it all, the owner of the duel does not target a win for Vaelin, but a win for himself.Ī conflict slowly builds up between Vaelin Al Sorna and the evil, demanding king who seeks to have nothing but retribution. Despite the fact that he has to fight to the death in most of his duel, there is a sense of hopelessness in the way things happen. He is a shadow, he moves in the realm in the pursuit of enemies. Technically, there exists no true definition of Vaelin. While creating this character, Ryan shows an incredible sense of creativity. He must pursue a destiny that is unknown to him.

Most of the activities in the book do not happen within his control. Vaelin is less than thirty years old, yet a mission exists for which he must sacrifice all the things he believed in. In the sixth order, Vaelin Al Sorna, brother of the sixth order in a dystonic realm fights a losing war against everyone. Tower Lord followed, and the last book in the trilogy, Queen of Fire, comes out later this year. The first and second editions of this book received a good critical acclaim, but sales predictably skyrocketed after the deal with Penguin. Initially, Blood Song (2013) was self-published but later, he decided to go with penguin’s publishers despite enjoying commercial success on his own. While some critics argue that it took way too long for the book to hit the shelves, this is understandable because the author was at that time studying for a degree in medieval history and did not get enough time to develop his plot points. Yet when he started writing, the words simply flowed forth and he was able to finish strong. In his first book, the outline was a single page. As a student, he liked to read and write about almost everything.Īsked about his writing habits, Ryan explains that every book for him is an opportunity to let his thoughts go wild. He has always liked to conjure up things and it has always led to more and more writing. During school competitions, he was always eager to put up some interesting write up. According to interviews, Ryan confesses to being very interested in writing from a very young age. He is the author of the trilogy under the name of Raven’s Shadow, with two books Blood Song and Tower Lord already out. Never display translations Registered users can choose which translations are shown.Born in 1970, Anthony Ryan is an English writer who although born in Scotland, has spent nearly all his life in England and now resides in London.

Raven's shadow series