Master of Crows by Grace Draven is a fantasy romance novel that follows the evolving relationship between Martise, a slave girl sent to serve the dark mage Silhara. The story is centered around the slow-burn romance between the two main characters, Martise and Silhara, as they navigate their conflicting goals and pasts. The book also delves into elements of fantasy, including magic, sorcery, and a god of Corruption, all set in a creative and intriguing world that has hints of anime and Middle Eastern influences.
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Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
Content warnings may include themes of slavery, emotional manipulation, and the struggles with power dynamics in relationships.
Has Romance?
The romance between Martise and Silhara is a central focus of the story, with significant development throughout.
From The Publisher:
(Fantasy / Fantasy Romance) What would you do to win your freedom? This is the question that sets bondwoman, Martise of Asher, on a dangerous path. In exchange for her freedom, she bargains with her masters, the mage-priests of Conclave, to spy on the renegade sorcerer, Silhara of Neith. The priests want Martise to expose the sorcerer's treachery and turn him over to Conclave justice. A risky endeavor, but one she accepts without hesitation-until she falls in love with her intended target.
Silhara of Neith, Master of Crows, is a desperate man. The god called Corruption invades his mind, seducing him with promises of limitless power if he will help it gain dominion over the world. Silhara struggles against Corruption's influence and searches for ways to destroy the god. When Conclave sends Martise as an apprentice to help him, he knows she's a spy. Now he fights a war on two fronts-against the god who would possess him and the apprentice who would betray him.
Mage and spy search together for a ritual that will annihilate Corruption, but in doing so, they discover secrets about each other that may damn them both. Silhara must decide if his fate, and the fate of nations, is worth the soul of the woman he has come to love, and Martise must choose continued enslavement or freedom at the cost of a man's life. And love. more
Ratings (34)
Incredible (3) | |
Loved It (15) | |
Liked It (10) | |
It Was OK (2) | |
Did Not Like (2) | |
Hated It (2) |
Reader Stats (142):
Read It (35) | |
Want To Read (79) | |
Not Interested (28) |
2 comment(s)
Less thrilled with the ending, but really enjoyed the book.
2.5 if I could do half stars, but since Goodreads is still a dinosaur in that regard, a 2-star rating will have to cut it. I originally marked this as a 3-star read, but having sat with my thoughts a while longer, I had to bump that down a bit.
To get right to it — these characters weren't great. Neither Martise nor Silhara were particularly compelling to me, with Silhara being the undisputed inferior of the two. Some of the comments he made in his POVs were remarkably icky, and then we were supposed to root for a romance between the two. Yeah, no. Martise wasn't bad, but I didn't feel much emotional connection to her,
especially once she started developing feelings for mister raggedy raven man over here.
The world-building was decent at best, and the cast of characters was painfully limited, considering the book has almost a four-hundred-page count.
I've read another book by this author previously,
Radiance, and rated that one a middling three stars, so I think this marks the end of my journey with her work. Love what you love and read what you like, but this was a swing and a miss for me.
What can you read after
Master of Crows?
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