My review: The Raven Scholar, by Antonia Hodgson 

I read this (epub) on 14 May 2026.

This novel is up for a 2026 Hugo Award. If you become a voting member, you can download the voters packet and read it yourself.

I really enjoyed this one, despite all the things I didn’t like.

Stories about formal factions are fine but so often overdone. This one blended in some pseudo-zodiac vibes that I enjoyed. The murder mystery and palace intrigue were fine. The secret machinations of the throne were nicely layered but I’m not sure that the true identity of the badguy was appropriately scaffolded.

I appreciated the idea that some (most?) of the world doesn’t necessarily believe in the metaphysical mythical nature of their Guardian forces. I appreciate a somewhat casual and jaded atheism in settings like this, though of course it makes the “oh shit this is all real” reveal somewhat expected. Fortunately, this book eased us into that reveal, by giving us early access to the perspective of the Raven, and so readers enjoyed the dramatic irony and tension of waiting for the characters to catch up. This is much more enjoyable than the rug-pull of surprising the readers with the actuality of divinity at the same time.

My complaint with fairytales is frequently my complaint with magic systems. I’m so pedantic that I want clear and observable and enforceable rules for the magic system, otherwise any neat trick is just deus ex machina and unearned. (My complaint also applies to mysteries and the chapters titled ‘Poirot Explains.’)

Editor’s note: I’m still trying to settle on certain stylistic choices for this site, such as when/how to use single vs double quotation marks, and when to italicize, and how much to care about going back and editing the post from yesterday that, I now realize, used a different convention… I would care more if this was professionally but then again maybe it would be more professional if I cared more…

Anyway, I appreciated the magic system in this world, which is mostly out of reach and unfathomable. The Dragon disciples are the only ones who can use magic, and it turns out those spells come with limitations and cost that are not too specific while still being consistent. The power of the other Guardians, as manifested on the mortal realm, is vast and kinda unknowable. They are in fact the deus in the machina. But even after we discover they are real, we still see that they are limited (and somewhat aloof) and they don’t unduly unbalance the world.

I enjoyed the court intrigue. I enjoyed the rivalries. I enjoyed the worldbuilding, as a whole. Good times. Definitely a contender for the Hugo, and I’m very interested in knowing where the subsequent books take us.

Also, I just love clack-fans as a weapon.

Oh yeah, and it is comfortably queer. And even the jocks are expected to develop academic rigor, and the typecasting is not too painful. We’re all supposed to identify with the whole Raven/Fox dynamic, right?