The Raven's Shadow

The Aegis of Merlin #4

by James E. Wisher

Death gathers in the shadow of the floating island. Conryu returns home after an eventful first year at school, eager for a quiet summer vacation with his best friends. Unfortunately, it is not to be. Just days after he arrives home, the Le Fay Society broadcasts its demands and his life is at the top of the list. Conryu soon finds himself on the run from the police and the only way to save himself is to hunt down those threatening the city himself. Can Conryu and his friends defeat the cunning Lady Raven before she unleashes a horde of shadow beasts on the city?

Genres: Urban Fantasy, Fantasy, Magic, Adventure, Audiobook, Urban

249 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 4, 2017

Reviews

[Ronie Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, I'm gonna leave right here

[Steve Naylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating 4.0 stars

Conryu is done with his first year of magic school, so now he gets to go home and just relax for the summer, right? Nope, he is immediately thrust into a dangerous situation as the Le Fey society enact their plans. Kelsi has come home with Conryu to get away from her mother, which really makes Maria jealous, but what can she do? Overall I still like the character and the magic system is still interesting, but I got more of the YA feel from this particular story. Simple things that should be obvious or should never have happened in the first place kept popping up How can the department of magic have ONLY 2 wizards? They had to call on Maria's mom to help out and she doesn't even work for the department. When Conryu was in school he had abut 500 classmates. There are about 150 new students each year. Where the hell are they? Also, as soon as there was a problem and they realized they needed help, how come no one thought to ask the teachers at the school for help? Maria did toward the end, but how did it never even occur to anyone else to ask? What about the mayor being controlled by demons and nobody had any clue, even after he ordered the police to kill Conryu? Nobody thought to question that order? Lastly, it seemed overly difficult for the entire group to catch Lady Raven. She was an old lady and yet she was able to run faster than Conryu? While she did use a lot of her minions to attack the group which probably saved her a lot of energy, she was still able to use a lot of magic, even though she had 1/10 of Conryu's power.

Still, while I was hoping for a little more complexity/ believability in the scenario, it still was easy to read and kept me engaged. This is a pretty good series.

[Mahesh · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

Well rating is enough to say what my impression is.!
What an adrenaline rush...!
Can't wait to start the next one

[Scycer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Here we are .. this is where the plots laid out in the first book come into fruition. I am going through this series using an audiobook on the Storytel app and I felt couple of jumps take place in the story.

The instance when Conryu gets his death mark and the assassination incident in the end. I like how the flow of the story went. It was pretty fast paced. Some characters start to feel redundant and I expect that the author might start finding ways to remove them from the story.

Sometimes I feel that the author when he started to write the novel picturing a world where the balance of power between men and women were opposite ( thanks to magic being only capable to be used by women) and then throw in a uber strong powerful male who needs a harem to bring out the best in him.

The paradigm of the magic universe also gets extended and I like how the magic systems develop. The conflict points or rather the chemistry of some of the characters could be improved. It is starting to feel like most of the people around Conryu are some sort of baggage that needs to be lugged around. I hope the authors starts giving some leverage and weight in the plots in the upcoming novels.

Its a decent read.. a really light one. Feel free to pick it up.

[Shu Viole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Relationship Problem

I really like this series and the characters, but I am getting tired of the author making Kelsie fall in love with Conryu but not giving her a fair chance. Honestly, its possible for the author to make so that Conryu ends up with Maria and Kelsie specially because of how Kelsie and Maria are starting to understand each other better. Its possible but the author won't do it. I know polygamy is not widely acceptable in society but I would really like for both Maria and Kelsie to end up with Conryu. It would add more excitement to the story to show how their relationship progress and become more able accept each other and their love.

[Vincent Archer · Rating 4 out of 5]

The fourth entry into the Aegis of Merlin solves a lot more plot and clears (mostly) the table of villains. The interesting bit is that you finally find out why the Le Fay Society is doing all this nefarious setup, and it turns out it's a very simple and commonplace motivation (skipped for spoilers). It's refreshing because you expect baffling esoteric reasons, or maybe some gaping character motivation hole, and you have... "normal" reasons.

Looking forward to the next book, which will probably start a new cycle afresh.

[Eric Cooley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Summer after first year.

Conryu still fighting.

This one just seemed short, too short.
Good moving of the pace. Very icky political and (not his) family politics.

This one seemed to pull the villain stupid stick, only usable on villains. Well and the police and other protector. All in the name of making Conryu super hero of the story.

So far this is my least favorite, because the hero and friends aren't a team. They even state one of the support got caught like a newbie recruit.

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Arc ender

Conryu has a nice little crisis and save the city. Personally the fast pace of the book was fine but the length was off. The main battle happens about 3/4 of the way through the book. Good epilogue/setup for next arc, hopefully we will have more second character development. Worth the price.

[Larry Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book delivers on his promise

All of the books in this series have delivered. The characters are well developed and believable. The action comes fast and hard. Really a great read!!!

[Dick SantaCruz · Rating 5 out of 5]

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger

I have read all four books. Each is excellent. Our hero keeps getting stronger as more nasty creatures keep trying to kill him.
Good story line and character development.
Looking forward to more.

[Andy Lapidus · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like it more and more

Very good story, very well writing. The only problem for is it no harem. Cuz the MC lover is useless and MC dark power only hurt her one day for sure. Sigh.

[Rbmartworks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book with action all the way through. I have been enjoying the series so far and cannot wait for more, but this one really got going with the main character conryu coming out of his shell and showing more of his skills more as a wizard. Cannot wait to see what happens next.

[Barbara Scutt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Year one finished

Conryu is finished his first year but the Le Fay Society has ask for his head in exchange for not killing everyone. So in order to save himself he has to save everyone else. With his friends by his side he is going to try.

[Carrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book as part of an omnibus. It was well written with interesting characters and a decent plot. However, while the plot and characters seem aimed at a young middle school audience he occasionally included incidents that were very adult making it hard to recommend this book.

[Richin109 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great series.

Started reading and could not put it down. I always excited to get the next book in the series. Highly recommend this book and the series. Each on gets better.

[Melissa Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

A step up from book three.....an exciting tale filled with lots of action and just enough fighting with and without magic to be thrilling.

[David Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book

This is a very engrossing series! I highly recommend it. The interplay of modern fantasy is highly entertaining. Read it!

[Maggie Borges · Rating 5 out of 5]

Buy it

It's everything I've come to expect from this author and more, can't wait to read the next book in line.

[Baye Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm loving this serious!

[Anurag · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic continuation

[Caroline Atkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you love magic...

Absolutely brilliant series. Magic, demons, good guys and bad women (ok not all of them!) Now for the next book.

[Ray Knighton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great

When rereading a series some things you missed sticks out. There are lots of people that try to avoid evil but will step up when they are needed.

[Zack Turner]

Excellent

Fantastic read! I absolutely loved it! I can not wait for the next one to be release! Such great characters in this book!

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This turned out enjoyable. I hope the next book continues this.

The person who I predicted to be the big bad was not, but I may still be proved right in later books.

3/5 Stars

[Gabriel Fournier · Rating 3 out of 5]

Story is interesting, if very short.
However, the price tag for the story is steep.
If you're to buy it, get the omnibus, you get a much more decent pricing.

[Bobby Emanuel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exhilarating

Each book gets better. Impressive world building. Looking forward to more in the series. The first year was a roller coaster.

[Amanda Kern · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awesome series

This is a good series. I really enjoy it. I can't wait to see what happens next to our young hero.