Blurb: Thrown out and cursed as a trickster by his own father, Raven finds himself in the hands of a woman with a power he never could have imagined. In a time where the lands have been plagued by drought, sickness, and failing crops, Mistress Chatrina gives him food, work, and a place to sleep. But it is not out of the goodness of her heart.

Now Raven is faced with the mystery concerning his new friend Myche and his master Breyre, for years held captive by Chatrina's selfishness and greed. They need to escape, and Raven is the only one who can help them return to their people, the shape shifting Eyrders.

But this return is not celebrated by all, and Raven, an Outlander, is not welcome. Breyre's need to seek revenge on Chatrina for all the hurt she has caused threatens to bring him nothing but hatred, having him exiled... or worse.

Raven has to cope with the impending war, the conflicting plans of the Eyrders themselves, the struggle with his own newfound magic, and his budding relationship with a man who has a troubled past and an uncertain future.


This book is absolute joy. As a reader who generally prefers contemporary over fantasy, I was delighted to find a fantasy novel—and this is longish one, over 115K—that held my interest throughout and in the end, left me wanting more. More Eyrder, more of its characters, more of its intrigue, and much, much more of its magic. My initial impression, and one that didn't change, was that I'd found a solid piece of writing. Well-plotted, the story curves back on itself in all the right places and leaves nothing to dangle at the end. The universe is beautifully fleshed out and never dumped in the reader's lap en masse, but is instead meted out in delicious morsels. As for the characters, their honor and integrity is tempered with anger, vengeance, and jealousy. The evil has roots in emotions all of us can understand, like ambition. In short, the cast is vibrant and believable. There's romance too! The slow-building, burning sort that makes your mouth water. It would be remiss not to mention that.

As an added bonus, the book is well-written, and let's not brush that off like it should be a given these days, especially in this genre. I'd guess about 50% of the people who read this blog are writers or editors (or both) themselves, so they know… it can be difficult to be drawn into a book when your inner editor is constantly critiquing. In the case of Raven and the Wolf, I felt immersed and invested in the story from the first few pages. Not once was I pulled away by stilted dialog, bloated description, or awkward pacing. This is clean and engaging prose.

You can find the book on Smashwords—for a song, considering what you get in return. The author, Mari Evers, moonriddler_mim here on LJ, made a researched and personal decision to use Smashwords (something she talks about on her blog), and I’m so glad she did. Raven and the Wolf is a perfect example of the absolute gems that are being self-published these days.

Highly recommended! And Ms. Evers has an "extra" short story on her LJ that's positively panty-melting. (I know, panty-melting isn't necessarily a PC term, but that's exactly what it is.)

Links: Raven and the Wolf (on Smashwords)

Mari Evers' page on Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/marievers
Her Blog: http://moonriddler-mim.livejournal.com
Her Website: http://www.moonriddler.com