If you’re in the mood for an epic adventure, Jack of Ravens is just what you’re looking for.
Jack Churchill is an idealistic archaeologist until he finds himself walking out of modern life into Celtic Britain 2,000 years in his past carrying a sword, with no memory of how he got there or much else about his life.
Jack, it turns out, is a Brother of Dragons and a legendary hero, also known as Jack Giantkiller, although he prefers to be called Church. He is the key figure in a desperate fight between hope and despair for the rule of the world. With various other Brothers and Sisters of Dragons, he fights the Army of Ten Billion Spiders and other evil forces through Roman times,the Elizabethan Age, the Second World War, America in the ’60s and Viet Nam, and back to his own time. Ranging beyond our natural world into the Far Lands of myth and legend, his allies are humans, gods, and other supernatural creatures, and so are his enemies.
The battle is joined, and all of existence is at stake.
Jack of Ravens is a true hero quest, filled with sacrifice, violence, death, defeat, and victory. It has traces of Tolkien, Gaiman, and Mercedes Lackey in its use of history and mythology to create fantasy, but it is not imitative of any of them. As dark fantasy goes, it is its own unique creation.
You will be mesmerized and completely engaged by the non-stop action and adventure as Church and his companions strive to save the world from despair and darkness, no matter what the cost.
This is the beginning of a series which continues with The Burning Man. There were other books which came before that feature Churchill and friends, but I had not read them and it did not keep me from being thoroughly engaged in this book. I highly recommend Jack of Ravensto those who are familiar with Chandbourn’s work already and to new readers who will quickly become fans.