What would you get if you crossed Greek myths with Gideon the Ninth and tossed in an expert assassin who happens to be an OAP? The answer is the latest series starter from grimdark fantasy maestro Mark Lawrence, which broadly operates in the dark academia genre (only with a serious emphasis on the dark).
Daughter of Crows is based around the Academy of Kindness, an educational institution whose wholesome name belies its true nature as a training ground for assassins – taught by the Fates, aka the Kindly Ones from Greek legend, themselves. Out of a class of 100, only three girls will survive. The academy’s most notorious, and long-lasting, graduate? That would be our unlikely protagonist, Rue, an elderly woman whose most limber days are behind her, but who must nonetheless use her particular set of skills once more in order to go on a personal mission to lay to rest the ghosts of her past.
Those who have already read Lawrence’s Broken Empire series and Library trilogy will know what a treat they are in for here, but any jumping on board to the author’s oeuvre fresh will likely become instant converts, thanks to his trademark sharp prose and snappy pacing. Readers who can’t get enough of the “deadly school” trope won’t leave disappointed either, as the Academy of Kindness, with its high mortality rate, cutthroat student relationships and lessons in necromancy, makes for a compelling setting.
What really sets Daughter apart, however, is its choice of heroine. We’ve all read more fantasy books featuring fresh-faced youths and angsty adolescents than we can count, so to have a series fronted by an assassin in her autumn years, who is full of rage at both the sick world she lives in and the inevitability of age, makes for a satisfyingly subversive experience. The book’s other highlight is the way Rue’s story is framed – the narrative is split between the present and Rue’s childhood at the Academy, where we learn just what transformed her from innocent to survivor in the first place, with many twists and turns along the way.
Made for those who like their fantasy painted with both shades of grey and plenty of splashes of blood, Daughter of Crows is yet another win from Lawrence and a true grimdark delight.
DAUGHTER OF CROWS is available now from all good book shops.
