The Raven Scholar
Subtitle: Book One of the Eternal Path Trilogy
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Published: 2025
Language: eng
Number of pages: 656
ISBN-13: 9781529339901
Description: She might win the throne. She might destroy an empire. Either way, it begins with murder.

After twenty-four years on the throne, it is time for Bersun the Brusque, emperor of Orrun, to bring his reign to an end. In the dizzying heat of mid-summer, seven contenders will compete to replace him. Trained in secret at rival monasteries, each contender is inspired by a sacred animal—Fox, Raven, Tiger, Ox, Bear, Monkey, and Hound. An eighth warrior—the Dragon proxy—will be revealed only once the trials have begun. Eight exceptional warriors, thinkers, strategists—the best of the best.

Then one of them is murdered.

It falls to the emperor’s High Scholar, the brilliant but idiosyncratic Neema Kraa, to investigate. But as she hunts for a killer, even darker forces are gathering. If Neema succeeds in her task, she could win the throne—whether she wants it or not. But if she fails, she will sentence herself to death—and set in motion a sequence of events that could doom the entire empire.