credit: PJ Fitzpatrick

When I fall in love, I fall hard. I am head-over-heels for The Wall of Night saga. Our heroes are bold, loyal, and true … as well as young, dispossessed, scared to death, and making it up as they go along. I’m in up to my eyeballs!

Then, Helen introduces us to the other characters in the story: fabulous heralds who speak with one voice, grand knights, powerful demons, and those figures who reside within the Gate of Dreams. In Gathering of the Lost, though, we are introduced to someone who seems just a “regular joe” until he becomes a major player. Maybe he was a major player all along?

I speak of Aravenor, Captain of the River Patrol, who is also Ser Raven – hedge knight extraordinaire, who is also Ravirien of the Blood of Fire. As I piece together his story, I am fascinated.

In the first mention of our International Man of Mystery, he remains behind his mask. Literally. As the Knight Captain of the River Patrol, he always wears his helmet – as do all his patrollers. After the massacre of heralds in Ij, he is responsible for mobilizing the Patrol under an ancient treaty, and letting the River know in no uncertain terms that the heralds’ diplomatic immunity matters. I got the sense that it was simultaneously an astute and surprising political move. He has a pointed conversation with our favorite heralds, before they move on past the River and we lose sight of the Patrol for awhile.

When grand adventure gangs awry…

Next, as the (supposedly) new character of Carrick adventures through the pass to the Marches of Emer, we meet Ser Raven. The down-at-the-heels hedge knight mercifully rescues Carrick from outlaws and shepherds him to Normarch. This works out well for all concerned, as Ser Raven takes service in Normarch and becomes instrumental in salvaging the damosels’ grand adventure when it goes badly awry.

In this section of the story, though, we gain hints of Darksworn power-users and that perhaps even division among the enemy’s ranks. One of the best parts of Gathering, the Darksworn aren’t just faceless “bad guys” but have relationships and agendas.

As Gathering draws to its conclusion, the hints and glimpses of Raven come together in a breathless moment of Surprise! He has been vetting Malian as she has been questing for the great arms of Derai legend. Raven values his independence greatly, and though he swears service – it seems much more as an ally than as a vassal.

Which takes us into Daughter of Blood, where we get to see Raven as the remaining Prince of Fire. He instructs Malian in some crucial bits of history as they travel, and she is deeply troubled over the differing perspectives of the millenia-old struggles between the Derai and the Sworn. She was similarly troubled in her realizations of what her culture’s struggles have meant to the world of Haarth.

Malian, hero and friend

In the tragedy that brought House of Fire to Haarth and saw their Ascendant all but dead, he gained an opportunity to reflect and ask questions. He traveled broadly throughout Haarth, then established the Patrol to lend some stability against the terrors he knew would come as the Maelstrom rose. His perspective appears to be entirely unique. The Darksworn adepts and agents seem to be working against each other as much as against Derai interests, and Raven deals ruthlessly with his kin of old as he helps Malian focus on her task at hand.

In The Chaos Gate, I suspect Raven’s apostate heritage and loyalty to Haarth will have an outsized influence on Malian’s decisions. He clearly approves of her ability to find allies instead of vassals; she has shown a distinct pattern with her dealings with Kalan, the Ara-fyr, Yorindesarinen’s shield, and the Patrol and Fire. I deeply suspect that the cliff-hanger ending of Daughter will end in another similar choice to leave allies as free, independent movers.

Whenever possible, Raven has reinforced and approved of Malian’s instincts to search for solutions that are not Derai or Haarth specific, but that, instead, encompass larger concerns. I find that at the core of the Wall of Night series, the sentiment of, “I keep faith” continually repeats. Raven will keep faith with his house, his new world, and his new friend and hero, Malian.