Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove

Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove is a secondary world fantasy based on Indian settings and mythology. Katyani is magically bonded to the queen of Chandela; she is her bodyguard but is treated almost as a daughter and was raised with princes Ayan and Bhairav as her brothers. At a gurukul in the forest where she and the princes learn magical techniques to fight off monsters, she meets the teacher’s stiff, upright son, Daksh, who, at first, seems to hate her.

When Katya and the princes return to Chandela, the palace is attacked by monsters working with soldiers from the enemy kingdom of Malwa. Most of the royal family is murdered, and Katya is kidnapped. The regent of Malwa claims Katya as his granddaughter and says she was stolen as a child, not saved as the queen had told her. Despite learning the truth, Katya cannot suddenly renounce her loyalty to the only family she remembers, and when Bhairav comes with Daksh and his father, the Acharya, to rescue her, she fights against Malwa, and the regent is killed.

But then Bhairav claims Katya is the traitor who let the monsters into the palace, and she is denounced in a mock trial. With nowhere else to turn, Katya returns to the gurukul, and she and Daksh work together to uncover the real traitor.

The setting of Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove is richly textured and immersive. Mehrotra uses the plants and animals and food of India to create a believable fantasy world full of sensory detail.

The monsters and ghosts, taken from Indian folk-tales and myths, are enjoyably creepy and frightening. Katya learns how to fight against them, leading to exciting action scenes, but, through the course of the story, she also learns how to dialog with them, giving depth to the story. Not all monsters are evil, and the human villains are sometimes the more monstrous ones. Familiar folk-tale themes of promises kept and broken are woven into these interactions.

Katya is an engaging heroine, competent and outspoken. Her love of her family is a clear motivation through the story, consistent despite tragedy and betrayal. The romance between Katya and Daksh has enjoyable enemies-to-lovers banter and a few steamy kisses. More interesting is Katya’s relationship with Daksh’s father, the Acharya, her teacher who has his own agenda, and someone Katya struggles to understand and trust.

The pacing slows in the middle when Katya seems to spend a lot of time going back and forth through the forest, and the reveal of the traitor is anti-climactic; it’s fairly obvious that Bhairev is the villain from the moment he denounces Katya, and so the investigation into his co-conspirators is less compelling.

Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove is a fascinating world with cool monsters and magic. It would be interesting to study this novel along with the Indian myths and stories that inspired it. The book will appeal to readers who like strong heroines.