Raven Stratagem
Affiliate link: buying through it supports BookRank at no extra cost to you.
Our view
“Raven Stratagem” avoids the usual sag of a middle volume and delivers treachery, fleet battles and schemes within schemes. The second book of “Machineries of Empire” spreads its story across several narrators; some readers miss the single viewpoint of the first book, while others enjoy the new voices. Some describe the setting as dense and bewildering but find it easier to follow this time around. It continues directly from the first volume.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
When the hexarchate's gifted young captain Kel Cheris summoned the ghost of the long-dead General Shuos Jedao to help her put down a rebellion, she didn't reckon on his breaking free of centuries of imprisonment - and possessing her. Even worse, the enemy Hafn are invading, and Jedao takes over General Kel Khiruev's fleet, which was tasked with stopping them. Only one of Khiruev's subordinates, Lieutenant Colonel Kel Brezan, seems to be able to resist the influence of the brilliant but psychotic Jedao. Jedao claims to be interested in defending the hexarchate, but can Khiruev or Brezan trust him? For that matter, will the hexarchate's masters wipe out the entire fleet to destroy the rogue general?
Reading order · Machineries of Empire
Full order & progress →- Ninefox GambitStart here
7.57.5 / 10 - Raven StratagemThis book
8.08.0 / 10 - Revenant Gun
8.18.1 / 10
Where the score comes from
The sources average 8.1 across 168 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 53% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Science fiction average of 7.8. That is how 8.0 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 6.9 | 7 | 4% |
| Hardcover | 8.2 | 161 | 96% |
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
Same shelf — Science fiction — with scores between 7.9 and 8.0, closest to this book.
