Yes! Yes yes yes!As a fan of "The Raven" novels I'd been disappointed by "Ravensoul" and so approached this new epic somewhat cautiously, worried that James Barclay had perhaps run out of steam. I could not have been more wrong! At over 800 pages this was a bit of a slowburner to begin with - so many characters and a fully realised world to wrap one's head around - but well worth that initial effort. The political machinations of Estoria were detailed and fascinating (heavily inspired I think by the Roman Empire?) and the battles (similarly Roman) brutal: at times exhilerating, at others unflinching and offputting. The development of the young Ascendants followed a similar trajectory and it was not always easy to care for the "heroes" of the tale. As with all of Barclays novels there are some truly wonderful characters (see: Jhered) who you simply cannot help but get hehind and that emotional investment always leads to a rollercoaster ride of will-they-or-won't-they make it (although in this case the ride only starts several hundred pages in).So, to summarise. Long? Definitely. Overblown? Perhaps a little, but wonderfully so. Worthy successor to The Raven? Absolutely. My final impression of this novel is that it has been a complete labour of love for Barclay and I for one have been most impressed by its big-budget, epic fantasy storytelling. The story continues in "Shout for the Dead" and while I need a bit of a breather to recover from the epic length of "Cry of the Newborn" I absolutely can't wait to dive back into Estorea and find out where my favourite characters have ended up after the events chronicled here.
