The Raven King is the second installment in Nora Sakavic’s All for the Game series. The series was originally self-published and gained a significant cult following online. The books are characterized by the author’s use of the sports-fiction genre to explore complex character dynamics and psychological trauma. Sakavic’s series presents the high-stakes, fictional game of Exy as an arena where the characters’ internal struggles are externalized and confronted.

The novels follow Neil Josten, the 18-year-old son of a notorious crime lord known as “the Butcher of Baltimore.” Neil has spent eight years on the run with his mother to escape his father. After his mother’s death, Neil continues to disguise his identity, only risking breaking cover to play Exy, a violent sport combining elements of lacrosse and hockey.

In the first novel, The Foxhole Court, Neil’s talent leads to the offer of a spot on the Palmetto State University Foxes, an Exy team infamous for recruiting gifted athletes from broken homes. As the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)’s lowest-ranked team, the Foxes are a collection of volatile and traumatized individuals. Neil’s feelings about joining the team are conflicted. He loves playing Exy but fears the exposure that the role brings, particularly since the team includes Kevin Day, a former national champion. Neil encountered Kevin as a child because his father worked with Kevin’s adoptive family, the Moriyamas—a notorious yakuza clan. Kevin was the star player of the Edgar Allan Ravens Exy team until Riko Moriyama inflicted a deliberately debilitating injury on his adoptive brother, prompting his transfer to the Foxes.

Ultimately, Neil is forced into a deal with Andrew Minyard, the team’s brilliant but volatile goalkeeper. Andrew offers Neil protection from his dangerous past in exchange for Neil ensuring that Kevin remains with the Foxes. The Foxhole Court culminates in a live TV interview in which Kevin and Neil unexpectedly face Riko. Springing to Kevin’s defense during the interview, Neil launches a verbal attack on Riko, incurring his wrath. Hours later, one of the Foxes teammates, Seth Gordon, dies from an overdose of drugs and alcohol. Both Neil and Andrew suspect that Riko had Seth killed in an act of retribution.

Picking up shortly after the events of The Foxhole Court, The Raven King opens in the aftermath of Seth’s suspicious death. As the threat of further retribution from Riko looms, Neil’s fragile safety is dependent on his place within Andrew’s dysfunctional inner circle. The internal conflicts and external threats that he faces force him deeper into a world of violence and psychological turmoil.