The Raven Scholar (2025) is an adult epic fantasy by Antonia Hodgson and the first installment in the Eternal Path Trilogy. The trilogy begins by following a solitary Raven scholar named Neema Kraa, who is forced to participate in the Trials that will choose the new ruler of the Orrun empire. When a fellow member of her Raven faction is murdered. Neema uncovers a deep corruption in the very political system she’s served so loyally for years. The novel explores The Inevitable Uncovering of Deception, The Temptations and Corruptions of Power, and The Oppressive Nature of Class Hierarchies.  

This guide is based on the 2025 Kindle e-book edition published by Orbit, an imprint of the Hachette Book Group.

Content Warning: The source material and this guide contain depictions of death by suicide, discrimination, death, sexual content, and violence.

Plot Summary

Eight years after the failed rebellion of the noble Andren Valit, the imperial court of Orrun prepares for the Festival, a competition that determines who will become the next emperor. The empire’s eight Guardian monasteries—each one devoted to a particular divine Guardian animal—send a champion to compete in a series of Trials. Among the contenders is Ruko Valit, Andren’s surviving son. Years earlier, Ruko was forced by the emperor to choose between saving his twin sister Yana from punishment for treason or accepting a coveted place in the Tiger monastery that would allow him to one day compete for the throne. Ruko chose his own ambition. Yana was exiled to the deadly Dolrun Forest; Neema Kraa, then a young scholar of the Raven monastery, wrote the order condemning her. The decision destroyed Neema’s relationship with her lover, Cain, who had begged her to refuse.

Now Neema serves as High Scholar of the empire and expects to watch the Festival from the sidelines. However, the Raven contender, Gaida Rack, humiliates Neema during the opening ceremony and gets her fired from her post. Afterward, Neema is poisoned with Dragonscale oil, a substance that induces prophetic visions tied to the ancient Guardians. The following morning Gaida is found dead in her chambers, stabbed with the sacred Blade of Peace, a weapon cursed to bring about the end of the world if used to take a life. Neema is tasked with investigating the murder and forced to take Gaida’s place as the Raven contender.

As the Festival progresses, Neema uncovers that Gaida had an incriminating secret about Emperor Bersun. The investigation reveals that Gaida was first poisoned, and then stabbed after death to ensure the crime would be investigated. Neema ultimately deduces that Havoc Arbell-Ranor, the Monkey contender and son of a powerful noble family, poisoned Gaida because she had discovered information that threatened the emperor, who offered him a coveted position for his loyalty.

At the same time, Neema gets visited repeatedly by the Raven, one of the Guardians, during the Trials. The Raven warns her that if Ruko takes the throne, the Eight Guardians will return to destroy the world. The Raven offers her its power to kill him and avoid this fate. Horrified by the request, Neema refuses, but allows a small fragment of the Raven—whom she calls “Sol”—to inhabit her body instead. Neema also eventually learns that Cain carries a similar burden: Since infancy he has unknowingly served as host to the Fox Guardian.

As her investigation continues, Neema’s servant Benna reveals the truth about her own involvement in Gaida’s death. Years earlier, Benna cared for Yana during her exile procession and became her friend. Yana, who still loved her brother despite his betrayal, devised a plan not for revenge but to prevent Ruko from becoming the ruthless ruler their father had once dreamed of being. Acting on Yana’s instructions, Benna infiltrated the imperial island, stole Ruko’s ceremonial blade, and poisoned Neema with Dragonscale in the hope that the visions would force her to confront the corruption at the heart of the empire. When she later discovered Gaida already dead from poison, Benna stabbed the body with the stolen blade so the crime would not be dismissed as a natural death.

Neema’s investigation soon uncovers a truth even more shocking than Gaida’s murder: The emperor who has ruled Orrun for years is not the real Bersun. She suspects it is his brother Gedrun, forced to impersonate him through a magical disguise. Gedrun himself is only a pawn, as Neema will eventually learn that the true imposter is Andren Valit, the supposedly dead rebel and father of Ruko and Yana. Andren secretly killed Bersun during the rebellion and has ruled the empire ever since, using Gedrun as the public face of the throne. Andren’s ultimate plan is to secure the empire for his bloodline by manipulating the Festival so that Ruko becomes emperor. Once his son ascends, Andren intends to reshape the world entirely.

The Festival continues until only three finalists remain: Ruko, Cain, and Neema. During the final Dragon Trial, competitors are shown visions of their possible futures. Cain withdraws from the contest when the Fox refuses to participate, leaving the final decision between Neema and Ruko. Ruko claims to see himself crowned emperor and is declared the winner of the Festival.

During a celebratory reception, Andren reveals himself to the assembled court by breaking the spell that disguises him and transforms before their eyes. Many powerful nobles have secretly supported him for years and are not surprised. Using a forbidden ritual called the Soul Stealer, Andren tears a fragment of Ruko’s soul away and assumes his son’s appearance. With this power he intends to rule openly as his son while Ruko remains imprisoned.

Andren summons the eight Guardians from their hidden realm and imprisons them within the paintings in the throne room. He believes the Guardians were originally human creations that grew too powerful, and he intends to free humanity from their influence forever. Neema manages to protect Sol, the fragment of the Raven inside her. Another fragment of the Dragon survives through the intervention of Yasila, Ruko and Yana’s mother.

Andren’s soldiers begin purging the island of anyone who might resist the new regime. The Fox palace is destroyed, and many people are killed. Cain regains control of his body when the Fox is momentarily dislodged during the ritual, allowing him to escape the palace with Neema and their fellow contender, Tala. While Andren departs the island with his family and allies, Neema and Cain search desperately for a way to escape the slaughter. They make a run for the Mirror Bridge, fighting their way through the soldiers with the help of Sol and the unexpected assistance of the High Commander Vabras, whose body has briefly been taken over by the Fox.

Forced to leap from the bridge into the sea, Neema and Cain are rescued by Tala and the Fox monastery’s abbot, who survived the purge by hiding after receiving a cryptic warning from the Fox Guardian. As their small boat slips away from the imperial island, Neema, Cain, and their allies sail into an uncertain future, but all are determined to oppose the tyrant who has seized the throne.