The Raven Scholar
#194.38 adjusted 4.37 for sample size in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 1 book Status Ongoing 2025–present Reading commitment Low Antonia Hodgson Last reviewed 2026-08-19
Overview
The Raven Scholar (2025) opens Antonia Hodgson's planned Eternal Path Trilogy. Neema Kraa, the emperor's brilliant High Scholar, must solve a murder during a succession contest: seven warriors and thinkers compete to replace the dying Emperor Bersun after 24 years of peace, aided (or manipulated) by a mysterious entity known only as the Raven. Hodgson, previously known for historical crime fiction, made her fantasy debut with this novel, combining a locked-room murder-mystery structure with an elaborate imperial contest of champions, each representing one of the empire's rival gods and castes. The book received strong critical attention on release and was widely reviewed as one of 2025's notable epic-fantasy debuts, drawing comparisons to both classic court-intrigue fantasy and Hodgson's crime-writing background. It is the first installment of a planned trilogy, with the remaining volumes still forthcoming as of this entry.
Epic fantasy · For Adult
Core Canon: Reading Order (1 work) counts toward ranking
The Eternal Path Trilogy Antonia Hodgson
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | The Raven Scholar | 2025 | 1 | core | 4.38 (63,603 ratings) |
An epic fantasy trilogy following a court scholar investigating a murder during a succession contest to replace an empire's dying ruler. Only the opening volume is published so far; its announced sequel, The Fox in Winter, has not yet been released and is out of scope until it is.
Quick answers
- How many books are in The Raven Scholar? The Raven Scholar's Core Canon is 1 book.
- Is The Raven Scholar finished? Ongoing (2025–present).
- How much reading does The Raven Scholar take? Low reading commitment (estimated from 1 Core Canon book).
- How is The Raven Scholar ranked? #19 in this site's official ranking, based on 63,603 reader ratings across 1 Core Canon book. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #19?
Ranked #19 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 4.38 across 1 core book.
- A smaller readership (63,603 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- Less than 0.01 behind #18, The Faithful and the Fallen (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
- A single standalone novel: ranked on that one book alone.
Why explore this universe?
Top-tier rated · 1 book · Ongoing · 64k ratings · Ranks #19 overall
Good choice if you want a quick, low-commitment epic fantasy universe that's still ongoing, with new books still coming.
Reading order
A single Core Canon work: no sequencing question to resolve.
Awards (verified)
- No awards found for this universe.
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Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 4.38 across 63,603 ratings on 1 Core Canon book. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Admit The Raven Scholar / Eternal Path Trilogy (Antonia Hodgson) as a new universe accepted 2026-08-19
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
Last reviewed: 2026-08-19
Rule: Only the published first volume is Core Canon. The announced sequel, The Fox in Winter, has not yet been released and will be added once it is.