The Lightshy Crow
By John R. Raymond (The Darklight Group, 2025)
Genre: Dark Fantasy
Pages: 628 (print); 444 (Kindle)
Via: Author Request
Note: We received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review
Blurb:
The Lightshy Crow is the first novel in The Scarab Cycle, a mythic fantasy set in a crumbling empire where prophecy has soured and the gods no longer speak.
At its center is Tomrin Watersipper, a marked boy hiding cursed scales beneath his shirt that brand him for death. Trapped in a backwater glassworks, Tomrin dreams only of obscurity. But when the wrong eyes take notice, he must choose between exposure and annihilation.
Tomrin’s not the only one with secrets. In the Empire of Corundum, monsters wear the masks of men—and the line between divine and demonic is written in blood, silence, and fire.
Though set in a fictional realm, The Lightshy Crow explores real-world questions of faith, identity, and moral power without preaching or pandering. Just good writing and a world that hums with buried truth.
While it has its moments, The Lightshy Crow wasn’t our cuppa. For one thing, it’s way too long. Clocking in at over 600 print pages and 440+ pages on Kindle, this dark literary fantasy is a heavy lift. We just don’t have that kind of lift. Especially since our limit for Kindle submissions is 300 pages. We also found the plot hard to follow and slow. Think dark as a light-less coal mine at midnight during a tornado. Or a snail stuck in a molasses factory.
It just didn’t grab us. Not long enough to hang around till the 12th of Never. One of us doesn’t have that kind of patience. (Hi, Mom.) Bailed out at about 100 pages. So we won’t be rating this book.
However, if you enjoy dark fantasy with lots of magic and impressive world-building skills coupled with a complicated plot that could give Middle Earth a run for its money, you might enjoy The Lightshy Crow.
Pages & Paws 
September 3, 2025 at 12:42 pm
Hi Kristine,
Thank you for your honest review. I of course am saddened that you were unable to reach chapter 10. That is where I believe the plot finally becomes fully unlocked. But I totally respect that the opening sequences are slower than you and others people might like.
I hope that anyone who might still pick up my book read past the slow burn of the first 9 chapters. If others are looking for a quicker start, they might pick up book two: https://tinyurl.com/COTEast and start from there.
Thank you,
John R Raymond
September 3, 2025 at 12:49 pm
I should also note that the correct link to the latest edition of The Lightshy Crow is not the amazon link. Those two copies are very much out of date – not controlled by me – and only the new and free electronic version is ready for the public’s consumption: https://tinyurl.com/TLSCrow
John R Raymond
September 3, 2025 at 4:00 pm
Potential readers, please note!
September 3, 2025 at 11:32 pm
Also, please note that once I am doing with this latest pass on the final book, book four, I will be going back to book one with a special eye to the pacing issues that harmed Kristine’s enjoyment of the first third of the book.