Untethered Sky
From World Fantasy Award-winning author Fonda Lee comes Untethered Sky , an epic fantasy fable about the pursuit of obsession at all costs.
A Most Anticipated in 2023 Pick for Polygon | Book Riot | Paste Magazine
Ester’s family was torn apart when a manticore killed her mother and baby brother, leaving her with nothing but her father’s painful silence and a single, overwhelming need to kill the monsters that took her family.
Ester’s path leads her to the King’s Royal Mews, where the giant rocs of legend are flown to hunt manticores by their brave and dedicated ruhkers. Paired with a fledgling roc named Zahra, Ester finds purpose and acclaim by devoting herself to a calling that demands absolute sacrifice and a creature that will never return her love. The terrifying partnership between woman and roc leads Ester not only on the empire’s most dangerous manticore hunt, but on a journey of perseverance and acceptance.
Title: Untethered Sky
Author: Fonda Lee
Genre: Fiction / Fantasy
Paperback: 160 pages
Publication Date: 04/11/2023
Publisher: Tordotcom
Language: English
ISBN: 9781250842466
My Review
"The moment before your life changes forever is crystalline. It stops your heart like a fly caught in amber."
Untethered Sky by Fonda Lee features:
▪︎ Creatures of Middle Eastern mythology
▪︎ Coming of age
▪︎ Connectivity between humans & nature
▪︎ Complex relationships & friendships
▪︎ Folkloric atmosphere
"Her skirt billowed and flapped between the manticor's front paws and her scream died in the air the instant she did."
Ester witnessed/lost her family in a vicious attack by a manticore who roam the land/sky and feed on humans. The more you scream, the hungrier they become.
A few years later, Ester enters a program to become a ruhker training rocs, huge birds of prey, to take down these manticores and keep the villages safe.
"I loved her with the gravity of a stone sinking into a pool."
"Up close, her size and beauty stole my breath; she didn't seem as if she could be real."
If you enjoy animal companion stories, you will love this part. Much focus is given to the relationship of ruhker and roc, establishing that trust between handler and creature as well as working in tandem with other ruhkers, their birds, and the collegial rapport.
This novel is different from The Green Bone Saga stories. Lee's writing exhibits exquisite restraint. It's neither epic nor loud, but minimalist and tender. The darker moments are viscerally effective and motivate the protagonist to rise from tragedy, in turn, inviting a deep-found empathy from the reader.
"Catch me, and live. Fail and die.
Closer.
Closer. The beast's rancid, panting breath on my back, claws swiping for the wheels."
A coming-of-age story cloaked in a folktale narrative, easily enjoyable, a novella nugget about birds that needed to be written, and Fonda Lee's fantastical tale inspired by her vacation in Ireland certainly painted a savory rich one.
Enjoy 💚
-S.
Thank you @tordotcompub for sending me this wonderful book for review. I loved it.
