Untethered Sky

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I nodded in wordless thanks, relaxing a little into her optimism. Most ruhkers paid little attention to the apprentices, but Nasmin was one of the younger women in the mews and one of the few who’d been kind to me when I’d arrived a year ago. The simple knowledge that I had a friend who’d gone through what I was facing and was confident in my survival made it much easier to not think about the alternative.

People have admired rocs for centuries. Artists paint them, sculpt them, tell stories about them. I wanted to be one. I wanted to be the monster that kills other monsters.” Ester’s path leads her to join the King’s Royal Mews, where the giant rocs of legend are flown to hunt manticores by their brave and dedicated rukhers. 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. Untethered Sky is a story about loyalty, friendship, vengeance, and unrequited love. It examines the ties that form between human and nature, and the potential strength those ties bring. It’s also a testament to the power of dedicating your life to a craft, and the sacrifices you make in becoming an expert in your field. A person might pass a tree on the path every day and not notice it until it springs fruit at a time they’re hungry.”Ughhhhhhhhhh Untethered Sky GUTTED me. The world-building. The emotion. The precarious bond between roc and ruhker. The STAKES. THE TRAGEDY. THE HOPE. This is where the true heart of Untethered Sky takes flight, and where Lee’s ability to laser-focus in on how worldbuilding and character intertwine really pays off. Because the final test to pass is to build, develop, and then master a relationship with a young roc, stolen from its nest and dropped into the dark. This is not a world of telepathy between beings, nor is there any bridge of empathy Ester can walk to better understand her roc, Zahra. There are just behavioral tactics that Ester employs in those first dark weeks, when she must remain in the enclosed cage with Zahra, feeding her, attuning her to her human voice, and doing everything in her power to convince the young predator that she is her master, not her prey. It is a microcosm that speaks to the nature of the conflict these riders and the kingdom find themselves in, and showcases the extreme sacrifice and danger demanded to combat a larger threat.

zahra was not yet in my life, but she would be. she answered the question in my soul and made me worthwhile. and you were not yet in my life either, but then you came into it. you’re part of the answer and even without your roc, you’re worth more to me than you could ever know. ” The characters are written superbly. Even though the writing was understated, I could tell exactly what kind of people (or rocs) they were from the brief time I was with them. Every part of the book was crafted with this same care. I love stories like this: Untethered Sky doesn’t stay longer than it needs to, but it left an indelible impression on my heart nevertheless.Lee follows up her phenomenal Green Bone Saga trilogy with this fantastic stand-alone epic fantasy novella that feels like a classic folktale.... Untethered Sky is an evocative, emotional novella you’ll want to finish in a single sitting because it’s just that good"— BuzzFeed Gazsi looked down at me, his nostrils flaring. His expression suggested he didn’t think I was worthy of the roc he’d risked his life to bring to the mews. Perhaps he held that opinion of every new ruhker. “Camel meat is her favorite. Liver especially.” He jingled his bag of money and strode away. Zahra was her name. When the crate opened, all I saw at first were her eyes, the largest of any living creature, enormous golden orbs fixing me with a raptor’s murderous glare. She was a year-old fledgling taken from the nest, already lethal and immense. I was a woman of eighteen, small, wounded, over-anxious. Sweat coated my hands and lathered my body beneath heavy leather work gloves and a tarnished scale vest. Ruhkers have been killed on the first day. If it happened to me, another apprentice would take my place. As in her Green Bone Saga, Fonda Lee excels at nuanced characterization of complex interpersonal relationships. In Untethered Sky, these relationships include those between ruhkers and rocs and amongst the ruhkers themselves. All these relationships are built on mutual respect and collegiality but with an unspoken barrier preventing deeper connections. The cautiously affectionate interactions between Ester and her fellow ruhker Darius are especially poignant.