Untethered Sky

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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. The length of this novella was also just right, which is not something I get to say often. But just as Lee knew to keep the story simple, she also knew exactly how to pace it and when to end it. The plot flowed smoothly, moving naturally from scenes of thrilling action and adventure to softer, more sorrowful moments without feeling rushed or experiencing any lulls. Perhaps the only exception to this was the ending, but I can’t decide if it was actually too abrupt or if I’m just letting my emotions get the better of me! Admittedly, it wasn’t the most satisfying conclusion, but I can also accept that it was appropriate given the overall themes and tone of the book. I relieved myself in a straw-filled chamber pot and received one change of clothes through the bars. I drank water from my canteen in small sips every few minutes, but even so I wore my throat down. Ruhkers can barely talk at all after the dark days. What I said was not important, only the sound of my voice. So I told Zahra about how long I had been waiting for her. I told her about the other rocs and ruhkers in her new home. I told her about our future, about how we would always hunt together. I told her everything about my family and the place I grew up: olive trees and goats, the stone house, creek water ice-cold from the mountains, falcons waiting on above. Mother and Father and Arnan. When boredom and exhaustion turned my constant talk into babbling nonsense and dragged my chin to my chest, I slept.

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.Untethered Sky is an epic fantasy fable in the guise of a nature memoir and a heartfelt monster story about finding one’s purpose and the pursuit of obsession at all costs. Gripping action set in vast spaces writ as clean and spare as a dry bone . . . the result is tremendous."— The New York Times After years of not reading novellas, I am really coming around to the format, and books like Untethered Sky demonstrate the power that novellas can have. It is a tightly plotted and told story with the feeling of a much longer epic fantasy. While I was completely satisfied with the ending, I would love to be able to revisit this world again and again. Highly recommended. Untethered Sky marked the first time I read a book by Fonda Lee that doesn't take place in The Green Bone Saga series. And as a diehard fan of The Green Bone Saga, I will let you know now that Untethered Sky is a different kind of book compared to The Green Bone Saga. First, the novella is told through the first-person perspective of Ester, unlike The Green Bone Saga which uses multiple third-person POV chapters. Untethered Sky is also more high-fantasy in its nature than The Green Bone Saga's urban epic fantasy. And I liked the change in direction here.

Untethered Sky is Fonda Lee’s delicate coming-of-age novella inspired by Persian and Arabian folklore, featuring two beasts from Middle Eastern mythology: manticores and rocs. The manticore, which derives its name from the Persian word for “man-eater,” is a fearsome beast with a human-like head, the body of a lion, and a scorpion-like tail. It delights in feeding on humans, with the screams of its victims only fueling its thirst for carnage. In Untethered Sky, the manticore has only one natural predator: the giant bird known as the roc. The roc, which appears in both Arabian and Persian mythology, is essentially a supersized falcon that can be trained to hunt a variety of beasts, including the manticore. The greater Pacific Northwest is home to Ursula K. Le Guin, Kay Kenyon, Jay Lake, Nancy Kress, Brent Weeks, Ted Chiang and Ramona Quimby. Although Ram The greater Pacific Northwest is home to Ursula K. Le Guin, Kay Kenyon, Jay Lake, Nancy Kress, Brent Weeks, Ted Chiang and Ramona Quimby. Although Ramona isn’t known for her Science Fiction and Fantasy escapades, the rest are, and will be celebrated as part of the Pacific Northwest Reading Series. These free quarterly events provide the Northwest Science Fiction and Fantasy community a chance to gather, network and enjoy readings from local and visiting authors in Portland and Seattle.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. When I was thirteen years old, I learned that when disaster arrives, it does so without omen or portent. The truly terrible moments strike us the way a roc strikes its prey— without warning, out of the clear blue sky.” I absolutely loved Untethered Sky. Despite going in with high expectations from having read some of Fonda Lee’s previous work, I was still blown away; I was so engrossed that I read it in a single sitting. And with its shorter length, that’s a perfectly reasonable way to consume this story. From World Fantasy Award-winning author Fonda Lee comes Untethered Sky, an epic fantasy fable about the pursuit of obsession at all costs. darius. darius and ester's relationship actually made me hurt sm. they. could. have. had. it all. 😭 they may not make grand gestures or profess their love loudly from the rooftops. but their love is real, and it's deeper than any words or actions could ever express. sometimes, the most powerful love stories are the ones that unfold quietly, in the spaces between words and actions. and in those quiet moments, their love speaks volumes ❤‍🩹 i actually cried myself numb when darius watched ester leave and he stood there stupidly without following her. but that ending healed me and gave me hope, that they got the chance to be happy and together someplace safe. the real star of the book was ester and zahra though <3

I fell in love with Fonda Lee’s Green Bone Saga when I read Jade City not long after it won the World Fantasy Award. It’s filled with adventure, magic, and life, and I knew immediately that I wanted to work with Fonda at Tordotcom. We started talking about how we’d work together when we’d meet at conventions. I have clear memories of sitting by the river Liffey in Dublin and discussing novellas, and I couldn’t be happier to be helping to bring Untethered Sky to the world now. It’s a story filled with tragedy, drama, and romance. I was captivated by Ester’s tale every bit as much as she was captivated by Zahra, her greatest passion, and I think readers will be too.Therefore, when Ester's last sentence states, "Where, come spring, there would be new monsters to tame"... it was a depressing reminder of the futilities we go through as humans to feel safe in a monster-tamed world, when the reality is that monsters can't never be tamed. thank you, i whispered, as she disappeared from my straining sight for the last time. for allowing me to hunt with you. for letting me borrow your strength. for lending me your wings. ”