This novella was a compelling companion animal story that pulled at my heartstrings. I felt empathized with Esters fears and wants, and wanted the best for her Zahra and Darius. This story was a reminder of so many thing’s especially that things are not always in our control, but how you choose to cope can make a world of difference.

This book was fast paced, witty, and honestly excites me to see what will happen next. I found it a bit difficult to get into the books plot for the first 100 pages and the pacing seemed a bit slower, but then it ramps up in the second act. This caused me to want to finish it.

This was a heart-wretching and fascinating story about a young girl who becomes a monster hunter with the help of her Roc, a giant, magnificent bird predator. Even though this is a novella and it's short, Fonda Lee still manages to introduce her readers into a captivating new world where manticores are the biggest threat to humanity. After losing her loved ones to one of them, our main character Ester decides to seek revenge with her Roc, learning along the way that there is always a purpose for everyone and everything, and that there are things that will always be out of our control no matter how hard we try to fight them.

Fonda Lee has turned in a bravura performance in the new novella, Untethered Sky. Set in a vividly imagined desert kingdom of Dartha, a young woman named Ester narrates the story of how she came to devote her life to raising and flying giant hunter birds called rocs. From an early age, when her brother and mother were killed by human-eating monsters known as manticores, she resolves to dedicate herself to tracking down these beasts that terrorize the countryside. Learning to be a ruhker, or a highly skilled flyer of rocs, became her passion, and we see her at the story’s opening beginning the demanding and dangerous process of training a fledgling roc.

Untethered Sky is very much a story about bonding and love as well as a great hunting adventure. Unlike Lee’s amazing Green Bone Saga, there is no magic to enhance human skills, just gritty commitment and step-by-step mastery of a dangerous craft.

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Fonda Lee calls Untethered Sky a memoir, and that is a good description of this first person narrative. Ester is honest about herself and the human cost of becoming a ruhker, yet loses none of her sensitivity about the few relationships that stand out in her life. Her style is blunt and direct, yet capable of sudden insights about people and the natural world that burn into memory. This novella is a perfectly told story about achieving a mature grasp of life in a world stripped down to its essentials of survival, friendship, hard-won love and sacrifice in an unforgiving desert landscape. A great achievement.

I really enjoyed Fonda Lee’s “Jade City” trilogy. It was a sprawling, complex, urban fantasy story with an entire host of complicated, troubled characters at its heart. It was truly impressive and left me in no doubt of Lee’s fantasy chops. That said, I was pleased to see that her next book was a stand-alone novella. As much as I’m an epic SFF fan, it’s lovely to be able to break up my reading experience with these shorter, bite-sized looks into new worlds and stories. It also is a unique writing skill, to pare down a story into a compressed number of pages without losing key aspects of the world/characters/etc. I wasn’t concerned that Lee wouldn’t be able to manage; no, I was just excited to see what she had to offer!

Ever since she lost her family to an attack by a manticore, a viscous, cat-like monster that prefers human prey above all else, Ester has pursued one goal: to become one of the rare handlers who work with the giant Rocs that are the only animals capable of hunting and killing manticores. Now, as a young woman, Ester earned her place after successfully training one of these gigantic birds to fly for her. But when a prince of the realm decides that now is the time for the empire to rid itself of the threat of manticores once and for all, Ester and her Roc, Zahra, find themselves on an adventure that may prove perilous to both woman and bird.

I really enjoyed this book! For such a short novel, it really did pack quite a punch, especially on the adventure front. First of all, I really liked the primary concept at the heart of the story: that of a young woman and her journey to train a dangerous, huge bird of prey. For one thing, I was under the misimpression that this was one of those stories where the huge birds are ridden by their handlers. But instead the relationship between rukher and Roc is essentially that of a falconer. Of course, in this situation the “falcon” is the size of an elephant and could kill the handler with one buffet of its wings. But I was incredibly pleased when I discovered this since there have been numerous books released recently about dragon riders or phoenix riders or what have you. So this take felt fresh and new.

I’m not overly familiar with traditional falcon training, so I was also really intrigued by a lot of the details about how Ester forms the relationship with her Roc. Not only is this a bird that could easily kill her, but by the very nature of the relationship, Ester must train a wild bird to willing return to her after each hunt. Unlike riders who maintain direct contact with their mounts at all time, the Roc could essentially choose to fly away at any moment. It made the entire relationship much more complex and interesting.

I also really liked the world-building, as the author had to create some reason to motivate humans to take on the perilous task of training these birds (its established early on that there is a high mortality rate in the effort to train even a single Roc). The manticores are not only terrifying in and of themselves, but it’s a clever conceit to create a threat to human life that can only be managed by domesticating its only natural predator, giant birds.

The human relationships definitely fall to the backburner in a story that is primarily focused on the relationship between Ester and Zhara. But I really liked what we saw with the other rukhers and the ways these relationships wove in and out of Ester and Zhara’s lives. The final third of the book builds to a climatic action scene that pulled in aspects of these human relationships in interesting ways while also highlighting how delicate the balance is between rukher and their Roc.

I will say that while I really enjoyed this read, I did finish it feeling as if the story ended rather suddenly. It took a few surprising turns towards the end, and then finished in a way that left me feeling a bit bereft. I think, on one hand, that was probably the point for a conclusion that was meant to be bittersweet. But I also then looked back on my read and didn’t necessarily feel as if I can away from the book with any real conclusions. Of course, it’s not necessary that every book has some great thesis or “point,” but I think there was just something a bit rushed in the pacing towards the end that left me floundering.

Overall, though, this was still an incredibly fun read for me and I highly recommend this book to all fans of Lee’s work and to fantasy fans in general. There is a lot of great stuff to be found here, and I can’t wait to see what this author has in store for us next!

Rating 8: Fonda Lee strikes again, this time with a poignant novella that captures the wild, bittersweet joy of working alongside powerful creatures and the important relationships that can form between humans and animals.

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Fonda Lee's writing is just too fantastic. The story was amazing, so full of life and power. Despite its short length, it was well-developed and fulfilling. Highly recommended.

Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book. I got a copy of this as an ebook through Netgalley to review.

Thoughts: I enjoyed this. This is a quick read about a kingdom pitting their trained rocs against vicious invasive manticores. In particular it's the story of a young woman who trains rocs.

We meet Ester just as she is starting to train a fledgling roc named Zahra. Ester has made a couple friends among the other trainers; a young woman who ends up joining the prince in lobbying for more support for roc training and a young man who is more reclusive. The three lives of these roc trainers intertwine and eventually they are led into tragedy and out the other side to pick up the pieces of their lives.

The story doesn't have as much depth as a typical fantasy. In fact, both the story and world-building are very simple. The kingdom's towns occasionally get invaded by manticores and the rocs are the only animals good at fighting manticores. The Kingdom decides to lead a huge manticore hunt that pulls in all of the roc trainers.

Despite the simplicity here, this is a compelling story with engaging characters. I enjoyed reading it. I didn't absolutely love it but I did enjoy it as a quick diversion. Lee's writing is easy to read if just a bit stark and simple for my taste.

My Summary (4/5): Overall this is a decent fantasy read about roc trainers taking on manticore invaders. There are coming of age elements, action, and politics in the story. The world-building and plot are a bit thin, but the characters are easy to relate to and intriguing to read about. It might be fun to read a full length book set in this world so that some of the politics, reasoning behind the manticore invasion, etc could be filled out better. In the future I would like to check out Lee's "Green Bone Saga".

This was my first foray into Fonda Lee's writing, and it certainly won't be my last. This is a short little novella that packs a big emotional punch. From the description, I was expecting more of a straightforward revenge story, but found a lovely coming-of-age story instead. This would be a great pick for people in the mood for fantasy, but not in the mood for a 500+ page commitment.

This was a powerful little novella. It follows the main character as she learns to tame and train her Roc, a giant bird, to hunt manticores. It'sa s imply premise but a powerful, moving story! Especially if you like birds. :)

Through the coming of age of a young ruhker and and her roc, Fonda Lee excels at depicting complicated and nuanced ways of learning, feeling and failing. Untethered Sky is an intense novella about humans, beasts, wilderness, and the fatality of disaster coming plunging from the sky, but also, the great beauty of it.

3.5 rounded up to 4 stars.

Thank you, Tor, for providing an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

In this story, we are following our main character Ester from childhood to adulthood. Her family is struck by tragedy and as a result she decides to become a ruhker in order to hunt manticores.

I had no idea what this was about when I first decided to read it. All I knew was that this was written by Fonda Lee, and that’s all I needed to know. I am a huge fan of the Green Bone Saga, so I knew I would immediately be reading this. (If you’re going into this expecting something similar to the Green Bone Saga I would advise not to. The world and the characters are so different from the Green Bone trilogy.

I enjoyed the characters for the most part. Ester is single-minded in her determination and fear. The trauma she experienced as a child sets the stage for her character arc. By exploring Ester’s past, it made her decisions and motivations clear throughout the story. Ester isn’t perfect, she makes mistakes and is self-aware enough to notice her flaws, which made her likable as a character. Her dynamic and relationships with other characters were complex and messy at times. I find that Fonda Lee often explores character relationships with nuance. Overall, I think character development is one of the stronger aspects of Fonda Lee’s writing.

World building is another aspect of Lee’s writing that I enjoy. I was intrigued by the world and wanted to learn more. Unfortunately, because this is a novella, we didn’t get a deep dive into the world. The world building felt stripped down and simplistic. I would classify this as a low fantasy novella and would recommend it to anyone who’s intimidated by complex magic systems.

The plot felt a bit slower paced, and action packed sequences were few and far between. Since I’m a character based reader, I didn’t mind the slower pacing. The story had an open ended ending, and I wish we had gotten just a bit more.

Overall, I think Fonda Lee is an incredible author and I’m willing to read whatever she writes.

I received an advance copy via NetGalley.

Fonda Lee is a fantastic writer, and this novella showcases her talents in an inventive new setting with a vibe of Ancient Greece. Ester lost most of her family to a manticore attack, and is now an apprentice the King’s Royal Mews, where monsters are trained to slay other monsters. She and a young roc named Zahra essentially grow up together. The story is beautifully done with some heartbreaking twists and turns, and while the end feels abrupt, it has the perfect emotional weight. The action scenes are fantastic, but the relationships between the humans and rocs are the highlight of the book.

My first forray into Fonda Lee's writing, I was obviously hoping to like it but was taken aback by how much I enjoyed my reading experience. In this novella, we follow Ester who becomes a ruhker (a trainer for rocs, great murderous birds the size of a couple of humans) after her mother and brother are killed by a manticore (human's natural predator and roc's natural prey).

I will be honest, I usually don't love novellas to the point of giving them 5 stars. I often feel like they're too short and like I didn't get enough time with the characters and the plot. Otherwise, I feel like there was little point to it and I can't get invested enough. Here, my expectations were blown away. In 160 pages, Lee brings a whole array of characters to life, and all of them felt distinct enough even with the side character of Babak, for instance.

I loved Ester. I feel like her motivations are clear and as a reader, it's very easy to empathise with her. I felt similarly about Darius and especially loved seeing their connection with one another as well as with Zahra and Minu, their respective rocs. I loved how even the rocs had their own distinct personalities which came across remarkably well on the page. Everything was jumping out at me the whole time I was reading, and the descriptions of the world we're thrown into made it feel all the more real.

I'm not quite sure what I was expecting with this, but it is undoubtably a great character study set in a fantasy-like world (although there is no actual magic in these pages). I would have happily read more of Ester and Darius' adventures but I also understand why it was so short. Fonda Lee truly communicated all she had to say in very few pages - which makes me want to pick up Jade City even more to see how she fares with longer stories.

There were plenty of beautiful and insightful passages in this book that I think make it a timeless read. There is so much about grief and love and possessive love in these pages, which I would love to revisit in the future. If you're a contemporary reader on the fence about fantasy books, this is definitely a great one to get started with.

I cannot wait to dig my teeth into Fonda Lee's Greenbone Saga hopefully later in 2023 and would recommend this novella to any of her fans. Thank you to NetGalley and Tordotcom for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

A thrilling, emotional ride encapsulated in an easy-to-read novella that masterfully manages to distill a complex wide world through poignant coming-of-age scenes. Superb!

This was less of a revenge story as I had expected, and more of an animal-trainer story. This was a pleasant surprise, as you don't find many of those in the fantasy genre. I loved the character development, the action sequences, and the world-building and felt that the pace was perfect for the length of the novella. The story was exciting, the creatures were fascinating, and Ester was an altogether excellent protagonist, so this was a fantastic read.

This story starts off with a young girl who wants to grow up to help kill the monster that destroyed her young life. Ester’s mother and younger brother were eaten by a fearsome manticore. There is only one predator that can kill these beasts that terrorize the kingdom and those are the magnificent rocs. After the tragedy, all Ester desires is to be put forward to become a ruhker, a trainer and handler of the mighty rocs. The story follows Ester through her years as an apprentice ruhker and then a hunter of manticores. She develops friendships with fellow ruhkers, but she feels her true calling is killing the monsters that haunt her and the people of her country, and therefore, her roc Zahra is Ester’s main focus, her pride. This story caught me by surprise with how much I liked it; there is not much dialogue - it is mainly exposition, but I was swept up in Ester’s story, into a world where massive wild and dangerous birds are captured and trained to hunt deadly, human-hunting beasts.

5/5 stars.

I was OBSESSED with the first book of the Green Bone Saga (Jade City) and jumped for joy upon being approved for this ARC. Ecstatic, I tell you. Hopping along the house, shouting to the rooftop, disrupting my husband from his crossword and my dog from her slumber.

As an author, Lee brings it. She builds her worlds in an interesting way, crafts stories that leave you begging for more, and I never hesitate to recommend.

Thank you (THANK YOU!) to NetGalley and Tordotcom for the ARC.

I wanted to love this because I’ve been on a Fonda Lee binge, but this has been my least favorite of her books mostly because I think it could have been a full length novel. It takes awhile to get in to, and by the time you do, it’s over. The ending was also a little brutal, which wasn’t what I was in the mood for at the moment.

I love fonda lee, I think this is well written and achieves what it sets out to do, however I didn’t love it. It just wasn’t what I expected and I found that the story dragged for me because I couldn’t get invested. Not the book’s fault necessarily, just didn’t click for me. I think this will be perfect for people who enjoy animal companions in fantasy as I think it has an interesting take on the trope.

This novella was a treat, and I’m ashamed to say my first read by Fonda Lee. What can I say? I just have less time for fantasy bricks then I used to, as much as I love them. This novella though was perfect. Lee used the length and format with precision, neither wasting a single word nor leaving anything wanting. This is a story about obsession and love and it was deeply a satisfying read.