Fonda Lee world-class writing and an excellent story always leaves me speechless. When you have such a high level of excitement going into a book, it’s very hard to temper your expectations and not be disappointed. But from page one, I fell in love with this book.
I was so captivated by the pages that I felt I was turning the pages too fast and devoured every single word off it. To conclude, I would simply say that this book should be on everyone's TBR. A great read, at the end strong emotions are stirred and I will be looking out for this author's future work.

Special thanks to NetGalley andMacmillan-Tor/Forge, Tordotcom for an ARC in exchange for an honest review

5/5
Fonda Lee frames an intense and intimate quest for vengeance that confronts the limits of obsession and the one-sided love between man and predator. Untethered Sky is a brilliant novella that tries the bounds of love and loyalty, against inner nature.

I will be providing a full review of this title on my blog closer to publication, and this title was part of my most recent post about novellas!

I really liked this -- I was wanting more, but it still felt like its own complete story. The Big Thing That Happens felt slightly anticlimactic for me -- not because it wasn't a big deal, but I guess with the foreshadowing I was expecting a lot more drama between our characters.

This was a "quieter" kind of story, but I was thoroughly engrossed in it and I loved all of the descriptions of what it felt like for Ester to train & hunt with this monstrous bird that was really still a wild animal. All of those conversations were fascinating to me.

How is it that Miss Fonda Lee can make me cry for a novella less than 200 pages?

Non-Spoilery Review and BOOK WILL COME OUT IN APRIL 2023

Biggest thank you to Tor and Netgalley for the e-ARC

Fonda Lee has yet again showed us she has EXCEPTIONAL writing skills.
Not only that this book was WAY different than the Greenbone Saga (which I still haven't finished cause lord knows I need another emotional damage in my life), but also how the theme of this book revolved around loyalty and animals and this short novella has managed to hook me right from the very start.

I think this is my very first fantasy novel that revolves solely with companion animals and I am definitely not disappointed. I loved the setting, the character growth and mostly, how Lee managed to capture the essence of an animal and the relationship with its caretaker. I would say its best to go into the book blind but if I were to summarize this book, its the journey of a creature called a Roc (seen in cover) and its caretaker who are called Ruhkers in a land where there are monsters only can be killed by the rocs. A story of loyalty, bravery, friendship and mostly, nature and its elements.

Personal Ratings : 4.5🌟

The prose and the pacing in this book was definitely EXCEPTIONAL . I liked that , although its short, it had fully let us readers immersed in the world as a Ruhker. Not only that Lee had managed to make me scarred from the very first chapter (like ... leave it to her to kill someone brutally even from the beginning), she had also managed to make me shed ugly tears. Like full on sobbing moment :') I was even shocked myself , to be honest .

There is a way that Lee wrote her characters , and whilst they are imperfect, they are also growing in a sense. Its fascinating to see how Lee maneuveurs and delves into the relationship between humans and animals, and how its a volatile relationship that can either go astray or can bring you together for victory. As short as the novella is, not only Lee had managed to build a world, where there are magical creatures, she had also managed to create an intensity to the plot, from the action to the politics. Its pretty remarkable for me.

I specifically love how she wrote about the Rocs. They're not only magnificent, but it shows that nature can take its own course, even though we love it as much as we could.

"My love was entirely possessive. When you love a person, you are expected to give them their freedom, but when you love a monster, you keep it caged. A monster can't love you back, so there's none of the guilt of a reciprocal relationship.


She highlighted the necessity of freedom for animals, but also how , as humans, we need them for our survival too. It goes to shows that animals are not simply things to be used, they are companions in need and even with that, they do deserve their freedom as well.

Loved that I got to read a Standalone Fantasy novel which is short, compact and basically encompassed everything it needed in a fantasy book. Highly recommended! Can't wait to see it in its physical form!

Fonda Lee did it again! T_T She took my heart and tore it into pieces :(((

Gloriously written (not that I ever doubted Lee); this book was a beautiful exploration of human’s relationship with nature and had a lovely bitter sweet ending. ALL IN UNDER 160 PAGES. Wow, the emotion really did seep through the pages, and swept me away into a vivid, exhilarating and at times heart breaking fantastical ride. How did the author made it seem so effortless, I’ll never know, but I sincerely hope Fonda Lee never stops writing bc her work is truly a blessing to the world.

My only critique is that the reason behind the fall out between our MC Ester and a side character seemed to happen out of the no where. I wasn’t sure why the MC took what happened so personally granted she wasn't particularly into that guy and the side character did her no harm (at least in the beginning), perhaps it's the sense of betrayal? Anyhow, I thought that part could do a little touch up.

Thanks Tor for providing me with an arc! All opinions are my own. A review to my instagram page will be posted closer to the release date!

I requested a digital copy in order to sample the prose on my phone (since I don't have a eReader) before requesting a physical copy for review. My review will be based on the physical ARC I read (if I qualify)

Thank you to Netgalley, Macmillan-Tor/Forge, and Tordotcom for providing me with this review copy!

Untethered Sky is the first time I’ve read any of Fonda Lee’s works. And while I knew my failure to read her works was a crime even before reading Untethered Sky, I am now unquestionably certain that I must read more of the author’s works as soon as possible. Immediately, I was sucked into the world of Untethered Sky, where ruhkers train with massive and deadly birds known as rocs.

“Some say ruhking is a calling. For me it was an answer to a question that had bored clear through my soul….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, the protagonist and narrator, is a young woman who has dreamed of becoming a ruhker ever since the day a manticore killed and ate her mother and younger brother. As Untethered Sky begins, she carefully forms a bond with a Roc of her very own, named Zahra, and begins both of their training as the ultimate predator to the universally feared manticore. I am always a sucker for books where humans are prey, but Lee effortlessly renders manticores as the ultimate killing machine and they are truly goosebump raising creatures.

Most of Ester’s feelings of self-worth come from her career as a ruhker and the knowledge that she and her Roc are providing a service that will save countless lives and is a job that only she and her fellow ruhkers can do. Despite Ester’s love and adoration for the prowess and majesty of her own roc, Untethered Sky does not shy away from the fact that these massive birds of prey are giant and fierce killing machines. Though painstakingly trained, the amount of control the ruhkers have over these beasts is limited and precarious, and these wild creatures can do a lot of damage.

Untethered Sky is not afraid to show the violence of the profession of ruhkers. There are a lot of depictions of gore in this novella. Rocs tear open their prey to feast, savoring organs, and munching down right in front of the ruhker. As an animal lover, I really didn’t enjoy these graphic depictions of the hunt and its result, but I recognize that Fonda uses these scenes to once again demonstrate the tenuous condition of the bond between human and nature—the line between human and predator.

“Any defiance of the wild leads at best to a fragile, temporary victory. Nature and fate are their own capricious monsters, ones that cannot be tamed any more than a roc every truly belongs to her ruhker.”

The novella begs the question of how much these prized creatures are able to return the love of their handlers, who make their rocs their entire, often short-lived, lives. Are monsters trained to kill other monsters truly capable of love or affection? And if these fearsome birds are even capable of returning this love at all, where is the limit? At what point does that affection end?

Lee’s writing was absolutely captivating to me, she manages to show so much by saying very little. I was moved to tears on multiple occasions while reading Untethered Sky, so invested was I in the world, its characters, and the story. Though Untethered Sky was only a 160 page novella, I was completely immersed in the world and never wanted the story to end—I wanted more. I would have loved to read more detail of Ester’s life as a child, how exactly she came to be a ruhker, and more exposition of things that took place off of the page—like when she and her fellow ruhker, Darius, grew closer.

Because I loved this novella so much, I couldn’t help but to be disappointed by all of the things that happened off page and were only alluded to. I wanted to experience all of it first hand and was saddened when I didn’t have that opportunity. Regardless of this, I’d read an entire series based in Untethered Sky’s world in a heartbeat. And I certainly will be checking out more of Fonda Lee’s works in the very near future.

From the publisher: Ester’s family was torn apart when a manticore killed her mother and brother, leaving her with nothing but her father’s painful silence and an 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.

This is a delightful little morsel of a tale, an entire story arc in less than 200 pages. I love fantasy, but so often a series is such a commitment, hundreds if not thousands of pages to get the whole story. Untethered Sky delighted me because it’s short, immersive, and complete.

This is a woman telling her personal story, not an author laying the foundations for her fantasy world, so everything is not spelled out, every element of the world is not detailed. There is grief, loss, growth, acceptance, friendship, love, all laid out in what feels slower than seems possible in a short novella. The most significant relationship the main character has with another human is not with the handsome and powerful prince but a gruff and awkward fellow ruhker.

I like how the author evokes both dragons and falcons in her depiction of rocs and their handlers:

“A bird as large as a roc is not elegant in takeoff or landing. Minu was a maelstrom of feathers and mad exertion as her massive wings pummeled the air. Darius had chosen this spot for its higher elevation, which made it easier for her to get airborne. Minu spread her wings and rode the downslope of the land, gaining speed, nearly skimming the ground. She pumped hard, once, twice, three times, flattening the grass below with the wind, and caught an air current that lifted her up and away from us in a straight line. When she was far enough to be a small silhouette, she curved in a long arc and circled back toward us. Darius watched her with one hand shielding his eyes. I watched too, my heart in my throat at her beauty.”

I have not read Fonda Lee before, but I will certainly seek out other titles by her based on this novella. If you are looking for a short immersive read that will probably make you wish a whole series will follow, I recommend Untethered Sky. I read an advance reader copy from Netgalley. It is scheduled to be published on April 11, 2023 and will be available at the Galesburg Public Library in multiple formats.

I liked but didn't love this. It's *very* different from Jade City (obviously!) and while there's nothing wrong with a novella instead of an epic, I found myself waiting for a twist that never quite arrived. That said, Fonda Lee is a master of worldbuilding and I very much enjoyed how she brought the rocs and rukhers to life. It's not quite a "girl and her horse" story, either, but it will definitely appeal to their fans.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of this for review purposes.

I was very excited about this novella because I have become a big fan of this author through her previous work. I was keen to see what her writing style would be like in a high(er) fantasy setting. I very much enjoyed this story and following our main character through the trials and tribulations of learning to train a roc.

I found myself surprisingly invested and attached to the characters given how short the story is. At no point was I able to predict the next event or the ending. I would be delighted to read more about this universe should the author ever choose to expand on this in the future!

First of all, the cover. THE COVER. It’s gorgeous. Attracted my attention right away.
It’s marketed as an epic fantasy fable, but it could also be called a novella. We follow Ester in her attempt to become the handler of a roc named Zahra, in order to hunt the dangerous manticores that roam the land. The prose is wonderful, and the world is richly imagined and unique. I think this could easily have been a novel, had the author decided to more in-depth with the relationships between characters and the politics.
I appreciated the detailed descriptions of monotony that come when trying to tame an animal. It reminded me of Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder in how it turned the descriptions of everyday chores and events into something interesting. I was deeply invested in the success of Ester and Zahra and enjoyed reading about their struggles and triumphs. At the same time, I think there was opportunity to do more. There are allusions to the struggle of women performing a profession in a male-dominant society, and it could have been interesting to hear the main character’s thoughts on them. There was also an opportunity to go deeper into the relationship between Ester and her female friend Nasmin, and how that relationship changed when they both developed romantic interests. However, all Ester cares about is rocs, which is part of the fable. Overall, a quick read that was interesting and new. 4/5 stars.

Thank you NetGalley and Tor for the ARC! This is a very quick read that packs a big punch. It tells the story of Ester, who loses her family to a manticore attack and trains as a ruhker (training larger raptors, rocs, to hunt). There is of course much more to the story - including her realtionships to other ruhkers, and her connection to her roc, Zahra.

"We are partners in our captivity, each perfectly monstrous in our own way."

untethered sky is quite different from the world of the greenbone saga, an adventure fantasy novella with Fonda Lee's captivating writing. In itself it was quite well written and unlike a lot of novellas the worldbuilding felt so natural.

I loved how Ester felt so connected to the monstrousness she saw in Zahra and I'm always thinking about how women esp. women of color feel monstrous simply for having desires and autonomy and the way books depict this (the poppy war, descendant of the crane and the space between the worlds).

I don't think the novella will be very memorable but I did enjoy reading and I'm very excited to read whatever fonda lee writes next!

This was one of my most anticipated reads for next year because, duh, Fonda Lee.

Untethered Sky follows Ester who becomes a ruhker (think falconer to GIANT falcons called rocs) to get revenge after her family gets killed by a manticore.

Fonda Lee creates an extremely lush world and somehow in its short page count, takes us through unrequited love, revenge, power struggles and friendships. Some highlights to me were the camaraderie in the Mews (stables) and politics of the royal court. As always, Fonda Lee has created characters and relationships that I need more of!

And look, this would totally be a 5 star but the length really got to me. The short story just grazes on world building and a deeper story. We have wonderful characters but things move so quickly that I didn’t quite connect with them as much as I know Fonda has made me connect with her characters in the past.

Honestly, this world and concept is just begging for a full blown book (or even a series, I wouldn’t complain).

This is a really interesting read. It shows Fonda Lee's talent for building a world in such a short amount of pages. It was rich and the descriptions of the rocs were vivid enough that I truly believed that somewhere in the world, these creatures exist.
I will say that I felt like the characters were a little one dimensional. It could be that there just wasn't enough time for full development.
I enjoyed this. It is not similar to the Greenbone Saga in anyway, but you can see the voice and style that are uniquely Fonda Lee's. If you enjoyed her other works, give this one a try!

An unfortettable story of obsession and unrestrained devotion after unfathomable grief and terror. So much emotion and detail packed into 150 pages, I was completely engrossed after 10 mins of reading this.

Monsters, on the land, in the sky, and in our own hearts. This story will cast a great shadow over you as you read it, always giving you the sense of something terrible preparing to strike. Devastating, glorious, beautiful, heartfelt, and brutal.

I am very grateful to have received an ARC for this one!! 💙

I was very curious to see what this author could write outside her first series. Although I enjoy her writing, I wasn’t really a fan of the plot and so when I saw that she was writing a novella I knew I had to give it a chance.

Her writing is the same as usual and I did enjoy it. I do think that this plot could have been better suited as an actual novel to help flush out Ester. A lot of not great things happen to her but it was hard to feel any emotion towards those twists because I didn’t really know her. I will say that she is very resilient and it shows throughout the book.

The rocs were really cool and I liked learning about them. It makes me wish they were real because I would totally have one.

Overall, this was good. I do wish it had been longer but for a novella it isn’t bad.

Thank you Netgalley and Panmacmillan for this advanced copy.

Untethered Sky was a perfect SFF story in the form of novella. Fonda Lee wrote a solid worldbuilding. That's perfect since I think it's kinda hard to build a solid Fantasy background with mixed cultural in novella form. I also love how Ester adore Zahra and try to provide her that she is worth to love.

Another beautiful story from the genius mind of Fonda Lee, UNTETHERED SKY tells the story of a girl who loves monsters and the shapes she twists herself into in order to be worthy of that monster's love. Though a short novella, every bit of the novel sings with worldbuilding in a page-turner I couldn't put down.

gorgeously written, with complex characters that seem almost real, "untethered sky" is fonda lee's newest novel. if you don't know yet, fonda lee wrote the green bone saga, a series that quickly took its place among my favourite books of all time. i went into the novella with sky-high expectations and it definitely did not disappoint! i'm not sure if i would've picked this book up if it wasn't written by this author, because, based on its synopsis, it wasn't really something i'd sell a liver to read. but it went above and beyond what i expected and i truly believe the synopsis doesn't do it justice.

sure, the book is essentially about a ruhkers (someone that trains rocs) and the roc (big birb) they have to train, but it's also a commentary on loving something despite its inability to love you back. at its core, untethered sky seems to me a story about the way tragedy seeps its claws into everything, when you least expect it. of whether or not you can love something and keep it captive at the same time. it's gorgeously written and wonderfully paced - not once did the story feel rushed. fonda lee does an amazing job at making us feel included in the action - i was fully immersed from the get-go.

i loved the main character, even empathised with her at some point. being in her head never felt suffocating and i appreciated how down-to-earth she was, even when things didn't go the way she expected. we see her grow and mature throughout the story and it was a wonderful journey. the side characters, albeit not as well developed as esther, were still well-crafted and characterised. none of them felt one-dimensional, which is surprising considering this is a novella. i was also amazed at how the author managed to craft personalities for the rocs - they're oversized birds and yet, based on the descriptions the mc offered, i was able to grasp a sense of individuality for each of them, especially minu and zahra.

the action and the "quiet" times were balanced well, so nothing felt rushed or out-of-place and i think the author ended the story beautifully. sure, the finale was tragic and the characters' anguish was almost palpable, but it was an ending that made sense, all in all. i do love bittersweet endings. i'm not sure how one can develop characters that feel so real, but fonda lee did it in here and in the green bone saga as well. and i'll never shut up about how skilled of a writer she is.

overall, untethered sky is a brilliant piece of literature and i’ll forever be in awe of fonda lee’s ability to craft stories.