This was a good animal companion story about a girl learning to face monsters. I thought it was a good quick read.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book, as this book has already been published, I will not share my review on Netgalley at this time.

When Esther was a child, she watched as one of the most dangerous creatures alive, a manticore, killed and devoured her mother and baby brother. Esther survived only by hiding out of reach in the family well - coming out only when rescuers arrived.

It is likely that this event shaped who Ether becomes - a rukher. Joining the King's Royal Mews, Esther, a young woman to be paired with her first roc - a giant bird of prey named Zahra. Both Esther and Zahra will make sacrifices to bond with one another. Rocs are masterful manticore hunter/killers, but a roc that isn't trained well could just as easily attack a human when hungry. Now, Esther and Zahra will head out on one of the most dangerous manticore hunts ever. Threats will come from manticore but also from other rocs, which tend to be very territorial.

This is a beautifully written novella. Esther isn't a 'hero' in the sense of someone who goes above and beyond does something unusually remarkable. But she IS a hero in the sense that she's someone who has dedicated her life to being of service. I feel that this is unusual in the fantasy genre, but author Fonda Lee does such a magnificent job of bringing us an 'ordinary' person in an extraordinary world that we just fall right into the narrative.

But there's more than just a great character study here. There's a poignancy here with the relationship between the roc and Esther that is far stronger than romance. There's a very strong bond but Lee makes it clear that the roc, despite the years of care and training, is still a wild animal and unpredictable as such.

All in all, for me, a really lovely introduction to the work of Fonda Lee.

Looking for a good book? Untethered Sky by Fonda Lee is a touching fantasy well worth reading.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Fonda Lee's Untethered Sky is fresh look at those who love and tame monsters. I expected a dragon-rider type book, but Lee's book stressed through out its narrative that while these humans love their monsters (the rocs) the monsters do not love them back, are not domesticated, and remain dangerous -- and shows the roc handlers to be just a little bit odd for wanting so much to be with the rocs.

This was such a fascinating novella! It contained such a rich and brutal world and compelling characters. There was this incredible balance between a soaring sort of freedom of hunting with the rocs and an oppressive fear of the manticores that hung over everything.

I found myself hanging on every word as the narrative oscillated between wins and losses for Ester as she whittled herself into an arrow bent on revenge on the manticore that killed her family and all others like it, and then had to learn how to live for herself again.

I listened to the audiobook and the performance was great. The characters had distinctive voices and it was pleasant to listen to.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Tordotcom for providing an early copy for review.

Untethered Sky is a beautifully lyrical and well written adventure fantasy novella by veteran fantasist Fonda Lee. Released 11th April 2023 by Macmillan on their Tor/Forge imprint, it's 160 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats.

The pacing in this very pared-down story was odd and it wasn't always satisfyingly filled out. That being said, it's a short very well written story about a roc handler and her charge, Zahra. It's a traditional fantasy setting, and the characters are well rendered and believable (in context). I don't think the author has ever produced a bad piece of writing, and this is no exception. She's outstanding at character and setting and this short novel is enjoyable.

Four stars. Odd pacing, short in stature, and spare, it's nonetheless worthwhile to seek out.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

I love the Green Bone Saga, just like many readers, therefore I was eager to see what Fonda Lee will write next. I was aware that this fantasy novella was unrelated, but I was still hoping to like it.

Because Jade City was so distinctive, I was a little let down by how conventional this fantasy story felt. Similar to how I thought her trilogy's writing to be far more compelling, this book's narrative voice struck me as being quite passive. Nevertheless, it was a good fantasy story overall. In general, the writing, character development, and worldbuilding are all excellent. I believe individuals who adore dogs and animal companions will really enjoy this one.

As long as they don't anticipate it to be as good as the author's prior masterwork, I would suggest this book to fantasy readers.

I heartily thank NetGalley and Tor books for providing me the eARC of the title.

After Ester's mother and brother are killed by a manticore, Ester begins training to be a ruhker. Ruhkers train a young roc to hunt and kill manticores. I really enjoyed the worldbuilding in this novella. Lee did a great job creating relatable and memorable characters.

Thoroughly enjoyed! It took me a little bit to get into the story (which for a novella was a large chunk of the book). Once I was hooked though I really liked! The story had action, emotion, drama…what more could you want. I thought the ending wrapped up very nicely and was a great way to end the story. It obviously could have been longer and more detailed and I would have still read, but I think it worked very well as a novella!

I really liked this a lot! This is the first thing I’ve read by this author and it won’t be the last. I liked the bond between the humans and the rocs and how fickle and unpredictable it can be. I loved the friendship between Ester and Darius. It was a great novella with a good storyline and great characters.

This book has a fascinating concept, but I could not bring myself to care about the characters or the plot. It seemed a little YA to me and maybe even a bit clumsy in execution. I was so excited to try Fonda Lee's work, having heard incredible things about the Green Bone Saga, but maybe this wasn't the best book to start with. Still, I loved the focus on rocs and the fantasy world she built.

Fonda Lee's writing will forever transport me, and this book is no exception! I felt incredibly immersed in not only the setting, but the mind of the main character. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Gorgeous as always. A quick read with a feeling of depth and beauty! I couldn't put it down and read it in one sitting! Highly recommending it stores

I liked Untethered Sky.
This was a smooth flowing story with lots of action and very likeable characters.

Beautiful, realized world building combined with compelling characters meant I burned through this in about two hours that left me wanting more in the best way. I would read a whole series centered in this world.

“Zahra and I were complete; we were the sun and the wind, the sky and the earth, life and death, above the world and untouchable.” —Untethered Sky, Fonda Lee

Rocs are legendary, giant birds of prey that are trained and flown to hunt manticores by their devoted ruhkers. In this story, we follow Ester as she navigates the grief from the loss of her mother and brother, which drives her to become a ruhker in order to exact vengeance upon the beasts that took their lives. In ruhking, she finds purpose and belonging, devoting herself to a calling that demands absolute sacrifice, and to a creature that cannot love her back. Beyond the pursuit of obsession, at its core, this is a story about love, loss, perseverance and acceptance.

The element of Persian/Arabic mythology was definitely one of my favorite aspects of this book. I’d never heard of rocs (or rukh) before, so I really enjoyed learning about them, as well as the manticores. And while I’m always learning new english words when reading, this time around I learned a couple of arabic terms as well, which was fun!

As a character-focused story, I think the novella format is quite well-suited and was very well-executed, allowing us to focus and connect with Ester’s character, her journey and her relationship with Zahra, her roc, as well as her fellow ruhkers, while still maintaining a faster pace due to the nature of the format, keeping the reader engaged all throughout. Granted, I would’ve loved for this to be a full stand-alone novel, if only because I really did grow to love this story and its characters even in such a short period of time, but nonetheless, it was still an enjoyable and fulfilling read that wrapped up beautifully.

Realy enjoyed this book and I think it will have a good audience at my library. Definitely will be ordering.

3.5

I’m a sucker for animal companions. This novel went above and beyond that: this novel treated the animals as truly animals. They were wild and detached, which I appreciated. I always enjoy reading animals as they truly are, not anthropomorphized.

I think I would’ve appreciated a little more character development. If this had been a full length novel, maybe the characters could’ve been fleshed out more.

No matter what, I really enjoyed reading this novella! Thank you for the arc!

I'm a big Fonda Lee fan and will read anything she writes. This was a big story packed into a novella. The reader is quickly drawn into the world and roots for the characters. The action unfolds and so much happens! It left me wanting more in this world!

This novella worked well for our library book club, and prompted good discussion. While most of us agreed it wasn't our favorite Fonda Lee work we enjoyed it's goals and worldbuilding.