My stop on the #B2Weird tour for Fonda Lee's "Untethered Sky." I am terrified of Fonda Lee because of the emotional damage she always seems to have focused on my issues. Delightful person in real life, keeps writing amazing things that damage me. I come from an animal science background and have worked with a variety of murderbirds, try getting a Cape Griffon Vulture out of your hair. Some I've worked with are in the other pictures. So I have opinions about animal care and being around non-domestic animals.

Ester's family was killed by manticores and she wants to be able to kill them back. To do so she works to become a Ruhker, falconer but with a giant bird that can take down pretty much anything. When she is chosen to get a fledgling her life now revolves around the bird, Zahra. And woe upon anything that falls under Zahra's shadow.

I loved the depiction of all the Ruhkers. Folks who work closely with animals have a lot of their life spoken for to take care of the creatures. And often they don't care. Seeing accurate representation of how this can go made the professional part of me so happy. But unlocked an unvoiced fear in every other animal care professional I've mentioned it to...

Reasons to read:
-Who doesn't love murderbirds
-Researched and accurate falconry, just blown up a few size categories
-Unlocked horrors for a specific group of people
-So much world building condensed into a novella, but I have such an accurate image of the setting

Cons:
-I wish it was longer...but that would defeat the purpose of the novella

I enjoyed this one. In Untethered Sky, we follow a young woman named Ester and her journey as a ruhker and her unique bond with her roc Zahra. This story was a little heartbreaking but overall, I loved the setting and for a novella, the pacing was perfect. This story had me on edge for the most of the story. Maybe because I was really hoping nothing would happen to the rocs. The author really made me feel for those birds. If you are a fan of Fonda Lee, then I think you will love this story.

4.5 stars

This cover is lovely. Honestly it’s the first thing that drew me in and made me want to check out this book. Then I noticed that it was written by Fonda Lee…who I’ve been meaning to read. There has been so much hype for her Green Bone Saga, and I’ve been wanting to read them, but just haven’t managed it yet. But seeing that she had a new book that wasn’t connected to the other books, it seemed like a great place to start.

But I didn’t realize at first that it was going to be a novella. It wasn’t until I was approved for the story on NetGalley that I really began to look at the specifics and realized that Untethered Sky was only 160 pages.

I enjoyed reading this. I truly did. The characters and the descriptions and the action were all intriguing. But I wanted more time to explore the characters and their relationships with each other. I wanted more time to dive deep into the world. I wanted more time to grow the story, and I wanted to disappear into it longer.

Most of the story is about Ester and her relationship with her roc Zahra, but also with some of her fellow ruhkers. The other main plot point of the story is Ester’s drive to hunt down manticores.

So we get scenes that flash us back to how Ester came to be on this path, how a manticore killed her mother and her brother…and that’s not a spoiler. It’s clearly stated in the book’s summary. We get to experience the terror of that manticore attack with Ester, and we get to see her apprenticeship with the King’s Royal Mews. We get to see some of the ruhkers and their training and bonding with rocs, especially since we follow Ester’s bonding and training with Zahra.

We get to experience that thrill of the hunt alongside them. It’s almost like we get to go out there and fly and hunt with them.

This was a thrilling story packed into a short number of pages. I just wish there was more to it.

Fonda Lee’s writing is absolutely stunning. Unfortunately, I had a hard time getting into this story but I still think it was beautifully written and a perfect read for someone looking for a fantasy novella.

Sometimes I read a book that feels just so tailored to my personal interests and strange niches that I cannot believe it exists, but this is one of them. I was so hesitant going into this book, so much so that I put it off for months - my friends who have read it haven't really sung its praises, and I didn't love Lee's last novella as much as I was hoping to have - but all my worries were completely unfounded. Growing up, if you asked me what my dream job would be if I didn't have to worry about money, I would've told you I wanted to be a falcon trainer. Why? I honestly could never really explain it, but reading this book made me feel like Fonda Lee put into words how I've always felt about birds of prey - it so accurately captures the emotions of awe, respect, and fear for these magnificent creatures, and because of that, this book felt so special to me.

I can't talk about a Fonda Lee book without talking about how much I love her character work - her ability to pack so much character work in such a short novella is incredible. I absolutely loved Ester and Zahra, and I loved seeing their partnership throughout the book. I also loved Darius and Minu, and while I would never say no to more time with these characters, I personally felt completely satisfied with what we got.

The pacing of this novella is where I really think Lee's writing shines, however. Similarly to her work in The Green Bone Saga, Lee excels at taking you on an emotional rollercoaster. Even in the quieter moments, there's an underlying tension that continues to gradually build and keeps you wanting to turn the page. I always felt like something bad might happen next, and it kept me at the edge of my seat the entire time, and despite this not being a very plot-heavy book, I was never bored.

I can understand why this novella isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea. Novellas in general aren't everyone's thing, and I think its subject matter is niche enough that if you don't really care or feel emotionally invested, it's probably not going to be a new favourite for you. But for me, this book made me feel so many emotions, and the ending was so perfect it made me cry, so obviously I have to give it 5 stars. I highly, highly recommend this novella.

When Ester’s family suffers a devastating loss at the hands of a manticore, she vows to join the Royal Mews to avenge them. The Royal Mews are home to ruhkers, an elite group that bond with and train rocs to hunt manticores, vicious beasts who prey on humans. Training a roc itself is dangerous; inexperienced ruhkers are just as likely to be killed by their partner as they are to form a lasting relationship. But Ester is determined to wipe the scourge of manticores from the earth, and she’ll do so one hunt at a time.

UNTETHERED SKY is a tightly woven story where Fonda Lee does what Fonda Lee does best: makes you emotionally invested in a character and then puts that character through the wringer. It’s a coming of age story combined with animal bonding that harkens back to stories like THE BLACK STALLION, where human and creature have to work together for victory (even if that creature doesn’t understand the stakes). Training a roc is essentially extreme falconry, except with a bird the size of a person who may decide you would make a tasty meal instead.

As Ester bonds and trains her roc, she goes through her own unrelated rites of passage, including her first crush, as well as learning that reality doesn’t always quite match up with your idealized dreams of how the world works. While at times it can feel a bit of a standard story (albeit one extremely well-written), it’s all lead up for an ending that pays off everything that came before. My only real complaint is that the story ends rather abruptly after the climax, which was a bit jarring.

That aside, UNTETHERED SKY is absolutely worth your time, especially for how brief it is. Without intending to, I read this novella in one night, unable to put it down. It will suck you into its pages and then spit you out again with your emotions in a twist. If you are at all a fan of stories that heavily feature an animal companion, I highly recommend UNTETHERED SKY.

I love novellas, but I’m so often left feeling like I wanted more from the story and characters that I usually just end up wishing it was a full book. In Untethered Sky, however, it actually felt like a story that fit the shorter format perfectly, and I left feeling entirely fulfilled for once!

The only works I’ve read by Fonda Lee so far has been her Greenbone Saga, and it utterly blew me away. I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect from such a different setting, as Untethered Sky has much more of an epic fantasy setting, with mythological creatures and people who hunt and train them. I just knew I was expecting a lot, and somehow Fonda fully delivered.

I was moved by Ester and her story, even though Ester was not one for people. It really came through in her narration, and through Fonda’s writing, that Ester really cares for only two things, her roc and killing manticores. She just didn’t have much in the way of social skills, which carries through in how the reader seems to think about her and interact with her, as it takes us longer to feel a connection because she seems to purposely put us at a distance. While this can sometimes be detrimental, it actually worked in Ester’s favor her, and made her seem much more real and developed to me. This is just extremely important too, as we only have 160 pages to spend with Ester, and it can be hard to fully develop a character and still have the character change as they move through the story.

This novella tackles a lot, as we examine the reasons why Ester hunts manticores, why the empire even needs these hunters, and how these rocs are trained and how much it is against their nature to remain with humans. There’s so much at play here, from societal perception of ruhkers and rocs to more personal relationship between Ester and her fellow ruhkers, and we even get to see what happens when things go wrong, and how close the bond between a roc and ruhker really is, despite the danger the ruhker is under from their roc at every moment. I think this final thing probably came across the strongest, Ester’s narration constantly makes it clear how easily Zahra could kill her, and how despite that, Ester is fascinated, obsessed, and in love with Zahra anyway. I’ve read many stories with mythological creatures, many of which serve as side-kicks or pets, but this is the first that seemed to dive so deeply into this relationship specifically, and what it truly means to be connected to such a powerful beast. It’s honestly impressive, looking back, just how much Fonda was able to explore in so few pages.

Overall, I think this is probably one of the strongest novellas I’ve ever read, and has only solidified Fonda’s skill in my mind. I can’t wait to see what everyone else thinks of it, now that it’s officially released!

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Tor for giving me the opportunity to read this early!

I always love to read novellas that feel like immersive and fully fleshed-out novels, rather than a story that is cut short or rushed. Untethered Sky is such an immersive world. It's fast-paced, inventive story is one that sucks you in and doesn't let you go until you've finished it in one sitting. (That's exactly what happened to me). I now wish that Fonda Lee will return to this world in later novels, as now I cannot wait to return.

'Untethered Sky' is only around 160 pages long but there's plenty of worldbuilding, emotional storytelling and animal bonding. Ester is such a good main character, I really enjoyed her POV.

Wild things are not meant to be loved but we try any way. The ending made me cry! I've been such a fan of Fonda Lee because of the Green Bones Saga and I'm so looking forward to anything else she comes out with, this was so worth the read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Publishing for the eARC in exchange for an honest review

This is a complete change of pace for anyone having come over from The Green Bone Saga and expecting the beginnings of something similar. That was certainly something I was expecting. I almost didn't pick this book up when I did because of it, given I was craving something a lot shorter.

I will start this review, then, by saying that this story is a novella. At the beginning, we get Ester's story in both past and present, but it doesn't take all that long for us to get the relevant parts of Ester's backstory. I think two sections covers it? And then we are into the present from then on.

Ester is a ruhker, someone who has dedicated their life to caring for a giant roc of legend. She is coming towards the end of her apprenticeship where this novella begins. We learn very quickly both that many apprentices don't actually become fully fledged ruhkers, and that Ester definitely has the ambition to be more than a statistic.

Rocs are creatures that are the only natural predators of manticores. And manticores, of course, have only one natural prey, that being humans.

It's almost kind of silly imagining the pairing between humans and giant rocs when considered this way, but honestly the reality of it as written within these pages at no point seems silly or frivolous. Dangerous, yes. Obsessive, definitely.

Ester forms a bond with another ruhker, named Darius, and that friendship is where this book really starts for me. The bond between ruhker and roc is not really one based on a connection or the roc choosing a human so much as both the ruhker and roc being put into sensory deprivation for a period of time and that forcing a bond that can cause them to hunt together.

As a result, I for one didn't really fell any sort of connection between our main character and her 'monster' as she affectionately calls her roc. That doesn't mean I didn't enjoy the novel and it's amazing combination of world building and mythology. I actually couldn't believe how much of both fitted into such a short and tidy story.

But for me the friendship between Ester and Darius was the heart's anchor of this book. As a result, the ending was really satisfying for me.
1 like

This is such a well written book that discusses obsession in a real, raw and brutal way, that is absolutely beautiful.

In this story we follow our main character who is a Ruhker, which means she is raising a Ruk which is a giant man sized wild bird. She raises this bird in captivity to feel like she is it's life line. But at the end of the day still a wild animal. But humans need these birds to get rid of a bigger predator.

From the very first page Fonda Lee wrote such an immersive world. I was constantly eating it up, waiting for more tidbits. Just like in the green bone saga you can tell Lee does her research and everything makes sense and belongs.

I do think that the characters are strong but written in a dry way, just like in the Greenbone saga. But they worked for me, I felt all the emotions with them.

I am so impressed with Lee's ability to put such a big concept, world and book into such a small package.

As one of the co-hosts of Midlight Crisis (a real podcast hosted by three grown-up biologists rereading books from our teens), I was particularly impressed that almost every question I had about the world-building or the creatures in this story was answered shortly thereafter. I think that's a good example of the care that went into crafting this novella; it's short but detailed and action-packed, all at once. It doesn't feel like there is a superfluous sentence. "Untethered Sky" could very easily have been a full-length fantasy epic in its own right, but Fonda Lee did a great job in building and telling a full story in just 160 pages. This is a great example of how a fantasy novella can work, and choosing to write it like a memoir or like someone telling a story was a great way to maximize the impact with a low word count.

I read an e-arc through NetGalley and enjoyed it, but this is a book that I can imagine would be amazing in audio format. I'll have to try to listen to it next time.

4 - 4.5 stars.

This was a short and engaging story that very quickly draws you into the brutal and purposeful world of ruhkers. I really enjoyed this book - it was fast-paced, and full of intensity. Lee did a great job at painting a picture of the devoted and multi-faceted ruhkers at the centre of our story - and readers connect with them deeply, and almost immediately. I really enjoyed the omniscient way that Esther narrated our story (hinting at what’s to come) - and thought it was more tantalizing than teasing, and a great way to build the drama and the urge to keep reading. I actually wish this was much longer, I would love to see what’s next. This was my first of Fonda Lee’s books, and it won’t be my last!

Fonda Lee has an incredible talent for creating rich characters with believable motivations. I found myself becoming invested in the characters' journeys within the first few pages. The rocs and their upbringing were incredibly well-detailed. I really enjoy slice-of-life scenes, and the details about the rocs and their interaction with the ruhkers built character and world insights. The relationship between Ester and Zahra is compelling, and there's always that undercurrent of tension that Zahra might fly away and leave Ester unable to reach her goal. The manticores were quite alarming, and I think Lee writes action scenes in a way that suits me well: there's a balance between physical and mental action.

I wish this had been a novel instead of a novella: there's a lot to explore in this world, and I would love to find out more about the history of the ruhkers. This book is different to the 'Green Bone Saga", but readers who felt the series needed more action or faster pacing might find this will suit them well! Readers who struggle reading about hurt animals or animals fighting might want to read cautiously, but Lee does not write those scenes to be gory. This novella is a great step away from the 'Green Bone Saga' and shows Lee's ability to create a world and well-realised characters in an intriguing setting.

An enjoyable story that is perfect for bird-lovers. It is about the bond between a girl and her roc, which is a large bird of prey used to hunt manticores. Our main character lost her family to a manticore attack and is obsessive in her desire to become a rukher. There is a lot of detail about the care and training of rocs, which is fascinating and the bond between roc and rukher is touching. This is a novella, under 200 pages, but I would happily read a longer novel about rocs and rukhers should Lee ever write one in the future.

Now that I have FINALLY read a book from Fonda Lee will I be less intimidated by Jade City??? Still too soon to tell but I have learned I love the way that Fonda Lee writes! This reminded me of Naomi Novik's Temeraire novels but this was short, and sweet, and still managed to make my heart ache. There is always something about learning the Warrior's bond with their animals - but this was the first time where space was given to understand that the animal (in this case Rocs) still had agency and it was very possible that they could chose to stop and return to the wild. This was short & sweet but still full of political/world intrigue and I enjoyed it immensely.

The nitty-gritty: Fonda Lee populates her latest story with mythological creatures, resulting in a thrilling, heartfelt story.

Untethered Sky is quite a change from Fonda Lee’s Green Bone saga, but I was happy to see that her storytelling and writing are just as strong, even in such a short format. 

This is a story about a world where vicious manticores roam the land, attacking humans whenever they have the chance. In order to combat these creatures and keep everyone safe, the Royal Mews has been established, where ruhkers train giant birds known as rocs to hunt and kill manticores. In fact, rocs are the manticore’s only foe, so it’s a great honor and responsibility to join the Royal Mews and become a ruhker.

The story follows eighteen-year-old Ester, who has dreamed of becoming a ruhker since she saw her first roc at nine years old. She has just been accepted into the Royal Mews as an apprentice and will start to train Zahra, her very own roc. Ester meets two other ruhkers, Nasmin and Darius, and soon becomes friends with them. But when a manticore attack results in the deaths of several townspeople, Ester knows she and Zahra will soon be tested, as they join the hunt to stop the deadly beast.

This is a rather simple story, and there isn’t much in the way of a plot. But the author gives readers plenty of character development, world building and emotional moments, and that was enough for me to really enjoy this short tale. Ester has a tragic backstory that shaped her desire to become a ruhker and hunt manticores, and this gives her a fierce desire to succeed. I also loved the relationship between Ester and Zahra. Zahra is a wild animal that has been trained to be loyal to Ester, but there is always the possibility that Zahra might fly away one day and never return.

I enjoyed the worldbuilding as well. The “roc versus manticore” set up adds plenty of tension to the story. There are some violent fight scenes that made me cringe a bit, as I don’t like seeing any kind of animal in pain, even a manticore. We’re also told that besides manticores, familiar creatures like lions and wolves roam the land, and ruhkers use them to train their rocs to hunt. Although I didn’t like reading about lions and wolves being killed (not just for sport, but for food and clothing as well), it was nice to see that Ester didn’t like to see them killed either. Lee doesn’t go too deep with her worldbuilding, there just isn’t enough time, but I could imagine a longer book set in this world if she ever decided to develop those ideas.

Lee pulls off a thrilling but heartbreakingly poignant finale, which I wasn’t expecting, and I thought the ending was just right: tying up most of the loose ends and suggesting an optimistic future for the characters. Fonda Lee’s fans are sure to enjoy Untethered Sky as well.

Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.

I loved the writing in this novella, as typical of Fonda Lee, and overall very good, but it wasn't for me. Novellas typically don't do it for me, since I always feel like we don't have enough time to get to know the characters and understand the world, but Fonda Lee did an amazing job at making sure that wasn't the case.

Untethered Sky does well at telling a slightly smaller scale story even against classic epic fantasy trappings. Rukhing is envisaged very clearly and believably, and it builds to a powerful yet simple ending that feels completely natural. If anything, this is almost a little too naturalistic - it feels like it cares more about crafting the reality of this world than a particularly gripping story. I can't help but feel like this already short book is a lot of setup with not much impact outside of its very final moments. I almost wonder if it could have pushed closer to being a novelette or even short story, to present its concise yet thoughtful narrative in its most distilled form.

As a huge fan of killer birds, I knew I was going to love Untethered Sky. But I did not expect how emotionally moved I would be. Lee is able to tell a story about the rise of ambition and dangerous love all the way to heartbreak in just over 150 pages. At the core of this story is Ester's relationship to Zahra her roc companion. It's a relationship that always exists on the edge of a razor. The dangerous potential of Zahra's abilities, the ways Ester has to keep their relationship on a tight trajectory.