Untethered Sky by Fonda Lee

Published by Tordotcom

Adult Epic Fantasy

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Release Date : April 11th 2023

SYNOPSIS

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.

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.

A roc is always a wild thing, always God’s monster alone.

ARC provided by the publisher Tordotcom through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Untethered Sky is a solid adventurous fantasy novella that combines the sport of falconry with giant birds of prey, meaningful friendships, and connection.

It is no secret that I am a big supporter of Fonda Lee, especially The Green Bone Saga trilogy that concluded a couple of years ago. When Fonda announced that she will release a brand new fantasy novella set to release 2023—I needed to get my hands on the ARC. Thankfully Tordotcom kindly sent me an eARC of Untethered Sky. Before I dive into the review, I would like to appreciate the amazing and beautiful cover of this book illustrated by Jaime Jones, the same artist that illustrated the cover of A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine. The illustration of Ester on her chariot with Zahra in flying the sky is just the perfect visuals representing the essence of the whole book.

Untethered Sky is a story about an apprentice Ruhker, a ranger that trains predatory birds to hunt, named Ester that has recently been tasked to bond with a roc, a giant majestic predatory bird, named Zahra. All of Ester’s hard work has come to this moment where she will stay with the young roc and bond for many nights in the dark. It is a sweeping tale about a slice of Ester’s life as a ruhker, the trials and tribulations that shaped her early on in her career, and the deep connection Ester feels for Zahra.

Fonda Lee’s writing style is incredibly engaging and immersive, bringing in details about the world in small portions throughout the book to flesh out not only the characters but also the world itself. It is Fonda’s masterful ability to create worlds from barebones building them up without dumping an avalanche of information in the first few chapters. As a reader that admires Fonda Lee’s previous series, reading this book feels satisfying. Everything about the world and characters didn’t take long for me to warm up to. Fonda delivers the story in a clear, structured, and well thought out manner from start to end.

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.

The story of Untethered Sky is told from a singular POV of Ester as it is a story about her life. Ester is a character that is well fleshed out, she has a clear set of motivations and intentions in her existence. She has dedicated her whole life to become a ruhker and with that much dedication, of course, Ester comes with a lot of baggage as a character that readers will find out throughout the book.

Ester’s development as a character is subtle compared to the development of Fonda’s previous characters but to be fair this book is much shorter than a three book series. But that doesn’t mean the story of Untethered Sky didn’t have memorable characters. Fonda’s greatest strength as a writer, in my opinion, are her characters. Each character in this book is wonderfully fleshed out with distinct personalities and voices. They each can stand on their own on page and make their presence known. Though I have a bit of a gripe with Ester, that I can forgive, she is a young adult in this story so her inner monologues reads a bit young.

The other two characters that carried a lot of significance are Darius and Nasmin. They are Ester’s closest companions that have helped her during her early days as an apprentice. Seeing the bonds between the three develop throughout the book gives me goosebumps. If you are a reader that has picked up a book by Fonda Lee you’ll know the coil of dread looming in the background ready to slam readers with a twist at the most surprising times. For this book, I’d say Fonda is more subtle but the way it was presented is equally harrowing and emotional.

Due to how short this book is, I will not elaborate about the details of the world. Though I would like to praise Fonda for creating such a vivid and immersive world. Fonda layered details of the world from the society, the basics in ruhking, details about the roc, and many more. This book combines being a ranger, animal handling, and giant birds of prey complete with a dash of politics. Overall a well crafted world, as expected for a Fonda Lee book.

People have short memories, but nature is patient and implacable.

Final thoughts, Untethered Sky is an adventurous story about rangers, the sport of falconry with giant birds, and friendship. Fonda’s masterful writing brought life to the world that set as the perfect background for the story. All the characters are colourful in personality and voice that develop wonderfully throughout the story. It is an entertaining story that is hard to put down a. K. a. unputdownable. The pacing is fast and engaging that will immerse readers immediately from the very first page. Honestly, I am a bit biased because I love Fonda Lee and I will read anything she publishes. But trust me on this, Fonda Lee’s books are good! I highly recommend you to pick up this book once it releases and The Green Bone Saga. This book is also a perfect beginner book for readers who are interested in getting into adult fantasy.

The quotes in this review were taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication.

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