#untethered sky

[torpublishinggroup]

GET BOOKT

A guide of books to gift the people in your life and yourself!

For the person who made a 200+ slide powerpoint about Neon Genesis Evangelion for a presentation party… Also for those who attend presentation parties…

The Archive Undying by @emcandon

For all former and current theater kids (affectionate)...

Will Do Magic for Small Change by Andrea Hairston

For the reader who prefers their off-the-wall science fiction tempered with social commentary, or enjoys social commentary in a space opera font…

The Jinn-Bot of Shantiport by Samit Basu

━ ˖°˖ ☾☆☽ ˖°˖ ━

For the friend with the SHUDDER account…

Piñata: A Novel by Leopoldo Gout

For the burned-out chosen one who’s so, so tired…

The Saint of Bright Doors by @adamantine

For the tumblr mutual that fell down the wuxia cdrama hole…

The Water Outlaws by S. L. Huang

━ ˖°˖ ☾☆☽ ˖°˖ ━

For the gamer who fondly remembers their confrontation with Rayquaza atop the Sky Pillar…

Untethered Sky by Fonda Lee

For the “smash first, questions later” friend in your life…

Ebony Gate by Julia Vee & Ken Bebelle

For a tragic superwholockian in dire need of restorative sapphic fiction…

The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Older

━ ˖°˖ ☾☆☽ ˖°˖ ━

For the reader who wished Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell was actually Jonathan Strange/Mr Norrell…

The Last Binding trilogy by @fahye, including: 

● A Marvellous Light

● A Restless Truth

● A Power Unbound

━ ˖°˖ ☾☆☽ ˖°˖ ━

Not enough books? We agree. Check out our other GET BOOKT guide.

[99percentprocrastination]

[bigcats-birds-and-books]

Books of 2023: All Together, Now!

Here's everything I read this year, almost entirely chronologically. Only the very top shelf is out of sequence, because my other shelves weren't tall enough to support the full height of either WANDERERS or BABEL. Since those two spent all year lying on their side, I figured they deserved to be face out for the end of year wrap up shot. I'm partway through both DAEMON VOICES and IKESSAR FALCON, as evidenced by bookmark placement; I'm hoping to wrap those up early in the new year.

Overall: Excellent reading year for me! I'm much happier with the reading/writing/knitting balance that I found this year compared to last, and I read way more Very Good Books than Bad or Very Bad.

My favorite releases this year were:

NOTHING BUT THE RAIN by Naomi Salman (weird and deeply fucked up and funny--my trifecta!)

WALKING PRACTICE by Dolki Min (weird and DEEPLY fucked up and funny)

UNTETHERED SKY by Fonda Lee (right in the feelings and BIRDS)

SYSTEM COLLAPSE by Martha Wells (right in the feelings and Murderbot my beloved)

FLIGHT AND ANCHOR by Nicole Korhner-Stace (funny and fucked up and science experiment supersoldier kids on the run)

Thanks for joining me this year! I had a lot of fun logging my books photographically, so I'll be back in 2024 with an updated tag and more shrieking about faves.

[aroaessidhe]

faves of 2023: short stories & novellas

Emergent Properties

Mammoths at the Gates

Spear

The Faerie Hounds of York

Feed Them Silence

The Lies of the Ajungo 

D.I.Y.

The Collection Awakens

Untethered Sky

The Six Deaths of the Saint

Muneera and the Moon

Babylove

[asexualbookbird]

Happy independent bookstore day! Support your local bookstore all day every day, but you get extra treats on this holiday ✨️

[parsleysagerosemarytimemachine]

'Untethered Skies' is an enchanting and slightly melancholy novella about training rocs to fight manticore, about the perils and joys of working with wild animals, and how hunting monsters is an unsustainable profession. Lee has created an intriguing fantasy world just from the small focused glimpses we get of it in this story, and a complicated trio of characters to follow through it. I really enjoyed how much this is a response to the 'magical animal companion' trope, where rocs are powerful and dangerous, and need respect and understanding as their own animals, not just tools for people to use. Anyway, if you want a story about a woman who fights monsters with (slightly more tame) monsters, and what sort of person you have to be to do it, this is an excellent read.

[theinquisitxor]

May 2023 Reading Wrap-Up

In the month of May I read 8 books and had 1 dnf. This month was fairly middle-of-the-road for me, with a couple of disappointments, and a couple good books. My average rating was 3.8/5 stars, and I read mostly fantasy, with 1 sci-fi and 1 romance.

1.The Mark of Athena (Heroes of Olympus 3) by Rick Riordan 4/5 stars. I continued by reread of the HoO series this month with book 3. Annabeth is honestly one of my favorite characters of all time, and the ending of this book is just the worst best thing ever. read on audio.

2.A Lady for A Duke by Alexis Hall, 4/5 stars. This is a queer regency romance with a trans main character. This book was delightful, sweet, and worth the 450 pages. I really enjoyed the premise and set up of this story, and I thought everything was handled and executed very well. Queer, regency romance.

3.A Marvellous Light (The Last Binding 1) by Freya Marske, 3/5 stars. This is a queer fantasy romance set during the Edwardian era England. I was a little disappointed in this, but I think I went into this book with super high expectations, and they weren't quite met. I feel very indifferent to the meta plot of this series, and I'm not sure I plan on continuing. Queer, historical fantasy romance.

4.The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Ann Older (DNF) This was the only book I dnf'd this month, and while I don't think this is a bad book by any means, it just wasn't for me. This is a queer sci-fi Sherlockian mystery set on a colony of Jupiter. It leans heavy into the Sherlock vibes, and it just wasn't my cup of tea. I also didn't love the audiobook narrator. Queer sci-fi mystery.

5.Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri 3/5 stars. This was also a disappointment for me. I liked this story, but it was not what I was entirely expecting, and I felt like this book never lived up to what I wanted it to be. I was expecting something like The City of Brass but got The Wrath and the Dawn instead. Not bad, just not what I was expecting. Ancient India, fantasy romance.

6.Bloodmarked (Legendborn 2) by Tracey Deonn, 5/5 stars. This was my only 5 star book this month, and I liked this even better than the first book. Now that we got a lot of the exposition and worldbuilidng done in book 1, I thought this even better and this is shaping up to be a new favorite series. I can't wait to see what the next book brings!

7.The House of Hades (Heroes of Olympus 5) by Rick Riordan 4/5 stars. This is probably my favorite book of the HoO series, and this has many favorite scenes. The Percy and Annabeth chapters of this are just *so* good.

8.Untethered Sky by Fonda Lee 4/5 stars. This is a fantasy novella about Ruks and their handlers'. This book is about loving something that can't love you back, and knowing that one day you will have to let that go. I think I'll enjoy anything Fonda Lee writes, and she manages to create an emotional, impactful, detailed story in under 200 pages. I really enjoyed this novella, and the world building, story, and craft that went into this story really shines. It's bittersweet, and I really felt the emotional impact of this story.

9.Entangled Life: How Fungi make our worlds, change our minds & shape our futures by Merlin Sheldrake. This was my nonfiction this month, and I enjoyed this book all about fungi and mushrooms. I learned a lot, but I also have many more questions, and a new appreciation for fungi.

Next month I'm hoping to tacke and binge two series, as well as read the final HoO book.

[deiumjeito]

aesthetic | Untethered Sky - Fonda Lee

[sunflowers-and-a-tardis]

i just finished a breathtaking and wonderful book that i have seen absolutely no one talking about. “untethered sky” by fonda lee is a 150-page fantasy novel and a heartwarming and beautiful exploration of friendship, understanding, nature, and revenge. i'm pretty sure i felt the entire range of possible emotions while reading it. please read it.

[saraquirtle]

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. You're already subjugated. You're already holding yourself captive in a cruel way, so you justify whatever unusual bonds you level in return.

Fonda Lee, Untethered Sky

[bigcats-birds-and-books]

Books of 2023: UNTETHERED SKY by Fonda Lee. I’ve been eyeballing this one since the cover reveal (for obvious reasons, if you read my URL and/or have been here for a while), and I’m really hoping it’ll redeem my recent disappointment with bird-adjacent fantasy. I enjoyed EXO, so I’m hoping I’ll like this, too!

[aroaessidhe]

2023 reads / storygraph

Untethered Sky

fantasy novella

about a young woman whose mother and brother were killed by one of the wild manticores that roam the country

so she becomes a rukher, trained and paired with a giant roc, the only creature capable of hunting and killing the manticores

falconry but with rocs, devotion, obsession, and revenge

[paradises-library]

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.

-Untethered Sky, Fonda Lee

[oracleofmadness]

This was stunningly beautiful. I want to say upfront that there is animal harm and death throughout this story. However, if you can get through that, then I highly recommend this.

Untethered Sky is an amazing story of tragedy, obsession, and the very human quality of ownership and love for a creature. Ester is a Rukher, which means she is part of a group that trains Roc's (huge, magnificent birds of prey) to hunt Manticores.

The story begins with the tragedy that befell Ester's family when a Manticore attacked. Ester and her father survived, but she was still very much estranged from love and family. When she becomes a Rukher and cares for her Roc, Zahra, she finds a whole new reason to live and to love.

As much as she loves Zahra, though, Ester's Roc is still somewhat captive. She has much freedom and a good life, but she doesn't have natural freedom. So, no matter how devoted and enthralled Ester is to her Roc, she is in constant fear of losing her.

This was gorgeous storytelling. Not unexpected from Fonda Lee, of course. A very meaningful and beautiful story.

Out April 11, 2023!

Thank you, Netgalley and Tor, for this opportunity.

[wearethekat]

April Book Reviews: Untethered Sky by Fonda Lee

Picked this one up on recommendation from tordotcom, I think (don't quote me on that). After Ester's family is murdered by manticores, she's determined to train to become a rukher, who work with dangerous rocs to hunt manticores.

I was surprised to find that Untethered Sky is not at all in the mold of the classic dragon rider story. This is a story about giant falconry, essentially. Rocs are huge, dangerous wild animals, with the risks correspondingly multiplied. It's common for rukhers to die, or to lose a bird and start over with a new hatchling.

A sleekly plotted story about what it means to love a monster that was exactly perfect at novella length. Recommended.

[fiction-heals]

Untethered Sky by Fonda Lee

“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 ever truly belongs to her ruhker.”