Moon is alone, an orphan. He knows very little about his origins with the exception that his mother died as did his siblings when he was very young. He’s been wandering the land, never really settling with any group of people or town, often being cast out after suspicions about his past arise. Moon knows he is a shape-shifting creature of the Three Worlds, but beyond that, he has little knowledge of what he is. Published in 2011, The Cloud Roads is the start of Martha Wells’s fantasy saga known as The Books of Raksura.
Moon has spent his life hiding what he is — a shape-shifter able to transform himself into a winged creature of flight. An orphan with only vague memories of his own kind, Moon tries to fit in among the tribes of his river valley, with mixed success. Just as Moon is once again cast out by his adopted tribe, he discovers a shape-shifter like himself… someone who seems to know exactly what he is, who promises that Moon will be welcomed into his community. What this stranger doesn’t tell Moon is that his presence will tip the balance of power… that his extraordinary lineage is crucial to the colony’s survival… and that his people face extinction at the hands of the dreaded Fell! Now Moon must overcome a lifetime of conditioning in order to save himself… and his newfound kin.
When we meet Moon, he is trying to hide who he is. His shape-shifting abilities continually make him an outcast, the “groundlings” or people with whom he tries to assimilate think he is “Fell” a race of winged creatures who terrorize the “groundlings.” Another winged creature, Stone, finds Moon after Moon had been violently cast out of his most recent “groundling” village. Stone tells Moon they are Raksura, capable of shifting between a “groundling” human-like form and a winged form.
Stone eventually convinces Moon to return to Stone’s home colony, Indigo Cloud. As it turns out, Indigo Cloud is in a bit of bind themselves, those aforementioned Fell have become a larger threat to them and their queens, Pearl and Jade. Indigo Cloud has run out of consorts for breeding, leaving no “clutches” of young to groom for the next generation. Moon, it turns out, fits into one specific caste of Raksura: he is a Consort. The Raksura are divided into to two breeds: Arboroa and Aeriat. A Consort is one of three “Aeriat,” the others are the “Warriors” and the “Queens,” so yes, a matriarchal society. The castes of the Arbora are Teachers, Hunters, Mentors, and Soldiers. That’s some slightly dense world-building, but Wells spins this into narrative with great skill. Of course, protagonist Moon is an outsider to the Raksura, so it is a smart and well-executed storytelling device to tell the story through his eyes. The “outsider” protagonist is very much a trope, but a trope for a reason and in Wells’s hands, it is a tool used quite elegantly. We learn about his people as he does, which makes the discovery process that more potent and empathetic.
Wells populates Moon’s orbit with a nice mix of characters, the queens (Pearl and Jade) are very headstrong, Stone is the elder statesman and full of snark; Flower the matronly mentor; and maybe my favorite, Chime, the mentor who forms the closest friendship with Moon.
In addition to the fascinating races, the geography and technology of The Three Worlds is fascinating. There are airships, monsters and echoes of a deep past. What makes Wells’s skill at the world-building here so impressive, immersive and what epitomizes great Fantasy is this: balance. What do I mean by “balance?” Wells lays a great foundation for her world with interesting characters through whom we learn about the world. The glimpse into that world, well, The Three Worlds readers are provided is enticing and makes you want to learn more. Wells balances the ample details with hints and mysteries the characters aren’t fully equipped to solve. Little clues peppered throughout the narrative provide hints at a guessing game for the reader: How old is this world? Are humans related to this world? What is the divide between science and magic?
The version I “read” was the audio book, narrated by Christopher Kipiniak. This is my first time “reading” a book narrated by him and I was very impressed. His pacing, elocution, and simple ability to tell a story was a great match for Wells’s story. He subtly changed his voice and tone for each character to a fantastic degree. I would even say the way he spoke the character of Chime is part of why I liked the character so much.
As I was listening to the book, I found a great deal of resonance between this book / Wells’s writing and Carol Berg’s Rai Kirah novels. I listened to that trilogy a couple of years ago and it still retains a prominent spot on my personal list of favorite fantasy series. The characterization, world-building, and addictive storytelling of the two writers and their worlds is very similar. In other words, I suspect people who enjoy any of Carol Berg’s novels (and I’ve enjoyed the half-dozen or so I’ve read) will probably enjoy The Cloud Roads.
These books have been on my radar since, well, since The Cloud Roads first published back in 2011. I can’t say why I put off reading the series for as long as I did, but I’m glad I finally dove into the books. I read two books from Martha Wells (Death of the Necromancer and The Wizard Hunters) about a decade and a half ago and liked them, so I was very glad to revisit her work and have already started listening to The Serpent Road, the second Book of Raksura. I was NOT going to let that length of time settle in before diving into another novel by Martha Wells.
Highly Recommended
© 2020 Rob H. Bedford
Published by Nightshade Books / Audible | November 2011 | https://www.marthawells.com/
Raksura / Three Worlds Wiki: https://www.marthawells.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page
Review copy purchased
