“Untethered Sky” by Fonda Lee

Main Index / Reviews Index / Fiction Reviews Index / 2023 Reviews Index

Rating: 4/5 Stars

A fascinating story set in a world where huge rocs, bigger than humans, fly and hunt terrifying prey: manticores that prey on humans. Human have made a dangerous pact with the rocs, and now hunt the manticores together.

The story focuses on Ester, a ruhker (roc partner) who at the beginning of the story is paired with a fledgling roc named Zahra. After winning Zahra’s trust, and not getting eaten in the process, they train together to hunt smaller prey before they are considered ready, with the help of senior ruhkers, to take on the manticores.

The heart of the story is Ester’s relationship with Zahra: for while Ester adores Zahra and trusts her, Zahra may not reciprocate, for she was bought in from the wild and could leave (or kill) Ester at any time. Ester’s training and relationship with Zahra are about the only thing keeping them together as they journey through the kingdom, being called to hunt manticores that have killed other humans.

That relationship would be put to the test at the end when tragedy strikes, and Ester must now put her trust in Zahra; for in most manticore hunts, the ruhker is the bait to draw out the manticores for the kill. Ester and Zahra’s relationship with each other, and with other ruhkers would never be the same.

Book read from 2023/08/21 to 2023/08/24