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alex_watkins's review against another edition
4.0
Really awesome and creative world building. Definitely highly recommended for fans of young adult fantasy.
songwind's review against another edition
4.0
Updraft presents a world where humanity exists in a series of living towers made of bone. Bridges connect some, but travel is mostly done by wing, as the ground is far below, beneath the clouds.
As our MC Kirit comes of age, she gets caught up in a vast and hidden tension that deflects the course of her life and takes he places she never imagined.
The City and its inhabitants feel well worn in, fleshed out and lived in. Despite the many outlandish things about the setting, I was able to suspend my disbelief to enjoy the story.
The plot is a nice combination of personal growth, action and intrigue. It was very readable (or listenable in this case) and kept my attention.
Warning: this book is not for those who like things explained. There are no long infodumps, and precious few explanations. What explanations we are given about the setting explain past events, but not the big questions. Why do they live in a living City? What kind of beast is it? How did humans get to this world in the first place? Are they non-standard humans, as is implied by some of their abilities (living at extremely high altitude, muscle-powering a set of wings, and others)? None of these questions have answers.
Wilde manages to include enough explanation to make the story accessible by inclusion in the narrative. This is my favorite method of in-story data acquisition.
All in all, a very strong book and a fascinating bit of world building. I am looking forward to book 2.
As our MC Kirit comes of age, she gets caught up in a vast and hidden tension that deflects the course of her life and takes he places she never imagined.
The City and its inhabitants feel well worn in, fleshed out and lived in. Despite the many outlandish things about the setting, I was able to suspend my disbelief to enjoy the story.
The plot is a nice combination of personal growth, action and intrigue. It was very readable (or listenable in this case) and kept my attention.
Warning: this book is not for those who like things explained. There are no long infodumps, and precious few explanations. What explanations we are given about the setting explain past events, but not the big questions. Why do they live in a living City? What kind of beast is it? How did humans get to this world in the first place? Are they non-standard humans, as is implied by some of their abilities (living at extremely high altitude, muscle-powering a set of wings, and others)? None of these questions have answers.
Wilde manages to include enough explanation to make the story accessible by inclusion in the narrative. This is my favorite method of in-story data acquisition.
All in all, a very strong book and a fascinating bit of world building. I am looking forward to book 2.
xeyra1's review against another edition
4.0
I confess that parts of this book seemed very formulaic of the dystopian genre. Societies divided in different towers are much like societies divided by districts or personality-based ranks. The powerful with secrets that an intrepid young teenager is going to find out and expose in order to change society for the better. It's all very 'been there, read that'. What usually makes something so cliched work is characters, writing and world-building, all of which Updraft is ranked very positively.
The writing is great, and though it cannot entirely avoid some of the tropes of the genre, it's compelling enough that you don't really care that they're there because the story is drawing you in. The fascinating society Fran Wilde has built with this universe, where people live in very high towers built on bone and are both united and divided by them. Transportation is done by flying with artificial wings and everyone does or grows up to do so. Tower loyalty is the most important aspect of this society, and your own tower's security is paramount, even if it means letting another tower fend for itself so you don't danger to your door. This is important due to the skymouths, tentacled predators that prowl the skies and may attack at any moment.
Our protagonist is a bit non-conforming towards this divide, wanting to become a trader like her mother in order to contact and help other towers in a way that's more acceptable to the society. And due to a thoughtless mistake and a bit of happenstance, she is deemed a lawbreaker and thus begins the story. Kirit is actually a really compelling protagonist with whom you can identify with. The story is told through her perspective and not once did I feel like slapping her for being too dumb (well, maybe a bit in the end because of what was unleashed) or too preoccupied with sex and guys and romantic triangles to have a proper logical thought in her head (there's only a smidgen of a romantic hint in this novel instead of full blown trope-y and angst-filled teenaged romantic melodrama).
There are some really beautiful moments in the novel and some really interesting secondary characters whom I really liked, and there's an interesting usage of traditional songs and law reciting. There's also some aspects that are less explored and where some suspension of disbelief is needed. For example, not once in the novel do I remember reading that our protagonist, Kirit, had any kind of martial training in weapons or otherwise; however, not long after she begins a certain training, she is being asked to enter combat and she fares very well at it. I understand that in a world under constant attack by tentacled flying monsters some kind of fighting would be taught to all their population, a bit of a hint towards this would have been nice earlier on, because all I could think was that this particular brand of badassery came out of nowhere.
Then there's the confusing end, where in order to expose secrets, Kirit just quite possibly gets a lot of people killed, and I guess this is typical of teenagers making any kind of important decisions without being fully aware of how bad the consequences can get, but I'd been enjoying this character so much for not being particularly stupid and then she goes and makes such a stupid, potentially lethal, move. And everyone just goes with it, too! It didn't ruin the book for me; it's a good ending in a way, if you don't think too much about how fast people came to her side, but her thoughtlessness did make me like Kirit a little less by the end of the book.
I am, however, looking forward to the next installment of this series and I do recommend it, dystopian tropes and all, because it is one of the better written in the genre I've read lately.
The writing is great, and though it cannot entirely avoid some of the tropes of the genre, it's compelling enough that you don't really care that they're there because the story is drawing you in. The fascinating society Fran Wilde has built with this universe, where people live in very high towers built on bone and are both united and divided by them. Transportation is done by flying with artificial wings and everyone does or grows up to do so. Tower loyalty is the most important aspect of this society, and your own tower's security is paramount, even if it means letting another tower fend for itself so you don't danger to your door. This is important due to the skymouths, tentacled predators that prowl the skies and may attack at any moment.
Our protagonist is a bit non-conforming towards this divide, wanting to become a trader like her mother in order to contact and help other towers in a way that's more acceptable to the society. And due to a thoughtless mistake and a bit of happenstance, she is deemed a lawbreaker and thus begins the story. Kirit is actually a really compelling protagonist with whom you can identify with. The story is told through her perspective and not once did I feel like slapping her for being too dumb (well, maybe a bit in the end because of what was unleashed) or too preoccupied with sex and guys and romantic triangles to have a proper logical thought in her head (there's only a smidgen of a romantic hint in this novel instead of full blown trope-y and angst-filled teenaged romantic melodrama).
There are some really beautiful moments in the novel and some really interesting secondary characters whom I really liked, and there's an interesting usage of traditional songs and law reciting. There's also some aspects that are less explored and where some suspension of disbelief is needed. For example, not once in the novel do I remember reading that our protagonist, Kirit, had any kind of martial training in weapons or otherwise; however, not long after she begins a certain training, she is being asked to enter combat and she fares very well at it. I understand that in a world under constant attack by tentacled flying monsters some kind of fighting would be taught to all their population, a bit of a hint towards this would have been nice earlier on, because all I could think was that this particular brand of badassery came out of nowhere.
Then there's the confusing end, where in order to expose secrets, Kirit just quite possibly gets a lot of people killed, and I guess this is typical of teenagers making any kind of important decisions without being fully aware of how bad the consequences can get, but I'd been enjoying this character so much for not being particularly stupid and then she goes and makes such a stupid, potentially lethal, move. And everyone just goes with it, too! It didn't ruin the book for me; it's a good ending in a way, if you don't think too much about how fast people came to her side, but her thoughtlessness did make me like Kirit a little less by the end of the book.
I am, however, looking forward to the next installment of this series and I do recommend it, dystopian tropes and all, because it is one of the better written in the genre I've read lately.
geekwayne's review against another edition
3.0
'Updraft' by Fran Wilde features an interesting world along with an all too familiar YA plotline.
Kirit Densira lives in a tower made of living bone. She wants to earn her wings and get a trade like her mother, but it all goes awry when she and her friend Nat have an encounter with creatures called Skymouths that are like flying worms with nothing but teeth. Kirit also along the way uncovers some truths about her past and some things that endanger her present.
In the tradition of a lot of these stories, Kirit is the chosen one. Only she can do the thing that needs to be done and she learns the skills faster than anyone else. It's a pasted on plot from any number of current YA novels.
The worldbuilding is good, but I wanted more. Perhaps we'll get that in the sequels to come. There were some interesting things with the environments, but I wanted more about these weird bone towers than about the protagonists.
Kirit Densira lives in a tower made of living bone. She wants to earn her wings and get a trade like her mother, but it all goes awry when she and her friend Nat have an encounter with creatures called Skymouths that are like flying worms with nothing but teeth. Kirit also along the way uncovers some truths about her past and some things that endanger her present.
In the tradition of a lot of these stories, Kirit is the chosen one. Only she can do the thing that needs to be done and she learns the skills faster than anyone else. It's a pasted on plot from any number of current YA novels.
The worldbuilding is good, but I wanted more. Perhaps we'll get that in the sequels to come. There were some interesting things with the environments, but I wanted more about these weird bone towers than about the protagonists.
kleonard's review against another edition
1.0
There were a number of things about this book that I found disconcerting. First was the very close similarities in setting and plot to Garth Nix's Seventh Tower series. There was also a lot of casual, perhaps unintended, racism in the form of the Magical Negro, the Mammy, and the Mighty Whitey. Finally, it was enormously predictable. Of course the protagonist must fight her childhood best friend; of course the bureaucrats are corrupt; of course there's a single "good guy" among them; of course of course of course. Briefly, in a brutal and fascist world, an arrogant, thoughtless, and none-too-bright young woman repeatedly breaks laws, is given second chances, uncovers government secrets, and... continually repeats her mistakes without learning a damn thing.
frogbeam68's review against another edition
It just didn't capture my interest in the first 2 pages.
ladylizardxvii's review against another edition
5.0
What a unique world and story! I honestly picked this up because the cover looked really cool, and I had a lot of trouble putting it down once I'd started! The world was well thought out and revealed in bits and pieces that were a delight every time another bit or piece was uncovered. I loved Kirit's voice as a main character and narrator and getting to witness this world through her eyes. But I also really enjoyed the characters who surrounded her and getting to know their complexities as well. The plot and the character development surprised me a lot, and while I kept trying to guess what would happen next, I didn't often guess right. I'm definitely going to read the next one!
I would recommend this to people who enjoy awesome, unique fantasy worlds and a good rebel against the system story.
I would recommend this to people who enjoy awesome, unique fantasy worlds and a good rebel against the system story.
mjoyced's review against another edition
2.0
At about 80%, the plot got really slow and I didn't think I would finish the book, but I just skimmed the last 20% and got the gist of the ending.
The world of Updraft is absolutely fascinating. It's made up of bones that grow from the earth that people live in like towers of a city. The city is regulated by a sort of warrior monkhood who live in the biggest, central bone tower, aptly named the Spire. Wilde also integrates the language of flying, weather, etc. into the common speech of the city, though I wish there was more of it.
Beyond the cool world, it's a pretty standard story of an angsty teen girl who is pulled away from her loving/lying family by accident and must fight to introduce change/truth into society. I really couldn't get into her character or story.
One more positive: Although the novel has the standard YA problem of not describing anyone's appearance, because of the descriptions of everyone's hair, I imagined them all as Black, which is a nice change from the standard white YA heroines.
The world of Updraft is absolutely fascinating. It's made up of bones that grow from the earth that people live in like towers of a city. The city is regulated by a sort of warrior monkhood who live in the biggest, central bone tower, aptly named the Spire. Wilde also integrates the language of flying, weather, etc. into the common speech of the city, though I wish there was more of it.
Beyond the cool world, it's a pretty standard story of an angsty teen girl who is pulled away from her loving/lying family by accident and must fight to introduce change/truth into society. I really couldn't get into her character or story.
One more positive: Although the novel has the standard YA problem of not describing anyone's appearance, because of the descriptions of everyone's hair, I imagined them all as Black, which is a nice change from the standard white YA heroines.
katdawg7's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
4.0
zuercher's review against another edition
4.0
Awesome book
Oh my gosh this book was sooooooo amazing I loved it a lot and it was really fun to read
Oh my gosh this book was sooooooo amazing I loved it a lot and it was really fun to read