Reviews

The Harbors of the Sun: Volume Five of the Books of the Raksura by Martha Wells

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tipsynaga's review against another edition

3.0

it would have been five stars if Moon and Kethel f*cked. Like if Kethel was like "I need to learn about the ~practices~ of Raksuran consorts for the half-fell flight" and Moon was like "well i guess since we're both boys it wouldn't technically be interbreeding~~~"

veronian's review against another edition

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adventurous tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I do wish the last half wasn't so chaotic and we had gotten to see more of Consolation and her flight - but what a nice close for this series

darkestdreamer's review against another edition

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5.0

I really wouldn't mind another book in this series. I this so much. The world Martha Wells created has so much diversity. So many different creatures with different technology. The Raksura as a species was well thought out and even has a rich history. I really wouldn't mind diving into this world again and reading about my favourite character Chime (I love him). I feel like maybe his story isn't over (please don't be over!).

This was a fun and unusual ride. I really appreciated being taken away from reality into a world I could sink my teeth into. The fantasy genre is saturated with the same kinds of books with the same kinds of stories and worlds. This was very refreshing.

nghia's review against another edition

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3.0

This is final Raksura book and it feels like the final Raksura book. Wells does a lot of things that feel almost like a fan-service farewell to the characters and series.

The entire series up to this point has been told exclusively from Moon's perspective. There are no secondary POVs. If something happens and Moon isn't there...we don't see it. (There are also no flashbacks; the narrative is very straightforward and linear and helps contribute to the refreshing throwback vibe of the entire series.)

Here, we suddenly get tons of POVs. And most of them feel like they are written to give us a kind of feel-good closure-of-sorts for the character. There is a single scene from Frost's, the young queenling who was rescued in the first book of the series, and it seems solely there to show us that she's grown up and is almost ready to start assuming daughter-queen duties. There are a number of scenes from the POV of Pearl (!!) and....we kinda come to like her, actually. Which is a pretty huge change from the first three books of the series. There are a bunch of scenes with Malachite, who was always a forbidding, distant figure. Heck, Stone gets a girlfriend! Tell me that isn't fan-service. Chime, usually stuck in side-kick mode, gets some scenes of his own. About the only one who remains a bit undeveloped is River. And almost everything with Consolation and The Kehel is pretty great.

I wasn't thrilled with the direction Wells decided to go with the story in Book Four. She wraps it up here and...eh, it is fine but I remain disappointed she went for The Fell all over again for the Nth time.

It is also notable that Wells sticks with a kind of feel-good throwback vibe, even though this was clearly intended to be the final book in the series. A lot of authors would have thrown in some kind of major dramatic Red Wedding-type change, like killing off Pearl or Stone or something. But nothing like that really happens. Which I liked! The door is clearly open for Wells to write more about the Raksura in the future if she ever chose to return to Moon and friends.