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zober's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
3.75
Same-old, but not in a bad way. I like this world and characters, and I know not to expect really sophisticated writing.
alexikakon's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
chelsea_is_reading's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Best book of the Raksura series. Fast paced and action packed.
thalassa_reading's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The book starts where part 4 left off, in the middle of a fast-paced plot where some of our Raksura chase down kidnappers who have stolen some of their own, and the others try to unite the Raksura against an existential threat to many races. There's a lot happening but as always Martha Wells focuses as much on the characters, their motivations and relationships and on community as she does on plot and action. It's so beautiful how our special Raksura court treat prejudice: They use others' prejudice against Raksura to their own advantage or ignore it and help others despite being seen as animals. And I loved how they judge the half-Fell queen and her court only by their actions, not by what they are. It was so beautiful to see that young queen grow into herself and go from naive and confused to a personality with understanding and agency.
So many amazing characters and stories!
So many amazing characters and stories!
lisalark's review against another edition
Martha Wells is great and these are great too. Bird people!
snazel's review against another edition
5.0
I can't wait for Books of the Raksura: The Next Generation, which surely is coming out next year. Right? Right?
kiiouex's review against another edition
3.0
This book was pretty much Fine, but it missed a lot of chances to be Great
My favourite Raksura books are the first and third ones, which are the ones with the most court drama. I didn't like the second and fourth as much, which felt more action-adventure. This one is action-adventure. It's also a very immediate sequel to a book I read a while ago, which really scrubs the minor characters from memory, whoops!
Anyway, there were some parts I really liked (anything to do with the half-Fell flight is Good, I love Consolation with all my heart and wish there had been more of her, and I loved Pearl and Malachite's friendship) But it suffered the same kind of problem a couple of these books have, which is that it never really got close enough to the characters to be intimate. All these great set ups for drama, but we're zoomed too far out, or things get resolved really quickly, when I'd prefer to just wallow in a scene for a bit. Very little happens for the first 150 pages or so, I don't think the split PoVs help, and all the non-Moon Raksura feel very similar.
I still like this series, I still like Moon an awful lot, but I want more payoff! Maybe it's time to turn to fic, hah
My favourite Raksura books are the first and third ones, which are the ones with the most court drama. I didn't like the second and fourth as much, which felt more action-adventure. This one is action-adventure. It's also a very immediate sequel to a book I read a while ago, which really scrubs the minor characters from memory, whoops!
Anyway, there were some parts I really liked (anything to do with the half-Fell flight is Good, I love Consolation with all my heart and wish there had been more of her, and I loved Pearl and Malachite's friendship) But it suffered the same kind of problem a couple of these books have, which is that it never really got close enough to the characters to be intimate. All these great set ups for drama, but we're zoomed too far out, or things get resolved really quickly, when I'd prefer to just wallow in a scene for a bit. Very little happens for the first 150 pages or so, I don't think the split PoVs help, and all the non-Moon Raksura feel very similar.
I still like this series, I still like Moon an awful lot, but I want more payoff! Maybe it's time to turn to fic, hah
spoke_spider's review against another edition
5.0
A beautiful and dramatic end to the Raksura stories. I loved every minute of it. <3
akryku's review against another edition
4.0
After the first three quite good books this duology (The Edge of the Worlds and The Harbors of the Sun) was a bit of a letdown. The story seems bloated and, at least for me, doesn't actually concentrate on the parts I'd consider important. There is a lot of chasing, a lot of exploring ancient cities/ships and really not enough explanation of certain story points and exploration of Consolation's flight and how they will survive and integrate themselves within Raksura society. I still think that if Wells would have cut down on the adventure part and actually concentrated even more on the Consolation part and relationships between the characters it would have improved the story quite a bit.
Some select questions still haunt me: Are Forerunners and Progenitors the same? How did Fell and Raksura develop in different directions (just because of the Arbora)? And why the hell would anyone keep the creature that was found in the third book in some random city alive and "just" punish it with life-long solitary confinement? Even Moon hangs a lampshade on it that imprisoning the most likely already mad thing for hundreds of years wouldn't have actually improved its mental state much so why do it and endanger further generations? No idea, and even though these duology had the perfect opportunity to explain it or even hint at a reason it doesn't. Instead, a nearly exact same happens again since our lovely characters find a weapon which has the potential to annihilate large parts of the population and just lies around in another one of this Forerunner cities. It literally just lies around in a random chamber with a compulsion charm to take it on it. Why? For shit and giggles, apparently.
Wells also decides to use quite a few different perspectives in the duology which might have been necessary from a story-telling point but doesn't help to differentiate certain characters. The mass of Arbora and Warriors are still mostly a mass to me and hard to tell apart, their collectivistic society working against them in this point.
I still live for Moon, Chime, Jade and Stone, however. Also Consolation and Kethel. And the nice and surprising, yet perfect friendship between Malachite and Pearl.
Overall, I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy the last two books but they could have been so much better.
Some select questions still haunt me: Are Forerunners and Progenitors the same? How did Fell and Raksura develop in different directions (just because of the Arbora)? And why the hell would anyone keep the creature that was found in the third book in some random city alive and "just" punish it with life-long solitary confinement? Even Moon hangs a lampshade on it that imprisoning the most likely already mad thing for hundreds of years wouldn't have actually improved its mental state much so why do it and endanger further generations? No idea, and even though these duology had the perfect opportunity to explain it or even hint at a reason it doesn't. Instead, a nearly exact same happens again since our lovely characters find a weapon which has the potential to annihilate large parts of the population and just lies around in another one of this Forerunner cities. It literally just lies around in a random chamber with a compulsion charm to take it on it. Why? For shit and giggles, apparently.
Wells also decides to use quite a few different perspectives in the duology which might have been necessary from a story-telling point but doesn't help to differentiate certain characters. The mass of Arbora and Warriors are still mostly a mass to me and hard to tell apart, their collectivistic society working against them in this point.
I still live for Moon, Chime, Jade and Stone, however. Also Consolation and Kethel. And the nice and surprising, yet perfect friendship between Malachite and Pearl.
Overall, I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy the last two books but they could have been so much better.