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leeleet's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
jemofabook's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Book Rating: Absolutely Loved It
Series Rating: All-Time Favorite
I finished this series and it is one of my favorite things that I've read this year. That's saying a lot because I've read a lot of really excellent series this year.
I LOVE the Books of the Raksura series. I love Indigo Cloud, Moon, Jade, Stone, Pearl, Chime, Bramble, Shade, Malachite, Frost, and everyone else. I have enjoyed my time in this world so very much. I have to say that this is one of the most creative series I have ever read in terms of the world building. My love for these characters is the type that sneaks up on you - I didn't realize just how much I loved Moon until I finished the Cloud Roads and immediately needed to be back and spend more time with him and the rest of Indigo Cloud. The characters will do things and I will crack up because it is just so them. They honestly feel like they've been with me for years and years, and I love them fiercely.
So then The Harbors of the Sun. I think this one might actually be my favorite in the series. I really loved the short story collections, but this one was top notch. I feel like this series follows somewhat predictable plot beats, but I honestly don't mind that much. It's so fun, the characters are fantastic, and I love the world so much. BUT, this one sort of broke the mold. So each of the first three are basically self-contained stories that build on each other. There's a very distinct end to each one though. The Edge of Worlds was not like that - it very much just ended in the middle of everything, and The Harbors of the Sun picks up shortly after in the midst of all the things that are happening.
I thought that the pacing in this one was good - it didn't have a slower start like a lot of the others, so it felt like we were just going from the first page. I really appreciated that we got some different perspectives other than Moon's in these last two books. As much as I love Moon, it was interesting to see other pieces of the world.
I really do love the court politics in these books, and this book didn't have quite as much in this one, but I absolutely lived for the interactions between Pearl and Malachite! Overall, there were some really interesting things introduced in this one with the half Fell flight and a lot of interesting possibilities were raised with that. I would definitely still read more in this world were Martha Wells to ever return to it.
I think that the ending was more satisfying than some of the others in this series as well. It was still a bit more abrupt than I would have liked, but everything felt resolved and tied up.
I loved this series and look forward to rereading it many times to come.
I will say that I was absolutely terrified for Stone for the entirety of these last two books. I felt like there kept being so many hints that he was going to die. I was so relieved that he didn't though. I love Moon and Stone's relationship and that would have been devastating. I was sad about Song though. I feel like it's one of those things where she never stuck out as an individual character, but she was always there, so it was upsetting that she died so terribly.
I felt like the stuff with the Hians worked out as well as it could be expected to, but I definitely think that they got off lightly. I would love to just get some more short stories that take place after the end of this book. Maybe with Moon's clutch growing up and getting to see more of the life at court - seeing Frost become a proper daughter queen or something. Seeing more of Malachite and Shade and Lithe - checking in with Consolation. That would really bring me joy.
Anyways, I'm just rambling at this point.
I highly recommend and definitely think everyone should give these a go.
Series Rating: All-Time Favorite
I finished this series and it is one of my favorite things that I've read this year. That's saying a lot because I've read a lot of really excellent series this year.
I LOVE the Books of the Raksura series. I love Indigo Cloud, Moon, Jade, Stone, Pearl, Chime, Bramble, Shade, Malachite, Frost, and everyone else. I have enjoyed my time in this world so very much. I have to say that this is one of the most creative series I have ever read in terms of the world building. My love for these characters is the type that sneaks up on you - I didn't realize just how much I loved Moon until I finished the Cloud Roads and immediately needed to be back and spend more time with him and the rest of Indigo Cloud. The characters will do things and I will crack up because it is just so them. They honestly feel like they've been with me for years and years, and I love them fiercely.
So then The Harbors of the Sun. I think this one might actually be my favorite in the series. I really loved the short story collections, but this one was top notch. I feel like this series follows somewhat predictable plot beats, but I honestly don't mind that much. It's so fun, the characters are fantastic, and I love the world so much. BUT, this one sort of broke the mold. So each of the first three are basically self-contained stories that build on each other. There's a very distinct end to each one though. The Edge of Worlds was not like that - it very much just ended in the middle of everything, and The Harbors of the Sun picks up shortly after in the midst of all the things that are happening.
I thought that the pacing in this one was good - it didn't have a slower start like a lot of the others, so it felt like we were just going from the first page. I really appreciated that we got some different perspectives other than Moon's in these last two books. As much as I love Moon, it was interesting to see other pieces of the world.
I really do love the court politics in these books, and this book didn't have quite as much in this one, but I absolutely lived for the interactions between Pearl and Malachite! Overall, there were some really interesting things introduced in this one with the half Fell flight and a lot of interesting possibilities were raised with that. I would definitely still read more in this world were Martha Wells to ever return to it.
I think that the ending was more satisfying than some of the others in this series as well. It was still a bit more abrupt than I would have liked, but everything felt resolved and tied up.
I loved this series and look forward to rereading it many times to come.
I will say that I was absolutely terrified for Stone for the entirety of these last two books. I felt like there kept being so many hints that he was going to die. I was so relieved that he didn't though. I love Moon and Stone's relationship and that would have been devastating. I was sad about Song though. I feel like it's one of those things where she never stuck out as an individual character, but she was always there, so it was upsetting that she died so terribly.
I felt like the stuff with the Hians worked out as well as it could be expected to, but I definitely think that they got off lightly. I would love to just get some more short stories that take place after the end of this book. Maybe with Moon's clutch growing up and getting to see more of the life at court - seeing Frost become a proper daughter queen or something. Seeing more of Malachite and Shade and Lithe - checking in with Consolation. That would really bring me joy.
Anyways, I'm just rambling at this point.
I highly recommend and definitely think everyone should give these a go.
cleo_reads's review against another edition
4.0
I grew up loving Narnia, Pern and the show Gargoyles. Therefore, I inhaled all 5 Raskura books in 3 months.
They remind me of the fantasy adventures of my youth, minus a lot of the underlying sexism, homophobia and general weirdness about gender roles of some fantasy classics. Most of my reservations with this book and the series go back to why I drifted away from the fantasy adventure genre. So much plot. So many people. So many things going on. I like deeper character development. I got a little confused about some of the logistics. But this was a wonderful follow up to book 4.
A couple of the recurring themes of the whole series are identity and finding community. I really liked that this book tackles some of the Fell-Raskura mixed race characters and gave a lot more complexity to the Fell. I want to know more about the adventures of the Fellborn queen and her court.
I like that there’s low key queer rep (although the Raskura don't think about things that way at all) – the main character sleeps with both a man and woman but his sexual and romantic relationships aren’t a big focus of the story.
They remind me of the fantasy adventures of my youth, minus a lot of the underlying sexism, homophobia and general weirdness about gender roles of some fantasy classics. Most of my reservations with this book and the series go back to why I drifted away from the fantasy adventure genre. So much plot. So many people. So many things going on. I like deeper character development. I got a little confused about some of the logistics. But this was a wonderful follow up to book 4.
A couple of the recurring themes of the whole series are identity and finding community. I really liked that this book tackles some of the Fell-Raskura mixed race characters and gave a lot more complexity to the Fell. I want to know more about the adventures of the Fellborn queen and her court.
I like that there’s low key queer rep (although the Raskura don't think about things that way at all) – the main character sleeps with both a man and woman but his sexual and romantic relationships aren’t a big focus of the story.
lib_britannia's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
travelgirlut's review against another edition
3.0
And they lived happily ever after, though I feel like enough was left over at the end for more stories to be written. A fun series that I'm sad is over.
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
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
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.
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
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.
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.