A review by tacochelle
Untethered Sky by Fonda Lee

adventurous fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Gorgeous cover. Short novella about a woman who lost her mom and baby brother to manticores, so she trains to lead a rok into combat against these monsters. If you are not familiar with them, manticore have the face of a man, body of a lion, and the tail of a scorpion,  and like to eat people. Roks are giant birds. Like, massive birds. Both are traditionally found in middle eastern folklore, Persian and Arabian respectively. As a fantasy nerd who reread the same fantasy creature encyclopedia over and over as a kid, I loved reading about these two monsters that don't usually get attention. While brief, the world is very well established. While the focus is on our main character Ester, you also get to see how her two friends handle the same pressure. They all have this obsession with their rok, with killing monsters, all for various personal reasons. I enjoyed watching them interact, and where their obsession ultimately leads them. I'm satisfied with the ending here. But I wouldn't mind another story within this same world, maybe with new characters.
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