First thing that I noticed about this book was it's cover. It is so beautiful and I had to read what was the story behind this cover. I am glad that I did not let the average rating of 3.96 deter me because the story behind this cover was equally beautiful and mesmerizing. Moon is an outcast, trying to hide his true identity. He is different and ever since he realized that he was trying to find people like him but failing miserably at his attempt. One day, the people with whom he was living came...

Tired of the orphan's heroic quest as he ventures into the world to discover himself and claim his birthright? Don't give up yet--Wells has managed a satisfying twist on an old trope by creating species and setting that feel quite alien. Cloud Roads is certainly one of the most original fantasy worlds I've read in months, and the steadfast plot provides familiarity when navigating the strange races of the Three Worlds. Moon knows he is different; he's been unable to find anyone quite like him si...

. There are books where shapeshifters take spotlight but not like this. Raksura, flying shapeshifters, feel like unique specie with their own culture, way of reproduction and hierarchy that isn't based on humans. That goes for the rest of the world as well although worldbuilding is done in broad strokes without forming coherent picture. While it lacks big picture it has bunch of small details that add to it. Like Raksura themselves it's alien world that doesn't correlate to ours. In the age scal...

4 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum https://bibliosanctum.com/2016/10/28/...Finally making good on my promise to go back and read The Books for the Raksura from the beginning, I decided to pick up The Cloud Roads with the SF/F Read-Along group. Up until this point, I had only read one volume of the Raksura short stories as well as The Edge of Worlds which is formally the fourth book of the sequence but can also be read as a jumping-off point for a new era of the series. As such, I started The Clou...

I didn't DNF it at ~50%. I simply gave up. I gave up.Rant coming in 3...2...1...I think I am done with Martha. I just don't get the idea why everybody finds her so amazingly special. I really don't feel the vibe at all. The style in TCR is so laconic, so simple. And while sometimes simple sentences and words scream tons of emotions, TCR is just dull. My jaw is rolling on the ground in surprise of how many people truly loves it. There is such an amazing alien world, with outstanding nature and i

An unusual fantasy with an entirely non-human cast set in a world with a rich history and many intelligent humanoid species.Moon is living with a group of "groundlings" although he secretly lives another life where he can transform into a reptilian flying form. He's caught and his tribe try to kill him because of his resemblance to another marauding species of fliers called the Fell, but he's rescued at the last minute by one of his own people, the first of them he's seen since childhood. Stone,...

I love the world and the diversity of peoples. The story didn't surprise me, but the raksura are really compelling.

2022: 5 stars2017: 5 starsAwesome fantasy world with a male protagonist, where the male consort is supposed pampered and delicate , and well... Moon didn't get the memo, but the queens still can be terrific. Tons of races of all colors and forms, no humans, and strange psychic powers.“Three realms: sea, earth, and sky. Everyone remembers the sea realms, but they’ve forgotten the sky realms. It’s been so many generations since the island peoples fought among themselves. They’re mostly gone now, w...

Really interesting start to a complex world, with multiple non-human races, two of which are the focus here: the Raksura and the Fell, both of whom are flying shapeshifters. The Raksura live in large, complicated groups and are made up of the Arbora, who run everything (feeding, teaching, etc.) and the Aeriat, who are the warriors, and out of whom the Queens and Consorts come from.Enter Moon, unbeknownst to him a Raksura, who has been living for years mostly in his groundling form, and trying to...

This book was a total surprise. It didn't really look all that interesting to me based on the jacket copy -- stock story, possible last of his kind looking for a place to belong, etc. But where other stories end (last of his kind finds a place) is pretty much where this story started, nearly ended, then started again. Moon finds his people early in the book, and it's not a happy experience for him. He learns that a) he's a member of an especially coveted subgroup within his people, and b) he is

Sentient non-humans, belonging issues, and matriarchy. Just wow.Whenever I stumble upon books whose authors create original worlds without referring to the ever same mythologies or legends, I grant them additional points at the start. Having read the City of Bones, I know that Ms Wells' worldbuilding is nonpareil and the Raksura Books prove it to be a rule rather than an exception. Granted, the world’s richness and originality are seconded by a tale not so unique. The journey of the main charact...

Final rating: 5/5 stars He spoke the thought that had become increasingly obvious all day long, with every interaction he had had. “I don’t belong here.” (...)Stone made a derisive noise. “You’re afraid you don’t belong here. There’s a difference.” This book is the prime example of how to do world building. If there is something exceptionally strong in this book, it's completely alien-high fantasy world building where there are almost no humans barely normal Earth like humans at all. T...

For those who like fantasy stories well told this is a winner. There are many things that make a good story--characters you care about, convincing dialogue and setting. This world is completely made up of strange, wondrous creatures. The Raksura are part bird, part human and part reptile. I like that their go to expression for surprise or anger is hissing. These are not cuddly, cute fantastical creatures, but they are beautiful, kind, and honourable. They fight in a mortal battle against the Fel...

If you are tired of epic fantasy full of tropes in used to death medieval setting and want an original immersive world full of magic and wondrous creatures – read this book. The only thing that comes close to relating this experience is watching The Avatar for the first time in 3D. Except it is not only the blue people: there are myriads of intelligent races in various sizes and colours, with horns, with tusks, with manes, scales, wings, tails – you name it. Floating islands, rotating cities, hi...

The Cloud Roads is a fairly traditional fantasy novel with worldbuilding that at first seems fairly original. It took me until I was about halfway into the book before I realized why it felt derivative. Of course saying a fantasy novel is derivative is not necessarily a bad thing; I think fantasy readers sometimes overrate originality. Very few great fantasy novels are great because their worlds are so unique and different: it's the characters and the sweep of the story that makes them great.The...

First of all, I have to thank Mimi for the rec. Thank you, Mimi! I haven't enjoyed a book that much since I was a teen. I mean of course, I have enjoyed many books of many genres since then, but this feeling of getting sucked into some new unknown world with new rules to learn and discover and understand how it works - this feeling of getting into something fresh and unseen - was genuine and amazing. Martha Wells wasn't lazying around and created this absolutely different world of Three Worlds,