About

The Cloud Roads is the first book in the The Books of the Raksura series written by Martha Wells. Can be read as a standalone too.

The Cloud Roads book cover

Blurb

Moon has spent his life hiding what he is — a shape-shifter able to transform himself into a winged creature of flight. An orphan with only vague memories of his own kind, Moon tries to fit in among the tribes of his river valley, with mixed success. Just as Moon is once again cast out by his adopted tribe, he discovers a shape-shifter like himself... someone who seems to know exactly what he is, who promises that Moon will be welcomed into his community.

What this stranger doesn't tell Moon is that his presence will tip the balance of power... that his extraordinary lineage is crucial to the colony's survival... and that his people face extinction at the hands of the dreaded Fell! Now Moon must overcome a lifetime of conditioning in order to save himself... and his newfound kin.

Review

This was a wonderful book to get back to reading after 10 days of hiatus.

The pacing was good pretty much from the start of the novel and the writing was easy to follow. It also helped that there was only one POV, though I wished for more POVs by the end of the book. I started reading on Friday evening, assuming I'll finish by Sunday (since I was planning to work on Saturday). I ended up working about an hour and finished book 2 by Sunday evening.

I loved the alien setting and I feel that the author did a good job of presenting the various races and the cultural aspects. The plot and the setting would make for a great movie adaptation in my opinion. There were plenty of twists that kept me engaged and eager for the next reveal.

Character wise Moon steals the show, but I'd say some of the secondary characters had good screen presence too.

See author's site for fanarts. I think it's worth the risk to search fanarts for such settings, would help to imagine the characters better.

My rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

What others are saying

From Em Lost In Books's review on goodreads:

The world building of this story is simply awesome. I haven't encountered anything like this before and this is so original to me. Different races and how they rule and work to keep themselves in existence, was explained in detail which only added to the sheer beauty of this story.

From Carol's review on goodreads:

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.

Bingo

/r/Fantasy/ 2021 bingo categories:

  • Found Family
  • Book Club OR Readalong Book
  • New to You Author
  • Backlist Book