Martha Wells has been world-building for several books and
this one brings us STORIES OF THE RAKSURA. We initially
meet warriors and royalty sitting in a courtyard making
seasonal plans. Then we learn that there is shape-
shifting
in their makeup, and next we get descriptions of these
people, whom we're already accepting as people although
they are not humanoid and live in tree platform cities.
The
world is densely layered, with comment on gender roles and
politics, suitable for adults or young adults.
Moon is a consort in The Falling World, the first story.
His friend Chime wants to accompany a queen visiting
another court, in order to search records for explanations
as to why his shape-shifting has altered him beyond the
usual experience of the Raksura. These are winged lizard
people who take a groundling form at times, and the
various
shapes have different abilities including some magic. Moon
doesn't see that Chime has anything to gain, but tries to
be supportive. While Chime is gone however, emissaries
arrive from the court they are supposed to be visiting.
What has gone wrong?
The names tend to be easily grasped, like Stone, Garnet,
Pearl, Vine; jungle environment descriptions are
absolutely
convincing as well as city functions, territorial
disputes,
castes and the pecking order. After a few pages I was
completely hooked. Tensions are quickly present and
understandable. Moon was adopted into a powerful tribe
after a nomadic childhood, so he is an outsider. Still
young, he's had many hair-raising adventures and learned
to
be a leader, though of lesser status than a female. The
Raksura are farmers, predators and prey.
The Tale Of Indigo And Cloud follows a young Raksura
queen,
Indigo, who has stolen a consort from another court,
provoking war, echoing the Helen of Troy story. The Forest
Boy recounts a tale of the Mirani people, more like us but
in the same world, living on the forest fringe along the
Long Road. When they adopt a wildling, who knows what
he'll grow into? Adaptation describes how Chime
unexpectedly shifts from a magic-using mentor into a
warrior. Records suggest that this presages doom for his
colony.
If you like SF&F or nature, and you want to know how it
feels to hunt on the perilous forest floor or scuttle
through treetops hanging on by your hind claws, STORIES OF
THE RAKSURA is made for you to savour. Anyone reading
these
stories is going to want to chase up the earlier novels.
Martha Wells has an extraordinary talent and I look
forward
to reading more of her works.
In “The Falling World,” Jade, sister queen of the Indigo
Cloud Court, has traveled with Chime and Balm to another
Raksuran court. When she fails to return, her consort,
Moon, along with Stone and a party of warriors and
hunters, must track them down. Finding them turns out to
be the easy part; freeing them from an ancient trap hidden
in the depths of the Reaches is much more difficult.
“The Tale of Indigo and Cloud” explores the history of the
Indigo Cloud Court, long before Moon was born. In the
distant past, Indigo stole Cloud from Emerald Twilight.
But in doing so, the reigning Queen Cerise and Indigo are
now poised for a conflict that could spark war throughout
all the courts of the Reaches.
Stories of Moon and the shape changers of Raksura have
delighted readers for years. This world is a dangerous
place full of strange mysteries, where the future can
never be taken for granted and must always be fought for
with wits and ingenuity, and often tooth and claw. With
two brand-new novellas, Martha Wells shows that the world
of the Raksura has many more stories to tell . . .
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