The Cloud Roads

Moon, the main character of the Raksura series, shares a great many characteristics with Murderbot: he's isolated, traumatized, often inspires fear in others through no fault of his own, and doesn't know where he belongs or how to fit in. Naturally, the first book is mostly concerned with reuniting Moon with his people and chronicling the joys and pains of integrating into this complex society. The plot is slightly predictable, but this is easily compensated for by the sheer originality of the setting: one of the few fantasy books/series I've read that does not bother with the conceit of fitting human society into a world where magic exists, but rather imagines a world where magic is just another routine natural force. There are no humans in this world but there are hundreds, possibly thousands, of sentient humanoid species, and just as many sentient non-humanoids. There are also floating islands, flying boats, ruins of wondrous monuments built by long-vanished peoples, and trees large enough to hold entire forests on one of their branches. It's fun, it's compelling, and it has distinct elements of coziness that make it a comforting re-read for me.

There is one criticism I think is valid, which is the gender essentialism of the Raksura. I don't believe this is deliberate on Wells' part; it's simply an extension of the magical but somewhat caste-ist conception of how Raksura society works. Certain people just get certain jobs by virtue of their phenotype at birth. Which could be oppressive, except that Raksura society doesn't have money and nobody has to work for food and shelter. This didn't HAVE to mean that Raksura don't experience gender dysphoria, but that's what ends up happening--even though one of the MCs has an unexpected shift of body plan and has challenges dealing with that. There is, however, a laidback background acceptance of multiple sexual orientations. I didn't find this to be enough to ruin the story, but some people have, so I thought it was worth mentioning.

Si on m'avait dit que je lirais un livre sur une espèce qui est mixte entre lézards et piafs, qui suit une hiérarchie proche des abeilles/insectes de ruches et qui vivent dans des arbres géants. Je ne les aurais pas cru, encore moins s'ils m'avaient dit que j'apprécierais autant que je le fais maintenant.

La saga Raksuras se déroulent dans un monde fantastique avec plusieurs espèces avec leurs propres civilisations qui se partagent plusieurs territoires sur un continent (dont j'ai oublié le nom, chute). On suit le protagoniste, Moon, lors de sa première acclimations dans l'arbre géant qui leurs sert de maison avec ses semblables après avoir passé la grande partie de sa vie ignorant de ses origines au point de ne pas connaître le nom de son espèce : les Raksuras.

Bien sûr, tout ne peut pas être simplement un slice of life remplis des incompréhension de notre protagoniste face à une culture dont il n'est absolument pas familier, il faut qu'il y ait du peps : Il se rend compte vite que des ennemis qu'il avait déjà vu, les Fells, semblent vouloir attaquer son nouveau chez lui.

Toute cette histoire est bien sûr écrite de manière simple et pas trop difficile à comprendre (un plus pour la francophone que je suis) mais qui n'enlève en rien le charme de la prose (?). C'est chouette à lire.

Les personnages n'ont cependant pas le temps d'être vraiment développés. On sent qu'il s'agit d'un premier tome d'une série et que nous sommes qu'en plein milieu des trames narratives pour eux.

De même pour l'univers qui reste encore assez confus. La suite répondra surement à mes questions.

Bref, chouette livre dont j'ai hâte de lire la suite.

What a lovely surprise this book was! Few fantasy books are very creative when it comes to races in world-building. Not so in this series. The Three Worlds felt different and very distinctive. Our protagonist is Moon who has moved from groundling tribe to groundling tribe in hopes of fitting in. But he is not a groundling. He can shift to be a creature with wings and claws similar to the most hated race of the world, the Fell, which inevitably gets him kicked out of settlements once people find out he shifts. When he gets kicked out again from his latest home, he is rescued from certain death by a member of his own race that he didn't even know existed. Stone brings him back to his tribe of the Raksura, where it turns out that not only Moon is a Raksura, but one of the rare consorts who can breed with a queen. But as Moon tries to figure out if he can fit in with his own people, an attack of the vilest sort is imminent from the Fell.

We have great world-building, with mysterious islands in the sky full of ruins, flying ships, and a race full of kickass-women like Jade, Flower and Pearl. Greatly enjoyed, will definitely read on.