The Siren Depths: Volume Three of the Books of the Raksura

The Siren Depths is the third book in Martha Wells' Books of the Raksura series. The novel brings an interesting story and compelling characters together for a fitting end to the trilogy. But is it the end? One thing I liked about the story was how it tells a tale on two fronts. One one hand there's the immediate story of what Moon is doing and where he's being forced to go. On the other hand, The Siren Depths ties in with the previous novels to finally reveal Moon's full backstory. Readers finally get to find out what happened to him as a kid, how he was separated from his court, the identity of his parents, and more. By the end, all of the loose ends are tied up which gives the book a feeling of completeness. However, the future is kept wide open and there are plenty of major stories that could be explored in future novels. On its own, The Siren Depths is an enjoyable book. It's certainly not something you would want to dive into without reading the other two books first. A lot of world building and character building is accomplished before hand. While you probably could jump straight into this book and enjoy it, you would be missing out on a lot. Regardless, this book fits in perfectly with the series. As part of the greater whole, it continues the fun, but it also ties things together nicely, answers lingering questions, and pushes the characters in intriguing directions. Like the previous stories, there is a good mix of various story elements. It explores new, strange places and creatures. There's a new villain who turns out to be the driving force behind the Fell and their desire to crossbreed with the Raksura. There's a new groundling city discovered on the side of a cliff, built into a gigantic statue. It has harbors for flying boats and its citizens are armed with projectile weaponry. There's also a mysterious underwater city full of secrets that's explored. There's a lot of court intrigue as Moon ventures to a new Raksuran court on the edge of the Reaches. Meanwhile the story of Moon and Jade's relationship continues into new territory. The only thing that's not really explored yet is the raising of the Sky Copper royal clutch. If you're thinking about investing in the series, it's worthwhile. The second and third books are on par with the first. It's also a good way for Star Wars readers to see what Martha Wells' storytelling is like. She does a good job of balancing between characters and plot. The dialog and character development is excellent. She's very imaginative and comes up with some really strange races, creatures, and places. Action is spread throughout the novel with various trigger points and mission points, but it's never drawn out to the point of being tiresome. There also isn't any graphic sex, and while there is violence, she doesn't dwell on it. All in all, it's a great mix for good storytelling that makes for addictive reading.

The third book in Martha Wells' Raksura series clears up a lot of the plot from the first two books. The plot for this book is inventive and, for the most part, well-paced. As with the earlier books, I found the characters to be well-developed and believable. Moon's character is consistent and shows growth through the three series. I did find it odd that the difficulty between him and River wasn't really resolved. Perhaps there's a fourth book. We can only hope. The book doesn't get a fifth star because while the plot is inventive and cohesive it seems to rush in places, seemingly Ms. Wells wants to just get done and go on to the next scene. I found the climax interesting but resolved too easily for the amount of trouble the characters had getting to that place. I also thought the relationship with the Aventerans was left hanging. There was never any time that I wanted to stop reading, though, which is always a good sign. I enjoyed the book and liked the way the characters and overall plot is consistent from book to book. A very good read. Oh, yeah, and a really good take on bad-ass female characters.

Actually, I just got through with this third book and am now going to go back and start over with the series, beginning with The Cloud Roads. I read the books the first time to find out what happened, and the second time is so I can savor the lush detail of all the places where Moon and the members of his court went. This is one of the best fantasy series I've read in a long time--at least, since Anne McCaffrey died (no more dragons) and Barbara Hambly abandoned sword and sorcery stories to write historical novels. As people who read all three books know, the series is all told from the viewpoint of Moon, a relatively young (at only 40) Raksuran consort who, separated by violence and tragedy from his people, has been forced to grow up learning everything about the world on his own, an outcast from every community he has tried to join. When the last tribe of groundlings (people who don't fly) he tried to fit in with poison him under the impression that he is one of the Fell, a race of particularly nasty predators with whom the Raksura have a distant kinship and whom he resembles, he is rescued by an important and powerful member of a Raksuran court, a line-grandfather named Stone. He finds that being reunited with his people doesn't end his problems. Not knowing anything about them, not even having known what he was, he finds their nuances and body language incomprehensible. He is ignorant of court manners and can't figure out where anybody is coming from, somewhat like an autism-spectrum person trying to fit in with the neurotypical culture, and like an ASD person, finds himself continually messing up and offending people. A formidable older queen expresses interest in him and it repels him; a younger one makes advances toward him and he reacts with suspicion because of all the betrayals he has suffered in the past. Worse yet, the Fell are after him and he learns that his very presence in the Raksuran courts endangers them all. A small neighboring court is attacked by the Fell, which, instead of just eating everybody in sight after their usual custom, run off with the babies. When he and Jade and Stone and their friends succeed in rescuing the children, they learn that the Fell have managed to interbreed with some of the Raksura...and want to continue the project. He develops friendships with people of the different castes of Indigo Cloud Court, and has become the consort of the beautiful and feisty Jade, sister-queen to Indigo Cloud's difficult and morose queen Pearl. After rescuing the Copper Sky clutch that was destroyed by the Fell, he and the Indigo Cloud people make it to a fabled mountain-tree that Stone knows about, believing that they will be safe there. Here is where they learn that the Seed, which is necessary to keep their home alive, has been stolen by a mage of another species. They form an alliance with a race of groundlings with an important technology--flying boats, which will carry them farther over the sea than their wings can. They trace the Seed to a strange city built on the back of a Leviathan, and find it is being used by a powerful and amoral mage to control its movements and keep it from just diving below the surface of the sea. In the third book they have barely managed to settle down and see that the Seed has begun to revive their home, when the emissaries from a large, prestigious court, Opal Night, come to take Moon to his original home. All his time in the courts of the Raksura, he has been viewed with suspicion as a "feral solitary," but finding that he is really the son of the formidable queen of Opal Night, Malachite, does not make things one bit easier for him. He objects to being arbitrarily torn from Jade--and while in the Opal Night court, he learns of some disturbing developments--one that there are half-Fell children there, and two, that the Fell are after them again. I haven't been to Ms. Wells' website to find out anything about her, but I can't help thinking that she must write for Architectural Digest or some such publication--each and every scene in all three books of the series is replete with minute, sensuous descriptions of the interiors of all the Raksuran courts--that goes for their clothing and jewelry, too. And the Raksuran are cool--kind of like dragons, except they are most indisputably people. I'm not 100% convinced of the evolutionary purpose of their physiology, but that doesn't matter. Their social customs, emotions, and politics are complicated. I was sorry to come to the end of the series; I hope she manages to develop a few more Raksuran stories. In the meantime, I'm going to check out more of Martha Wells' stuff.

Read it all in order. Very good world building. The author's first books I read were the Murder bot series. Wanting more I tried the Raksura and was not disappointed. Her fantasy is as good as her sci-fi. The main character Moon reminded me of the Murder bot but he was still his own man. I will read everything Ms wells has ever written til I am done. Intelligent writing. Characters you want to see do well. Horrible nasty villainous monsters. Very imaginative. Give her a try.

Really enjoyed the whole series. She's a great writer. Love the way she writes the Queens (particularly Pearl). She has the ability to create complex characters in desperate situations without it being unduly bleak.

Poor Moon, he made all that progress in the last two books. He suffered a big setback with his mental health in this book. But, I love these books so much because he used everything he'd learnt in the other books to pull himself back up. He recognised what he was doing that was detrimental to his health and he tried to do better for himself, tried to trust and learn more. OKAY BUT ASIDE FROM THAT CAN WE TALK ABOUT HOW MUCH I WANT TO BE A RAKSURA... IS THAT WEIRD?! I want to fly and fight Fell and learn about all the political intrigue of the courts. I want to go on the flying ship, climb a mountain tree, see the Ariat flying together, sleep in bowers and see all the beautiful Arbora art. I want to fly around the three worlds making friends and enemies with all the different groundings. This world is awesome!!!! I'm not sure why but I thought this was the last book, I just googled it...and... THERE ARE TWO MORE!! THANKYOU!!!!

The third book in the Raksura series - and the one in which Moon is taken away from his court, Indigo Cloud, to go to his birth-court. He is Not Happy. Moon grew up alone, constantly being forced out of homes, often with people he'd grown to like and consider friends turning on him and in some cases trying to kill him. As you can imagine, this leaves its mark. This book is basically about Moon confronting his worst nightmare - even though his adopted court isn't actually throwing him out, to him it feels like a betrayal and as the reader you feel that betrayal just as keenly as he does. All I can say is if you've read the first two, you have to read this book. You won't regret it.

Pure Science Fiction Fantasy. Absorbing series of 'other' species lives and loves, The descriptive styles of Martha Wells exceeds all expectations as usual.

I thought this was better that v2 which I also enjoyed. A little bit less action and a little bit more character development. Still lots of action and improbable saves but a good book and I will certainly finish the series