The Falling World

The Books of the Raksura #3.6

by Martha Wells

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.

Can be also found in: Stories of the Raksura, Volume 1: The Falling World & The Tale of Indigo and Cloud.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Short Stories, High Fantasy, Science Fiction Fantasy, Novella, Shapeshifters

216 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 2, 2014

About the author

Martha Wells has been an SF/F writer since her first fantasy novel was published in 1993, and her work includes The Books of the Raksura series, the Ile-Rien series, The Murderbot Diaries series, and other fantasy novels, most recently Witch King (Tordotcom, 2023). She has also written media tie-in fiction for Star Wars, Stargate: Atlantis, and Magic: the Gathering, as well as short fiction, YA novels, and non-fiction. She has won Nebula Awards, Hugo Awards, Locus Awards, and a Dragon Award, and her work has appeared on the Philip K. Dick Award ballot, the British Science Fiction Association Award ballot, the USA Today Bestseller List, the Sunday Times Bestseller List, and the New York Times Bestseller List. She is a member of the Texas Literary Hall of Fame, and her books have been published in twenty-five languages.

She is also a consulting producer on The Murderbot Diaries series for Apple TV+.

Reviews

[aza · Rating 4 out of 5]

The politics, the characters, the world building, the Books of the Raksura are whimsical and fun and I can't get enough of them. This is a shorter version of a full length story, where Jade goes missing while on a trade mission with another colony. In order to show off that Indigo Cloud is more powerful than the other, Jade doesn't bring her consort. So when a sister queen arrives with no recollection of Jades departure, Moon takes it as his duty to find his queen

Besides normal Moon shenanigans, we also get some minor shifts in alliances between the Jade and Pearl factions that hopefully carry over to the duology!

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.4⭐
Another novella in Martha Wells' Raksura saga. Pretty good tale of a mysterious ruined city, dangerous enchantments and derring-do by our Raksura hero, Moon, and his gang.
A quick read, with Wells' usual flair for character and setting. Decent, light fantasy entertainment.

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’d forgotten quite how much I love this world and Moon.

[Rob Trans · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this as part of the The Stories of the Raksura, Volume 1 consists of the novel: The Falling World (#3.6), the novella: The Tale of Indigo and Cloud (#0.1), and the two short stories: The Forest Boy (0.2) and Adaptation (#0.4). These are a good addition to the Raksura series, for those that like it. It is mildly diverting YA series, better written than much of the genre. This book was a pretty quick and easy read. Not very sophisticated.

The Falling World is a small adventure where Moon and Stone lead an expedition to find the missing Jade. Mood demonstrates his leadership and we learn more about inter-court politics.

[Carolyn F. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this as part of the anthology Stories of the Raksura, Volume 1: The Falling World & The Tale of Indigo and Cloud

Good story. Always with the tunnels and bugs and creatures. I'm so glad I don't live in that world. Now the rock tree thingy - I don't know about that. I think it confused the story more than anything else. 3 stars.

[Mitchell Friedman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice novella addition to the series. I would have liked to have seen more from the side cast and less just on Moon. And the middle part was basically just a slow moving journey trying to figure out if there was a problem. And then what the problem was. But a good quick read. And with a nice ending.

[Tinyel · Rating 1 out of 5]

This has to be the absolute worst "time travel" story I've ever had the misfortune of reading. This does not make any sense at all, and doesn't even seem to be trying to make sense. It's not explained in any way. The confusion of the "plot" really takes away anything I could have enjoyed about the characters...

[Nagy Miklós · Rating 5 out of 5]

While this was shorter it was a nice little adventure. Not knowing what exactly happened and what the creature was in the end is a bit frustrating. But it still adds to the mystery of the Three Worlds.

[Titus Fortner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid story in an enjoyable world. 3.5 stars.

[Susan Brody-declerk · Rating 4 out of 5]

If Moon and company ever became a TV show this would have been that side quest episode they would show over the winter holiday. It packed a lot in a short period.

[Tammy · Rating 3 out of 5]

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

[Meghan Mccullers · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m not ready to leave the world of the Raksura, so I’m glad there are side-stories like this.

[Mallori · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Candice · Rating 4 out of 5]

I must confess I never really got into The Falling World, but I absolutely loved The Tale of Indigo and Cloud. Even with my deep love for the full-length books, The Forest Boy has always been my favorite Raksura story, so I'm thrilled to have it in book form.

[Anthony · Rating 2 out of 5]

A pretty weak entry in Welles' work. If you're a completionist, it might be worth reading if you've read the rest of the series. But nothing really crazy or interesting happens and there's basically no climax despite a lot of tense buildup. It just felt like kind of pointless story to me.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an amazing collection of stories about the Raksura, shape shifting people/creatures with a colorful history & traditions. I`m looking forward to reading more about these beautiful Beings!!

[Geocurious]

I like books by Martha Wells.