Updraft By Fran Wilde : Review

In a city of living bone rising high above the clouds, where danger hides in the wind and the ground is lost to legend, a young woman must expose a dangerous secret to save everyone she loves Welcome to a world of wind and bone, songs and silence, betrayal and courage.Kirit Densira cannot wait to pass her wingtest and begin flying as a trader by her mother’s side, being in service to her beloved home tower and exploring the skies beyond. When Kirit inadvertently breaks Tower Law, the city’s secretive governing body, the Singers, demand that she become one of them instead

If I hadn’t been desperately searching for something new to read I don’t know if I would have requested a copy of this book to read, it didn’t really jump out at me like so many books do, but I am really glad I did. If I hadn’t known going into it that this was Fran Wilde’s debut novel I dont think I would have ever realized it. Updraft is a well crafted story with a fully fleshed out world — something I’m not used to seeing in debut novels. If this book is anything to go by then we have many years of great books to look forward to from this author in the future.

Living in a city of bone that towers high above the clouds, it seems only natural that Kirit Densira has only one dream — to pass her wingtest and follow in the steps of her famous mother to become a Trader. While others are bound to their towers and unable to leave, Traders are free to take to the skies and travel from tower to tower, bringing news and needed supplies to the city. Everything seems to be going Kirit’s way until the day she willingly endangers the life of herself and a her friend, breaking Tower Law in the process and drawing the unwanted attention of the Singers. Now to earn her freedom Kirit will have to decide if she can put the good of the tower above the good of the individual

At at time when I am finding the genre to be somewhat stale and repetitive, it’s nice to read something that stands out like Updraft does. I don’t know if I can pinpoint exactly what made me love this book so much, I think it was the idea of a seemingly sentient city made of bone, and the Lovecraft inspired monsters that did it. I love a story that inspires me to sit down and come up with theories for what is going on, or what may be coming next, and with Updraft I came up with and discarded many over the course of the book. I can’t wait until the next book in the series releases and can only hope it sheds some light on just what is going on in the world outside of the city.

While this was a bit of a weird book at times I think anyone looking for something new and different to read will enjoy reading it as much as I did.  I dont know where Fran Wilde has been hiding all this time, but I am glad I discovered her early on in her writing career. I hope this is just the first of many books that we see from her. I know I will be checking on her regularly to find out what is coming up next!

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.