An expedition of groundlings from the Empire of Kish have traveled
through the Three Worlds to the Indigo Cloud court of the Raksura,
shape-shifting creatures of flight that live in large family groups. The
groundlings have found a sealed ancient city at the edge of the shallow
seas, near the deeps of the impassable Ocean. They believe it to be the
last home of their ancestors and ask for help getting inside. But the
Raksura fear it was built by their own distant ancestors, the
Forerunners, and the last sealed Forerunner city they encountered was a
prison for an unstoppable evil.
Prior to the groundlings' arrival, the Indigo Cloud court had been
plagued by visions of a disaster that could destroy all the courts in
the Reaches. Now, the court's mentors believe the ancient city is
connected to the foretold danger. A small group of warriors, including
consort Moon, an orphan new to the colony and the Raksura's idea of
family, and sister queen Jade, agree to go with the groundling
expedition to investigate. But the predatory Fell have found the city
too, and in the race to keep the danger contained, the Raksura may be
the ones who inadvertently release it.
The Edge of Worlds, from celebrated fantasy author Martha Wells,
returns to the fascinating world of The Cloud Roads for the first book
in a new series of strange lands, uncanny beings, dead cities, and
ancient danger.
