The Ships of Air (The Fall of Ile-Rein) [Kindle Edition]

Martha Wells (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Fascinating…A vastly entertaining and refreshingly different fantasy adventure with a surprisingly satisfying conclusion.”

Product Description

Known for her lush, intricate worlds and complex characters, acclaimed author Martha Wells has delighted readers with her extraordinary fantasy novels of daring and wit. With The Wizard Hunters she launched her most ambitious undertaking yet -- the return to the beloved world of the Nebula Award-nominated The Death of the Necromancer and The Fall of Ile-Rien. Now the saga continues in a triumph of suspense and imagination.

Despite a valiant struggle against superior forces, the country of Ile-Rien has fallen to the onslaught of the relentless Gardier, a faceless army of sorcerers determined to conquer all civilization.

To save the remnants of her country, former playwright Tremaine Valiarde undertakes an epic journey to stop the Gardier. Rescuing the proud ship Queen Ravenna from destruction, Tremaine and a resolute band of sorcerers and warriors set sail across magical seas on a voyage of danger and discovery. For the secret to defeating the enemy -- and to rescuing the world from the Gardier's inimitable hatred -- lies far beyond the walls of the world, and only the tenuous ties of friendship and honor will keep the band together.

But the Gardier are not the only evil in this tumultuous world, and an ancient terror stalks the ornate rooms and shadowy decks of the Queen Ravenna -- a force so malevolent and enigmatic that even the growing power of the sorcerer's sphere may not be enough to save Ile-Rien from utter ruin.

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Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 461 KB
• Print Length: 496 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0380807998
• Publisher: HarperCollins e-books (October 13, 2009)
• Sold by: HarperCollins Publishers
• Language: English
• ASIN: B000FCKIA0
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #106,702 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

More About the Author

Martha Wells is the author of eleven fantasy novels, including Wheel of the Infinite, City of Bones, The Element of Fire, and the Nebula-nominated The Death of the Necromancer. Her most recent fantasy novels are The Cloud Roads and The Serpent Sea, to be published by Night Shade Books in 2011 and 2012. She has also written a fantasy trilogy: The Wizard Hunters, The Ships of Air, and The Gate of Gods, all currently out in paperback from HarperCollins Eos. She has had short stories in the magazines Black Gate, Realms of Fantasy, Lone Star Stories, and Stargate Magazine, and in the Tsunami Relief anthology Elemental and The Year's Best Fantasy #7. She has essays in the nonfiction anthologies Farscape Forever and Mapping the World of Harry Potter from BenBella Books. She has also written two media-tie-in novels, Stargate Atlantis: Reliquary and Stargate Atlantis: Entanglement. Her books have been published in eight languages, including French, Spanish, German, Russian, and Dutch, and her web site is www.marthawells.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Quarrelsome Quest, April 26, 2006

By 

lb136 "lb136" (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Ships of Air: The Fall of Ile-Rien (The Fall of Ile-Rein) (Mass Market Paperback)

Martha Wells's beautifully written "Ships of the Air," the second in the author's "Fall of Ile-Rien" trilogy (and you really have to read the first novel, "The Wizard Hunters," before you tackle this one) surpasses the first in its utter looneyness. We meet once again the spectacularly neurotic Tremaine Valliarde (who has, thankfully, gotten over her suicidal impulses), as she and the companions she met in the first volume explore the world she now finds herself in as they attempt to learn more about the Gardier, who have been wreaking havoc on Tremaine's world. In order to do so, Tremaine engineers an alliance between one of the tribes of this world, the Syprians, and the Rien, after which they attempt to discover just where the Gardier are coming from.

At the end of the volume, after quite a trip, they do.

Once again Wells's elegantly flowing prose style smoothes out the rough spots caused by her tendency, as was the case in the first volume, to write herself into a corner, creating problems for herself that don't really matter. (I suspect that, like her heroine, Ms. Wells makes things up on the fly--perhaps working from only the loosest of outlines. And that's not a complaint.)

Whatever. The completely dysfunctional quest is bizarre fun. Tremaine has leadership foisted on her after she gets married mainly on a dare, and although she hasn't a clue, she's certainly plucky and lucky. The tale, which features sorcery and electricity in equal proportions, moves quickly from land to a converted luxury liner and thence to "flying whales," which is what some of the characters call this world's version of hot-air balloons. (They're filled with hydrogen, not helium. Oh. Oh.) And despite the fantasy elements, much of the novel is grounded in reality. Wells describes perfectly what is bound to occur when a group of ill-assorted people are forced to go sallying forth together. They quarrel; they fight for dominance; they all think they're right. It's quirky fun. For readers anyway.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent work, January 5, 2008

By 

S. Marsh (Dreamlands) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Ships of Air: The Fall of Ile-Rien (The Fall of Ile-Rein) (Mass Market Paperback)

For a mid book in a series, this book moves along well, tells a real story and develops the overall theme sharply. Nothing moves too slow or too quickly, and none of the interactions is forced.

5.0 out of 5 stars Another outstanding book from an awesome writer, May 5, 2011

By 

C. Ruedinger (Bryan, TX) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Ships of Air: The Fall of Ile-Rien (The Fall of Ile-Rein) (Mass Market Paperback)

The whole series of the books in this story line are awesome. Catches you and takes you into the incredible world that Martha Wells has created.