All the stories in this are wonderful, but I particularly loved the young Moon story and the Chime story. They're all really great stories, but I loved those the best.

I do have a criticism for at least the ebook editions I see sold on at least Kobo and iOS. The quality is fine, but there are three versions of this being sold for some reason, all with identical cover art but different text: one more expensive anthology with all four stories, and two volumes with one story each (Indigo and Cloud, and the Falling City story). At first I thought there were only two stories in this, given the cover for the full anthology, and they were just being sold separately for no apparent reason. But no, there are four. Two of them are available for free on Wells' Wattpad, which might be why the two bigger stories are sold separately. But either case, if you want a copy to own, get the full anthology, because those two Wattpad stories are not in either of the individual volumes. ( )

This book contains two novellas, "The Falling World" and "The Tale of Indigo and Cloud", and two short stories, "The Forest Boy" and "Adaptation."

"The Falling World" is set after the end of The Siren Depths. Jade, Chime, and some of the other Indigo Cloud warriors go missing while traveling to another Raksuran court, and Moon and Stone lead a search party to rescue them. This novella contains many of the things that I have come to expect and enjoy from the Books of the Raksura: ancient abandoned cities, dangerous magics, Moon trying to fit into normal Raksuran life, and fraught relations between Raksuran courts. This was my favourite story of the collection, and it was also the longest.

"The Tale of Indigo and Cloud" is set generations earlier, and tells how the queen Indigo stole her consort Cloud from the Emerald Twilight court. I enjoyed this, but did not find it particularly compelling, perhaps because it was told from the point of view of Cerise, Indigo's birthqueen, who seemed to be just irritated by the whole thing. A bonus in this story was the brief appearance of a fledgling Stone! The epilogue at the end (set in Moon's time) seemed unnecessary and distracting.

"The Forest Boy" is a tale of Moon's childhood. It was a bit sad, and my least favourite story.

"Adaptation" is the story of Chime's transformation from an Arbora mentor to an Aeriat warrior. Chime is one of my favourite characters of the series, so I enjoyed this. It was nice to get a different perspective on Raksuran life.

Overall, this collection provides some interesting prequels to the main series and is a nice complement to the novels of the Books of the Raksura. I'd recommend both this book and the series as a whole. ( )

A Raksuran anthology consisting of 2 novellas and 2 short stories.

The Falling World: Another story in which a Raksuran is trapped/captured in an magical, ancient eldritch abomination, and the other Raksura must go find them. While the abomination was unique, this feels like a re-tread of the same plot elements of the last few books.

The Tale of Indigo and Cloud: I think the bulk of my rating for this anthology was on the basis of this story. It was great to see the Indigo Cloud court's beginning, with a new cast with different interpersonal relationships. It was nice to see a relationship between two queens that was not fraught with animosity and consorts besides Moon with a bit of backbone and personality. While I knew the solution to the conundrum almost right away, that didn't make the execution of the ending any less satisfying. The epilogue was a bit tacked on - I didn't need Moon to tell me that what I just read was the Raksuran version of romance.

The Forest Boy: Moon's brief adoption by a family of groundlings during his childhood years. Well-written, but beat for beat the same as earlier books. Nothing new here. Definitely the weakest story of the four.

Adaptation: This story describes Chime's transition into a warrior. Short, but remarkably effective, and has a lot of heart. ( )

Read, favourite. ( )

This contains a couple of novellas and a couple of short stories. The longest novella, The Fallen World, is set after The Siren Depths. A group from Indigo Cloud disappear en route to another court, and so a team set out to find them.

This is exactly what I expect from Raksura stories. Moon is understandably emotional; Stone is supportive in his own, mostly practical, way. Moon has to navigate the way usual expectations of consorts do not apply to him, due to his atypical upbringing. The characters explore a place which is mysterious and vividly imaginative, and solve their problems with teamwork. I love it.

The other three stories are all prequels. The Tale of Indigo and Cloud is about the Raksura after whom the court is now named, and how Indigo stole Cloud from another queen. Stone gives a very brief outline of this event in The Serpent Sea, and I wasn’t expecting to like this story as much as I did.

It is told from the point of view of Indigo’s mother and the current reigning queen, Cerise. Until now, all the the Raksura stories have been about Moon, who has a unique perspective because of his aforementioned atypical upbringing. Moreover, the reigning queens he’s had the most to do with are both a little unusual - they’re deeply affected by the loss of their respective consorts and by other disasters, and can be extra difficult to deal with. So it’s fascinating to get an insider’s view of a, well, more normal reigning queen and her court.
I liked how level-headed and understanding Cerise is - she’s frustrated by the decisions of certain young people, yet is determined to find a way to avert war which accommodates their emotional needs.
Also, Stone makes a brief appearance as a fledgling.

“The Forest Boy” is about a groundling kid who meets fledgling-Moon, and “Adaptation” is about what happens to Chime not long before The Cloud Roads - yet another, different perspective on the Raksura, specifically, that of an Arbora, rather than an Aeriat.

“It’s not like anyone at Indigo Cloud will do anything rash,” Bramble added. “We brought most of the rash people with us.” ( )