I was very happy with this continuation of the trilogy. The world-building was expanded in exactly the way that I was hoping it would be, and while I was initially hesitant about the change in perspective from Kirit to Nat, I think it was the right choice for this specific story. The plot was similar to that of the first book in the sense that it's about politics and secrets being withheld from the public, though it was a little bit less predictable. In general, though, it's the unique worldbuilding that really attracts me to these books. ( )

To much politics for my taste, but they are important to the development of the narrator/protagonist. Most of the action is concentrated in the last, much more pleasant to read, half of the book, although the results of political decisions are bitterly harvested. I did not buy the prevalence of seemingly faceless 'black wings' the antagonist is able to deploy since every other character is deeply enmeshed in family, political, and business connections not so much hierarchical. Also the base of the towers and spires, seems rather too much for the barren seeming of what supports it. ( )

Cloudbound continues to explore the world Wilde established in Updraft: a setting where living towers of bone pierce the sky, where travel is done by wing, and where it is difficult to decide whether humans or flying-invisible-tentacle-beasts are the worst monsters. Here, the threat is decidedly more human. With the leadership of the Spire fractured, the City enters civil war as politics escalate to outright violence.

This book changes narrators to look through Naton's eyes. He doesn't offer as dynamic a character as Kirit, though Kirit was so impulsive, so frenetic, that she could be difficult relate to at times as well. I found Nat's voice grew on me as I came to regard him as a kind of Everyman with a cool, even outlook on events. The action flows well as Nat, Kirit, and their motley companions are forced into the clouds to survive. I regarded it as a solid book at that point... and then came the ending and huge, huge revelations that made this already-awesome world all the more stunning. ( )