The Cloud Roads
Book One of The Books of the Raksura


Night Shade Books, March 2011
Cover art by Matthew Stewart (winner of the Chesley Award for Best Illustration - Paperback for 2012)
Design by Rebecca Silvers.
2018 Hugo Award Finalist for Best Series




Moon has spent his life hiding what he is--a shape-shifter able to transform himself into a winged creature of flight. An orphan with only vague memories of his own kind, Moon tries to fit in among the tribes of his river valley, with mixed success. Just as Moon is once again discovered and cast out by his adopted tribe, he discovers a shape-shifter like himself...someone who seems to know exactly what he is, who promises that Moon will be welcomed into his community.

What this stranger doesn't tell Moon is that his presence will tip the balance of power...that his extraordinary lineage is crucial to the colony's survival...and that his people face extinction at the hands of the dreaded Fell.

Moon must overcome a lifetime of conditioning in order to save himself...and his newfound kin.


Available at:
Support an Independent Bookseller Through Bookshop, Barnes and Noble, Chapters Indigo, Amazon US, Powell's, Mysterious Galaxy, Books-a-Million, Amazon UK, Amazon.ca, Amazon.fr, Amazon.de, Amazon Spain, or find an independent book store in the US through IndieBound.

ebook: Amazon Kindle Edition, Baen Webscription eBook (DRM-Free), Barnes & Noble NookBook, Kobo, Kindle UK, Amazon Canada, Kindle Germany, Kindle France, Kindle Spain, and all other Amazons, and Books-a-Million ebook.

ebook bundle of the Books of the Raksura: Kindle, Nook, and Kobo.

Audiobook: Buy Audiobooks from an Independent Bookseller through Libro.fm, Audible.com, Audible UK, and Amazon.com, narrated by Christopher Kipiniak.

eBook and AudioBook available on iTunes


"The venerated pulp spirit in science fiction and fantasy has dwindled since the golden age of the 1920s to '50s. Yet an atavistic craving for adventure remains, and it is this need that Wells's books in general and the Raksura books in particular satisfy. The stories are straightforward adventure, but what makes Wells's "new pulp" feel fresh is its refusal to take the easier storytelling routes of its forebears. Rather than thinly veil an existing human society as alien others, for example, Wells - a master world builder - creates a multicultural world of humanized monsters...The result is breathtakingly surprising and fun. So for readers who missed earlier entry points to this delightful series, now is the time to get on board."
- New York Times





[ Raksura

| The Cloud Roads
| The Serpent Sea
| The Siren Depths
| Stories: Vol. I
| Stories: Vol II
| The Edge of Worlds
| The Harbors of the Sun

| The Stories
| The World
| The Art ]


| About the Author

| Bibliography
| Blog ]