The first essay introduces some of the world building aspects of Martha Wells’ Books of the Raksura. The second essay provided some headcanons about how the proto-Aeriat and proto-Arbora came together to form the Raksura. (It also reiterated several points made in the first essay, and covered in part the differences between Fell and Raksura cultures.) The overall purpose of the essay series is to illustrate why slotting the Fell into “standard evil alignment species” is a reductive and bad faith analysis of the series worldbuilding. This specific essay is mostly going to cover speculations concerning Consolation, her Flight, and much of her character arc.
Consolation is a half-Fell queen who was raised by the Raksuran consort her progenitor had stolen. This consort apparently also parented his other children by the progenitor as well as a good portion of the younger generation of the Flight. It’s uncertain how much parenting or teaching the consort was able to accomplish–but he apparently did enough that Consolation is able to begin development of her own ethical system. (Though she still makes some horrific mistakes.) Eventually Consolation kills her progenitor, and the Flight splits–probably along generational lines. (Basically, the kids sided with Consolation, and the adults immediately started attacking the kids.)
As previously stated, Consolation was raised with a very basic ethical system. Having an ethical system does not prevent her from making horrible mistakes, such as not realizing that you “don’t eat groundlings” for the same reason you “shouldn’t eat sealings.” This would seem to be a given, and Moon points this out in The Edge of Worlds that she should have known that the underlying rule is don’t eat people. (Which yes, is a distinction a baby predator is possibly going to have trouble with if she was only told “eating groundlings is wrong,” rather than “don’t eat people.” )
“Don’t eat people (in general)” is a much harder concept for Consolation to grasp, due to having been raised by predators like the Fell. She understands after the fact that that she made a mistake–but it’s clear that her learning curve has been fairly steep. This is about the part in the story that that Moon realizes that Consolation is actually the equivalent of a thirteen year old, and is practically a baby. (A murder baby, but still a baby.) This somewhat changes his perspective of Consolation’s actions.
We don’t get to see a great deal of Consolation’s character arc, which is something of a shame. It’s clear however that Consolation is Trying Very Hard to Be Good, though it takes the Raksurans a while to figure this out. What we do see of Consolation’s character arc is that this is a kid with goals. Her bio-father taught her just enough about Raksura and their way of life that she wanted more of it for herself. She is smart enough to realize that she does not have the tools to create that society on her own. (For Consolation, the concept of “civilization” is more or less centered on having a consort–so she spends time accidentally re-traumatizing Moon for a while.) Unfortunately, her ability to get across “I really really need help, I am not lying please help,” is hindered by a A)The Fell tendency to lie a lot. I mean, they lie a lot. And B) latching really hard onto the idea “we need a consort to teach us to be different because our consort died.”
Further interactions between members of Consolation’s Flight and Consolation herself emphasizes some of the earlier hints in the series that Fell are not “default evil.” That the problem the Fell have is a toxic situation involving top-down mind control that prevents the kethel and dakti from having independent thought. Consolation’s powers are more like those of a Raksuran queen rather than a Fell progenitor. Without the top down mind control abilities, dakti, kethel and rulers are able to think for themselves–which is a key necessity when living in a community/society.
The kids that make up Consolation’s Flight are extremely willing to go along with this shift in paradigm, and her Flight is mostly pure Fell. Because the kids are doing a very good job at people-ing (for sentient predators who were not really taught how to use their brains) it is much easier for the Raksurans to see these Fell kids as people instead of extremely dangerous, smart predators.
(As an aside, I have a small headcanon about “Fell Stench™.” Moon (and other Raksura) react really strongly to the presence of predators. Or specifically the scent of predators, especially those that are especially dangerous…or sentient. So it’s likely to me that Fell Stench™ may be a combo of “smells like a really dangerous predator” and “may or may not have heard of soap ever in their life,” and a bit of “Great, its these feral assholes again.”)
Another factor in the change of perspective the Raksura have with Consolation’s Flight is that while the Fell Kids ™ are much better at people-ing than other Fell, they are terrible at adulting. There is a scene where Jade and Malachite go off to find Consolation’s Flight, and the Fell Kids™ have this makeshift camp set up, in more or less plain sight, and Consolation is surprised that the Raksura found her and her Flight so easily. (Consolation, honey.) Yes, I am in fact saying that Consolation and her Flight give off “d’aww they’re trying so hard!” vibes. Which I think that many members of the cast in Books of the Raksura would find irresistible. Also, they see that the kethel, dakti and even rulers behave differently when not under the control of a progenitor. This makes it easier for the Raksura to see the Fell as people rather than “feral cannibals hunting in a pack, plus terrifying attack beasts.”
Malachite decides to give Consolation and her Flight a chance. (In part I think because her consort’s half-Fell children turned out pretty great, so she’s willing to work with Consolation and the Fell Kids™.) She gives Consolation and her Flight a colony tree within her territory, and it’s clear that she intends to help Consolation and her Flight create their own kind of civilization/culture. It should be noted here that the overall message here isn’t “assimilation.” Malachite and the other Raksura aren’t trying to turn the Consolation’s Flight into Raksura. The goal is to help Consolation and her Flight become truly autonomous, with their own culture and sense of civilization, whatever that ends up looking like. (And while Consolation herself seems to want to have what the Raksura have–a civilization– she does not seem to want to be Raksuran.) I really like how the plot point of “Consolation wants a consort who will help her learn how to create civilization” becomes “A Raksuran queen will help Consolation learn how to create civilization.”
A thing I like about the worldbuilding in the Raksura books is specifically the way Raksura are not a “default good” species and the Fell are not a “default evil” species. The Raksura have loads of biases and prejudices that they have to overcome. The Fell have even more difficulties to overcome due to a toxic culture that is not actually sustainable for them.
No, their society really isn’t sustainable. If their Flights were much, much smaller and they didn’t primarily predate on sentients while stealing from them they’d have more of a chance. If they had more than one (1) strategy for obtaining food and resources they’d have more of chance. If they were nomadic herders they’d have even more of a chance–and make money doing it. (They are not likely to come up with herding, if the Raksura haven’t thought of herding /animal domestication. Arbora have gardens, but notably they do not have the equivalent of chicken coops.) But they do not because they don’t actually use their intelligence to think, not abstractly anyway, they use their intelligence to obtain food. This is a huge difference in thought processes between Fell and Raksura. (Yes, even the warriors are capable of abstract thought. Whether the silly wing-jocks engage in it is another matter.)
Within the story it’s indicated that Flights were starting to die off due to what can only be referred to as a collapse in the prey population. They have a slight recovery when they start listening to a horrible amorphous blob-monster that was trying to trick the Fell into releasing it. They’re probably going to start dying off again, if they don’t pull up on their nosedive.)
I would really love to see more with Consolation. (Either work by Wells, as a continuation of the Books of the Raksura, or fan fic.) I think there is a lot of story that can be told about her Flight and her efforts to learn how to be a queen. I also kind of like the idea of Consolation contacting/rescuing other half-Fell kids, or actively freeing kethel and dakti from their progenitors/rulers. She could be a contributing factor to saving the Fell from their (eventual) collapse.
To sum up: over all, the Fell are not a default evil species, and the Raksura are not a default good species. Both are extremely complicated predators with different survival strategies. The Raksura are made up of a mutualistic relationship between the Aeriat and the Arbora that results in a careful system of check and balances. The Fell operate in a more authoritarian mode that involves mind control to the point where most of their population is unable to think independently. The Three Worlds setting has many other predatory species that also prey on sentients. However, the Fell prey exclusively on sentients, while other predatory species are more opportunistic, and the Raksura do not predate on sentients at all. Fell predation patterns have something of a parallel with Raksuran “feral solitaries” who are cast out of their colonies for crimes that occasionally may include murder or cannibalism. Fell are just as capable of friendship, empathy and independent thought–when given the opportunity to act on any of the above.
Finally, Consolation is trying so hard. Please, someone help her.
Leave a comment