THE MOTHER’S WHEEL by Robin Kirk – Review

I received this book for free from the Author in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The Mother's Wheel by Robin Kirk
Series: The Bond Trilogy #3
Published by Far Eek Books on September 6 2022
Genres: Adult, Science fiction
Pages: 286
Format: Finished paperback
Source: Author
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The nitty-gritty: Rich world-building, finely developed characters, high stakes and plenty of emotional moments make The Mother’s Wheel a stellar series conclusion.

“‘My name is Desper,’ the ape says.

I can’t help myself. ‘What kind of name is that?’

‘The best kind.’ Her eyes are round as coins and a deep, chocolate brown. ‘I chose it myself.’

I never even imagined that I could choose my name. All of my names have been given to me, from Specialized Industrial Long-diver to the insults Abiqua tosses at me like vegetable peels.”

All good things must come to an end, and Robin Kirk’s inventive The Bond Trilogy is no exception. What a wonderful, emotional adventure this has been! From the very first words of The Bond to the last sentence of The Mother’s Wheel, Kirk has brought her story to life with a fascinating futuristic world, beloved characters and hard-hitting themes, making this one of my all time favorite series. I won’t lie: I sobbed during parts of The Mother’s Wheel, not only because the characters go through some very tough trials, but the culmination of three books’ worth of growth and change simply did me in. 

To set the stage, each book in the series follows different main characters who split off and have their own adventures. In The Bond, we are introduced to Dinitra, her hyba cross 12, and Fir. In The Hive Queen, Dinitra and Fir decide to go their separate ways (for now), and we follow Fir’s journey as he meets the dangerous but beautiful Hive Queen Odide. Now in The Mother’s Wheel, Sil takes over the story, as she and her ragtag group of drafts seek an elusive place called the Deep, rumored to be a safe haven for drafts and humans alike. The three books should be read in order, by the way, so please make sure to start from the beginning.

Sil and her friends Abiqua, Nullu, Thoth, Panta, Stoya and Darling—and Goat, who supplies milk for the twin babies Softie and Paddle-Fry—have decided to head north into the Deep, after being forced to leave the Weave. But their journey is full of danger, including rough terrain and weather, giant vultures, and the Hive Queen’s army of killer bee-soldiers. When they finally arrive at the peaceful city of Puerta on the edge of the Deep, they meet an orangutan draft named Desper who offers them safety, food and companionship with others of their kind.

But their sense of ease and peace is short-lived when Desper informs them that war is coming and all drafts are at risk. Odide’s brother Zong is on a mission to kill all the drafts—as well as his sister—and take control of her vast stores of nektar, a rare drug with miraculous healing properties. Sil wants to join the fight so that drafts can finally be free and live in a world where they are treated fairly, but she knows it’s a daunting task. If only she can help move the Mother’s Wheel—the idea that the Mother changes destinies with a flick of her wrist—in the right direction.

Sil was a wonderful character to follow in this story, and has become one of my favorites of the entire series. Before I go any further, for newbies let me explain what a “draft” is. In this world, humans decided to create creatures in labs that combine animal, human and plant DNA. These drafts, as they are called, were bred for hard labor and treated no better than animals. Sil was made with human, frog and octopus DNA and has both gills and lungs. She was bred to mine pergama, a precious metal found under water. Each draft in the story is different and of course, each has their own quirky personality. Sil has a heart of gold and wants nothing more than to keep her little found family safe from the dangers surrounding them. Sil grew up without the concept of being part of a family, and it’s only after she joins the other drafts that she feels a sense of belonging. The whole series explores the idea of the “bond” and the ability for creatures who are different from one another to become close, and Kirk illustrates this through fiction with Sil’s found family of misfits.

And when Desper enters the story, Sil gains yet another family member. Desper is a wonderfully complex character with a painful backstory, and yet she has risen above her past in order to help others like her live better lives. I wish I had time to talk about all the characters, because each is unique. I will mention one other favorite of mine, and that’s Darling the sea anemone draft. Darling is small and delicate and needs water to survive, and there were several times during the journey where water was scarce. I’m not sure how you snuggle a sea anemone, but I wanted to give Darling a big hug!

Kirk is a passionate human rights advocate, and she uses her story to inform and remind readers of the many injustices certain groups face. Here it’s the drafts who take on the bulk of these injustices, and I loved the way the author made me care for them, which in turn drove me to feel anger for the unfairness of their lives. From the drafts, science experiments “brewed” in labs at the whims of their creators, to the males of this world who have no rights at all (The Bond goes into detail about this world-building element), Kirk asks important questions like should all creatures have the same rights? What does it mean to be free? And more importantly, who has the right to choose their own destiny?

As for nail-biting action, The Mother’s Wheel is full of tense moments. On the way to the Deep, Sil and her friends are forced to climb steep mountain passes, with sheer cliffs on one side and unforgiving rock on the other. One of my favorite scenes takes place on the Ten Thousand Stairs, a terribly steep and dangerous trail that the group must traverse in order to meet with Odide. I think I gained a few gray hairs while reading those scenes, I’m not going to lie!

Eventually the characters from all three books converge, and it was wonderful to see Dinitra, Fir and 12 again. Everything Kirk has been building up to from the beginning comes full circle, and her complex tale ends with surprises, tragedy and heartache, but also joy and the sense that perhaps the Mother’s Wheel has turned just enough in the right direction to change our characters’ lives for the better. Bottom line, The Bond Trilogy should be required reading for all speculative fiction fans who are looking for something special.

Big thanks to the author for providing a review copy.

Read my review of The Bond

Read my review of The Hive Queen