The Clouded World Series by Jay Amory

Az Gabrielson is one of the Airborn, a people who, with a stretch and a beat of their eight-foot wings, travel effortlessly around and between their cities, perched high above the clouds amidst a life of ease and airy beauty. Az, however, has no wings, making him a pained and isolated oddity in his glorious world of freedom and flight. Then one day he is selected for a job below the clouds... moreAz Gabrielson is one of the Airborn, a people who, with a stretch and a beat of their eight-foot wings, travel effortlessly around and between their cities, perched high above the clouds amidst a life of ease and airy beauty. Az, however, has no wings, making him a pained and isolated oddity in his glorious world of freedom and flight. Then one day he is selected for a job below the clouds. The system of massive automated elevators, which send up everything the Airborn need to survive, are breaking down—and threatening to take the Airborn society with them. Someone must travel to the Ground to find out what has happened, and Az, with his wingless similarity to the prehistoric Groundlings, seems perfect for the task of hunting for answers beneath the clouds. But in the vast shadows of the cities on the Ground, Az finds more questions than answers when he discovers that the Groundlings worship a dim notion of the Airborn and aspire to be like them. Filling the elevators with tributes to their winged deities, the Groundlings are beginning to think that their way of life is part of a very unnatural order of things. Az also meets a girl named Cassie Grubdollar, who's definitely no angel! less

The Groundlings are under attack. Approaching in darkness in huge airships, Airborn pirates are raiding refineries and pillaging Groundling factories - taking by force the supplies which used to be offered as a tribute to the winged 'gods'. And the Groundlings are getting ready to defend themselves.

These fast-paced, thrilling fantasy adventures feature a city high in the sky comprised of pristine white spires, bathed in glorious golden sunlight—a city above the cloud layer, looking down on the ever-changing cloud formations below. From up here, the worst thunderstorms are little but flashes of light among the cloud cover, their force directed away from the cities and the tiny two- and four-seater aircraft its inhabitants use for travel... moreThese fast-paced, thrilling fantasy adventures feature a city high in the sky comprised of pristine white spires, bathed in glorious golden sunlight—a city above the cloud layer, looking down on the ever-changing cloud formations below. From up here, the worst thunderstorms are little but flashes of light among the cloud cover, their force directed away from the cities and the tiny two- and four-seater aircraft its inhabitants use for travel. The world below the clouds may be disturbed, but in the tranquil world above, populated by winged people, life is good. Life isn't so good for Azreal Gabrielson, however; he's one of the Airborn too. With a stretch and a beat of their eight-foot wings his people can flit effortlessly around their cities, living a life of airy ease and beauty—but in this world Az is an oddity, a painfully isolated exception: Az Gabrielson is a wingless boy, and he's about to be sent on a mission. less

Beneath the cloud cover, in the perpetual half-darkness of the shadows cast by immense sky cities looming overhead, toil a race of people known as Groundlings, who have worked for hundreds of years, farming, hunting, fishing, and sending a tithe from their labors up, in giant elevators, to the sky cities above. It's a sacrifice to the Ascended Ones made in the belief that when the Groundlings die and are cremated, they go on to a new, Ascended life above the clouds. But Ascension is a lie... moreBeneath the cloud cover, in the perpetual half-darkness of the shadows cast by immense sky cities looming overhead, toil a race of people known as Groundlings, who have worked for hundreds of years, farming, hunting, fishing, and sending a tithe from their labors up, in giant elevators, to the sky cities above. It's a sacrifice to the Ascended Ones made in the belief that when the Groundlings die and are cremated, they go on to a new, Ascended life above the clouds. But Ascension is a lie. And while the first rebellion against the Deacons, priests of the Ascended, is over, a new war is about to begin—a war which will see Groundlings take to the air in battle against the angel-like Airborn, which will see blood and feathers fly, planes explode, and Airborn cities come crashing to the ground. less