"The city of Bulikov once wielded the powers of the gods to conquer the world, enslaving and brutalizing millions--until its divine protectors were killed. Now Bulikov has become just another colonial outpost of the world's new geopolitical power, but the surreal landscape of the city itself--first shaped, now shattered, by the thousands of miracles its guardians once worked upon it--stands as a constant, haunting reminder of its former supremacy. Into this broken city steps Shara Thivani. Officially, the unassuming young woman is just another junior diplomat sent by Bulikov's oppressors. Unofficially, she is one of her country's most accomplished spies, dispatched to catch a murderer. But as Shara pursues the killer, she starts to suspect that the beings who ruled this terrible place may not be as dead as they seem--and that Bulikov's cruel reign may not yet be over."-- From back cover.
"The city of Bulikov once wielded the powers of the gods to conquer the world, enslaving and brutalizing millions--until its divine protectors were killed. Now Bulikov has become just another colonial outpost of the world's new geopolitical power, but the surreal landscape of the city itself--first shaped, now shattered, by the thousands of miracles its guardians once worked upon it--stands as a constant, haunting reminder of its former supremacy. Into this broken city steps Shara Thivani. Officially, the unassuming young woman is just another junior diplomat sent by Bulikov's oppressors. Unofficially, she is one of her country's most accomplished spies, dispatched to catch a murderer. But as Shara pursues the killer, she starts to suspect that the beings who ruled this terrible place may not be as dead as they seem--and that Bulikov's cruel reign may not yet be over."-- From back cover.
What a fantastic book. I am biased in that I really love Robert Jackson Bennett's writing, but this was definitely a good story. Very weighty. I've criticized other books for bringing up philosophical questions and not answering them but that's because those books literally bring them up, using characters as a mouthpiece to just point blank ask questions which is unsatisfying. This book makes YOU ask the questions. It has a lot to say about religion and bureaucracy, about history and truth, and about generational pain and trauma.
Amusingly, if the Shadow of the Leviathan series is about trusting the system, then the Divine Cities series (or at least this book) is about bucking establishment and rules in an effort to do good instead of serving the status quo.
What a fantastic book. I am biased in that I really love Robert Jackson Bennett's writing, but this was definitely a good story. Very weighty. I've criticized other books for bringing up philosophical questions and not answering them but that's because those books literally bring them up, using characters as a mouthpiece to just point blank ask questions which is unsatisfying. This book makes YOU ask the questions. It has a lot to say about religion and bureaucracy, about history and truth, and about generational pain and trauma.
Amusingly, if the Shadow of the Leviathan series is about trusting the system, then the Divine Cities series (or at least this book) is about bucking establishment and rules in an effort to do good instead of serving the status quo.
What I liked about this book that even though it's a fiction, you still feel it's basically talking about reality. It almost seems like it fits, but it doesn't. This kept me thinking throughout reading. Like others mentioned, it reminds of Pratchett in serious settings.
What I liked about this book that even though it's a fiction, you still feel it's basically talking about reality. It almost seems like it fits, but it doesn't. This kept me thinking throughout reading. Like others mentioned, it reminds of Pratchett in serious settings.
This book was one of my favorite reads this year, completely blew me out of the water. Absolutely phenomenal.
Now imagine what if India (Saypuri) had been colonized by power-hungry Europeans (Continentals) who had mighty gods on their side helping them. Now imagine a young hero rising up to create a god-killing weapon, ending the colonial rule, and instead creating a new empire suppressing the former rulers and their beliefs.
That's pretty much the setting in a nutshell. After the Divinities were killed by a hero called The Kaj, parts of their cities disappeared in a catastrophic event, especially in Bulikov, the now-called City of Stairs. It is here that Ambassador Shara comes to investigate the death of her fellow Saypuri scholar, and finds herself flung into a conspiracy to bring the Divinities back. It's murder mystery meets fantasy meets political conspiracies, and it was outstanding.
This book was one of my favorite reads this year, completely blew me out of the water. Absolutely phenomenal.
Now imagine what if India (Saypuri) had been colonized by power-hungry Europeans (Continentals) who had mighty gods on their side helping them. Now imagine a young hero rising up to create a god-killing weapon, ending the colonial rule, and instead creating a new empire suppressing the former rulers and their beliefs.
That's pretty much the setting in a nutshell. After the Divinities were killed by a hero called The Kaj, parts of their cities disappeared in a catastrophic event, especially in Bulikov, the now-called City of Stairs. It is here that Ambassador Shara comes to investigate the death of her fellow Saypuri scholar, and finds herself flung into a conspiracy to bring the Divinities back. It's murder mystery meets fantasy meets political conspiracies, and it was outstanding.
City of Stairs is a beautiful, cerebral fantasy that tackles questions of war, hatred, power, and the nature of divinity. These questions play out amidst the backdrop of Bulikov, the titular City of Stairs. This setting is incredibly well developed, evoking eastern European or perhaps Anatolian analogs. All of these elements swirl together to create something truly unique.
If we consider the big three of fantasy fiction to be setting, characters, and plot then City of Stairs excels in all three. The setting is interesting, unique, and evocative. Bulikov is a city that is literally broken in addition to being occupied and metaphorically broken. Reality itself behaves oddly. There is a certain ache to what the city has lost. There is plenty of world building beyond Bulikov as well. The relations between Saypur and the Continent are believable and well-drawn. There are moments where you clearly feel the hatred between …
City of Stairs is a beautiful, cerebral fantasy that tackles questions of war, hatred, power, and the nature of divinity. These questions play out amidst the backdrop of Bulikov, the titular City of Stairs. This setting is incredibly well developed, evoking eastern European or perhaps Anatolian analogs. All of these elements swirl together to create something truly unique.
If we consider the big three of fantasy fiction to be setting, characters, and plot then City of Stairs excels in all three. The setting is interesting, unique, and evocative. Bulikov is a city that is literally broken in addition to being occupied and metaphorically broken. Reality itself behaves oddly. There is a certain ache to what the city has lost. There is plenty of world building beyond Bulikov as well. The relations between Saypur and the Continent are believable and well-drawn. There are moments where you clearly feel the hatred between the two. This is all to say nothing of the magic system in this novel, which manages to be unique and mysterious all at once. The setting isn’t the only thing that shines. The characters are amazingly engaging. Shara and Sigrud are probably going to go down as two of my favorite fantasy characters. I am particularly impressed by Shara’s character arch and the way that she grows through her experiences in this novel. The setting and characters are tied together incredibly well by a plot that keeps the suspense high until the end. It’s true that the plot gets off to a slow start, but after the half way point things really began to click for me. The ending was second to none.
Obviously, I enjoyed City of Stairs immensely. This will be shocking to those who know me because City of Stairs is written in the so-called narrative present. I hate—no, not strong enough, I loathe—the narrative present. I find it to be an affront to good story telling and linguistic convention. Add on top of this that it makes your novel sound like it was written for a six-year-old learning to read Dr. Seuess and…well…frankly I’m surprised that I kept reading. Obviously, plenty of people disagree with my take on using present tense. This is absolutely a personal preference issue. For me, while the plot was ramping up during the first third of the book, I was getting kicked out of the story often. This was frustrating. There were also one or two spots when I felt like Shara didn’t quite act in character. One instance, in particular, leads to her making a fairly naïve/stupid decision that is very useful for moving the plot along but didn’t quite feel natural to me.
Robert Jackson Bennett’s City of Stairs is a wonderful and engaging read. If I can say that even though it’s written in the present tense then it really must be exceptional. Not only is it a great story, but like so many truly great stories, it forces us to think. 4/5 stars.
5 – I loved this, couldn’t put it down, move it to the top of your TBR pile 4 – I really enjoyed this, add it to the TBR pile 3 – I liked it, depending on your preferences it may be worth your time 2 – I didn’t like this book, it has significant flaws and I can’t recommend it 1 – I loathe this book with a most loathsome loathing
