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4.43 AVERAGE
4.43 AVERAGE
This is a spy thriller about bloody revenge, lost children, and the mysteries of the gods. It's also explicitly about the theme that's run through the entire trilogy -- the cycle of violence, and the horrors people are willing to commit in the search for peace. This makes an excellent capstone for the series, and I'll be interested to see what the author does next.
I love these books just as much as I love the Craft sequence by Max Gladstone. There is just something about the world building here that makes the magic real, and the Gods fearsome and terrifying.
Since this is the concluding novel of a trilogy, it is vitally important that it wraps the story up as it deserves. I don’t mean that it must end happily – after all, not all stories can end happily. A story, however must end convincingly: that is, in a manner befitting everything that has happened before. I don’t particularly care if that ending is happy, or if it is sad – what matters more to me, as a reader, is that the ending is satisfying and believable.
Fortunately, City of Miracles is precisely the kind of ending I wanted for the Divine Cities trilogy. I will say nothing further on the matter, lest I spoil it, but suffice to say that it is an ending that rings true with the rest of the trilogy, and wraps it all up in the most satisfying and convincing way possible.
Full review here: http://wp.me/p21txV-BF
Fortunately, City of Miracles is precisely the kind of ending I wanted for the Divine Cities trilogy. I will say nothing further on the matter, lest I spoil it, but suffice to say that it is an ending that rings true with the rest of the trilogy, and wraps it all up in the most satisfying and convincing way possible.
Full review here: http://wp.me/p21txV-BF
4 stars overall - i adore sigrud with every fiber of my being, but i don't know that i wanted a whole book in his POV (admittedly, i will never recover from loml bookworm spy shara komayd, and reading this just makes me want to read city of stairs all over again*), and the resolution of the villain's storyline felt a bit pat. but 5 stars for that ending alone, which was small and quiet and heartbreaking and exactly what the series needed to close itself out.
* actually, i found myself comparing this quite frequently to city of stairs, and i'm not sure why. all three books have a different tone, but there was just something about CoS's style -- even CoB. i think maybe because shara (and mulaghesh) had to rely more on her wits, so you were kind of solving the mysteries along with her. sigrud is clever but -- and i know this is kind of the point -- so much of him has always been defined by following orders or moving towards a single goal, that i really missed a narrator who was trying to figure out the whole picture. oh well. at least a couple characters finally got to smooch without being eaten by a god. /looks at shara and vo for all of eternity
* actually, i found myself comparing this quite frequently to city of stairs, and i'm not sure why. all three books have a different tone, but there was just something about CoS's style -- even CoB. i think maybe because shara (and mulaghesh) had to rely more on her wits, so you were kind of solving the mysteries along with her. sigrud is clever but -- and i know this is kind of the point -- so much of him has always been defined by following orders or moving towards a single goal, that i really missed a narrator who was trying to figure out the whole picture. oh well. at least a couple characters finally got to smooch without being eaten by a god. /looks at shara and vo for all of eternity
This is a very annoying book because it is very good and very moving and it employs a story resolution idea I've used in an unpublished book of my own which is very inconsiderate of the author he really should have checked with me first before using it.
Sigurd, the mopey unstoppable tough guy from the first two books takes centre stage when whatsername, the hero from the first book, is assassinated, I'm sorry I don't have the book next to me and my memory for names is shot I'm not even sure the guy's name is Sigurd. He sets out to find out who and why and kill everyone while angsting about what a killing machine he is and his life is all killing and stuff. But he finds purpose in the form of whatsername's daughter, whosherface, no wait, Taty, who along with a number of other mysterious children is being hunted by a deadly foe with divine powers - except all the gods are dead, so how could this be?
It's really good, a fantastic culmination to the trilogy and the names aren't that hard to remember I don't know why I'm making such a meal of them, sorry. Oh and thanks for using my idea Robert Jackson Bennett, just... thanks.
Sigurd, the mopey unstoppable tough guy from the first two books takes centre stage when whatsername, the hero from the first book, is assassinated, I'm sorry I don't have the book next to me and my memory for names is shot I'm not even sure the guy's name is Sigurd. He sets out to find out who and why and kill everyone while angsting about what a killing machine he is and his life is all killing and stuff. But he finds purpose in the form of whatsername's daughter, whosherface, no wait, Taty, who along with a number of other mysterious children is being hunted by a deadly foe with divine powers - except all the gods are dead, so how could this be?
It's really good, a fantastic culmination to the trilogy and the names aren't that hard to remember I don't know why I'm making such a meal of them, sorry. Oh and thanks for using my idea Robert Jackson Bennett, just... thanks.
Shara Komayd is dead (not a spoiler, it's the first sentence on the blurb on the back). Her old friend and ally Sigrid finds out and sets out to find her murderer and avenge her. Amongst his grief, he finds himself in the middle of a hidden war and learns me than he wanted to about his own past.
This book is about cycles. Cycles of violence and revenge and, eventually, forgiveness. The Divinities of the Continent were the source of so much pain to Saypur; Saypur in turn imposed its will on the Continent, returning the favour. The book questions these sorts of cycles and what is required to break them.
Sigrid was probably my favourite character from [b:City of Stairs|20174424|City of Stairs (The Divine Cities, #1)|Robert Jackson Bennett|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1394545220l/20174424._SY75_.jpg|28030792]. He was huge, inscrutable, competent, and just destroyed things that got in his way. But I wasn't sure about making this book about him. But it was good to get inside his head and find what's been driving him through the series. The way he held on to his anger and pain until it became a millstone around his neck. His fear of being unable to change, and the anger at losing the last person in his life that he truly cared for.
It's exciting, with lots set-pieces, as the hidden enemy slowly starts to reveal himself, leaving Sigrud as the last thing in his way, now that Shara is gone. The pace is good, as well, and there's a neat twist right at the end which made me smile (and, for once, I worked out the main 'twist' before it happened, which is something I'm normally awful at).
It left me with a feeling of melancholy, but this feels like a good way to end the trilogy.
This book is about cycles. Cycles of violence and revenge and, eventually, forgiveness. The Divinities of the Continent were the source of so much pain to Saypur; Saypur in turn imposed its will on the Continent, returning the favour. The book questions these sorts of cycles and what is required to break them.
Sigrid was probably my favourite character from [b:City of Stairs|20174424|City of Stairs (The Divine Cities, #1)|Robert Jackson Bennett|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1394545220l/20174424._SY75_.jpg|28030792]. He was huge, inscrutable, competent, and just destroyed things that got in his way. But I wasn't sure about making this book about him. But it was good to get inside his head and find what's been driving him through the series. The way he held on to his anger and pain until it became a millstone around his neck. His fear of being unable to change, and the anger at losing the last person in his life that he truly cared for.
It's exciting, with lots set-pieces, as the hidden enemy slowly starts to reveal himself, leaving Sigrud as the last thing in his way, now that Shara is gone. The pace is good, as well, and there's a neat twist right at the end which made me smile (and, for once, I worked out the main 'twist' before it happened, which is something I'm normally awful at).
It left me with a feeling of melancholy, but this feels like a good way to end the trilogy.
Years after the events of City of Blades, Shara Komayd is murdered. It is up to her long-exiled companion Sigrud je Harkvaldsson to unravel the mystery of how she was murdered, and what she was doing at the time of her murder. Along the way, he will at long last learn more about himself than he has ever had time to learn before. And perhaps, it will even all have meaning.
4,5
- Maaaan, zase mě někdo rozbrečel. Pročpročpročproč tolik bolesti. Proč. Nejsem si jistá, ale nemyslím si, že tohle byl můj nejoblíbenější díl, ale i přesto nepozbýval své kvality a příběh jsem si užila tak či onak a všechna ta odhalení … damn. Nářez. Doporučuji.
- Maaaan, zase mě někdo rozbrečel. Pročpročpročproč tolik bolesti. Proč. Nejsem si jistá, ale nemyslím si, že tohle byl můj nejoblíbenější díl, ale i přesto nepozbýval své kvality a příběh jsem si užila tak či onak a všechna ta odhalení … damn. Nářez. Doporučuji.
I made a nice review for the complete series on my blog.