Scan barcode
klaireparavel's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 Not quite as engaging as City of Stairs and much darker. I wasn't sure I would enjoy a story told from Turyin's POV but I'm glad I stuck with it
roostercrows3's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
timinbc's review against another edition
5.0
Another major novel, almost certainly to be shortlisted for best of the year.
Action. Gods. Walking dead. Strong, strong characters who have some serious baggage to deal with, and some big, big threats to address.
Bennett's blog says he was listening to some Townes van Zandt as he wrote this, and it shows. There's sadness and despair. There are people going off the rails in various ways, people who have secrets. We find out why some of them are so unhappy.
Don't get your hopes up for another big helping of Sigrud (NOT Sigurd, please), but he's here when it matters. Not much Shara either. Lots of Mulaghesh, and as an older reader I enjoyed having her front and centre. There's a bit of John Rebus in her, especially the "well, it needs doing" part. No bacon butties, though.
There are still some tired fantasy tropes here: northerners are huge and may be berserkers, there's the inevitable character with gray eyes despite their rarity in real life, and so on - but there's blessed relief from Merovingian inns and stew and mysterous hooded characters in corners and long rides with bandit intervals. We meet a character whose swordsmanship is described, and we know he's going to be fighting someone important before it's all done.
And, jarringly, in this strange mostly-not-our-world, our heroine senses time pressure and tells her companion they're going to have to book it. Stopped me short, that did.
With all the big characters and their problems, and the what's-going-on plot, it doesn't really matter that the supernatural elements are fairly ludicrous. The book isn't about them, they're just a framework. It's about the people reacting to the supernatural.
Very different from City of Stairs, and just as good. And I see City of Miracles will be out in 2017, yay.
Could stand alone, but I recommend Stairs first so you know who Sigrud and Mulaghesh are.
Action. Gods. Walking dead. Strong, strong characters who have some serious baggage to deal with, and some big, big threats to address.
Bennett's blog says he was listening to some Townes van Zandt as he wrote this, and it shows. There's sadness and despair. There are people going off the rails in various ways, people who have secrets. We find out why some of them are so unhappy.
Don't get your hopes up for another big helping of Sigrud (NOT Sigurd, please), but he's here when it matters. Not much Shara either. Lots of Mulaghesh, and as an older reader I enjoyed having her front and centre. There's a bit of John Rebus in her, especially the "well, it needs doing" part. No bacon butties, though.
There are still some tired fantasy tropes here: northerners are huge and may be berserkers, there's the inevitable character with gray eyes despite their rarity in real life, and so on - but there's blessed relief from Merovingian inns and stew and mysterous hooded characters in corners and long rides with bandit intervals. We meet a character whose swordsmanship is described, and we know he's going to be fighting someone important before it's all done.
And, jarringly, in this strange mostly-not-our-world, our heroine senses time pressure and tells her companion they're going to have to book it. Stopped me short, that did.
With all the big characters and their problems, and the what's-going-on plot, it doesn't really matter that the supernatural elements are fairly ludicrous. The book isn't about them, they're just a framework. It's about the people reacting to the supernatural.
Very different from City of Stairs, and just as good. And I see City of Miracles will be out in 2017, yay.
Could stand alone, but I recommend Stairs first so you know who Sigrud and Mulaghesh are.
mpigsley's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
hoila's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
coreysees's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
A surprisingly good sequel to City of Stairs. It feels like it was much darker than Stairs, but that might partially be me forgetting how dark book 1 actually was. The change in main character was startling, but very well done. The book did a good job focusing on some of the darker aspects of the military without going full-grimdark.
live_2_read's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
scarbaur's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0