Reviews

An interesting take on divinity. I appreciate that RJB is writes books with diverse casts.

Given how much each book of his Founders trilogy shifts it's paradigm, I'm interested to see where the next one takes this story.

The audiobook narration was great, but this one more than most left me wishing for a glossary - at least for names.

cnwilson20's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

peterkeep's review against another edition

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5.0

I received my copy of City of Stairs as a free pre-release copy from the publisher. I had heard of Robert Jackson Bennett (mostly from this video) and even recognized some of his books' titles, but that was about the extent of my knowledge. I started reading this book with literally no idea of what to expect.

By the time I was 10 pages in, I was hooked. The story starts off with a bit of a jolt, and pulled me along with a murder-mystery hook. From there, the plotting remained solid and there were some really fun storylines to follow. It's really easy for books to rely on a constantly expanding and unraveling plot to keep readers invested, but, while the plot was really good, that wasn't what kept me reading.

The cast of characters was handled really nicely as well. The characters felt familiar without being cliche, and felt fresh without feeling forced. It was nice to see some competent non-teenage women that didn't feel like caricatures of a tomboy or wise old crones. The main characters had a good mix of ignorance and poor decisions to keep them grounded in reality. Two of the characters, especially, had fun first impressions that grew to intimate understandings of who they actually are. And while the characterization was really good, that wasn't what kept me reading, either.

But the mythology. The history. The landscape. That's what kept me reading. I really liked the take on deities and the buildup of information about them and the unexpected reveals of their workings. There were lots of good, big ideas that made the setting and the history feel real, but there were also such small, vivid details (like the description that leads to the title of the book) that made everything come so alive. That was the real strength of the book, in my mind, and that was what kept me reading.

All in all, I really enjoyed it. There were some very small "flaws" - actually, they were probably annoyances rather than flaws - but they were minuscule in comparison to the things that made me enjoy the book. It was a great read all the way through.

maddie_reads_stuff's review against another edition

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4.0

After the death of a historian researching its past, an intelligence officer is sent to Bulikov, the city built by gods and warped by their deaths.

The worldbuilding is fantastic.

mdominiak3's review against another edition

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adventurous tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

maledicte's review against another edition

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3.0

I wrote a review for this book on my blog! You can find it here.

iremaltun's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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