Scan barcode
mpigsley's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
sade's review against another edition
5.0
Stay with me please. I'm about to launch into what might probably be a 'long winded, not much is being said, where exactly is the structure in this review' almost ever bookish person goes through when they have to talk about a book they love... can't be past tense because i am going to be forever in love with this series....with this book.
"Close your eyes, i'll be here in the Morning"
In City of Miracles, we finally circle back to beloved larger than life character Sigrud Harkvaldsson, except life has done a real number on him. Sigrud is even more human here, struggling with guilt, anger, regret a whole cocktail of them. If Sigrud lived in this age, he definitely would have been a candidate for serious theraphy just to unpack everything he was feeling. Seeing as feelings were never really his thing, Sigrud opts for what he does best: BLOWING SHIT UP. Really good too. But blowing shit up never really gives you answers. Worst part is, dead people can't talk....Well most of the time anyway.
Going to be honest, i did not expect The Divine Cities Series to pack a punch the way it did. The covers aren't particularly begging you to pick them up and to be honest, I read the title 'City of Stairs' and in my head i was like are these people going to be climbing stairs or what? Abeg. I don't have strength for this, and never looked at it again. Better late than never anyways.
City of Miracles, like its predecessors says, hey, here's a relatively run off the mill fantasy book:
gods acting crazy ✔️
characters who believe they're acting for the greater good? ✔️
But my goodness, I am going to make you feel feelinngs like never before. I don't know how this author did it, but hands to the book gods, all 3 books got me up in my feels. I thought the first couldn't top the first and the 3rd could never possibly top its predecessors but my goodness.
neele_j's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
trmitchell4's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
2.75
alissamk's review against another edition
5.0
I enjoyed this series SO MUCH definitely one of my favorite reads this year.
hoila's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
timinbc's review against another edition
4.0
Four and a half. Not perfect, but perhaps as good as it could have been, with the huge scope of the world Bennett has built in the first two books and indeed the first half of this one.
One flaw for me was that this volume felt a little, I dunno, melodramatic? overdrawn? Such as when
And golly, I almost didn't finish this book. Lookit, Sigrud kills people on pages 2, 5, 10, 15, 48, 50, 52, 53 (two), 54 (two) and 70. Up close and nasty. He disembowels Bambi in a "ceremony". He tortures a bad guy and hangs him on a meat hook. Hello, Anton Chigurh.
But that ended, mostly, just in time, and we got on with a good plot.
After a bout of slipping through shadowd and car stealing, I thought "Hello, Sandman Slim." Later, as we met more Divinities, I thought "American Gods." But again, Bennett settled down and got on with it.
Maybe coincidence happened a few too many times because the plot needed it, but with the grand scope of the plot we have to give the author some rein.
A lot of nobility and persistence and honour. Not at the level of, say, Guy Gavriel Kay, but with a chance of getting there in a future series.
Nice balance of young and old characters, male and female. The inevitable "bad guy is immensely powerful and cannot possibly be defeated" except that you know he will be -- and in this case his defeat is actually reasonably believable, not the sort of David-and-Goliath or Achilles-heel or "lucky shot through his magic armour with an enchanted peashooter."
Good series, good finish.
One flaw for me was that this volume felt a little, I dunno, melodramatic? overdrawn? Such as when
Spoiler
Olvus reveals that Nokov is her son.And golly, I almost didn't finish this book. Lookit, Sigrud kills people on pages 2, 5, 10, 15, 48, 50, 52, 53 (two), 54 (two) and 70. Up close and nasty. He disembowels Bambi in a "ceremony". He tortures a bad guy and hangs him on a meat hook. Hello, Anton Chigurh.
But that ended, mostly, just in time, and we got on with a good plot.
After a bout of slipping through shadowd and car stealing, I thought "Hello, Sandman Slim." Later, as we met more Divinities, I thought "American Gods." But again, Bennett settled down and got on with it.
Maybe coincidence happened a few too many times because the plot needed it, but with the grand scope of the plot we have to give the author some rein.
A lot of nobility and persistence and honour. Not at the level of, say, Guy Gavriel Kay, but with a chance of getting there in a future series.
Nice balance of young and old characters, male and female. The inevitable "bad guy is immensely powerful and cannot possibly be defeated" except that you know he will be -- and in this case his defeat is actually reasonably believable, not the sort of David-and-Goliath or Achilles-heel or "lucky shot through his magic armour with an enchanted peashooter."
Good series, good finish.
tregina's review against another edition
4.0
I feel like I liked this just slightly less than the other two books in the series, for various reasons, but I mean. It's still pretty great.
cjvphd's review against another edition
5.0
City of Miracles is a fantastic final chapter to a wonderful trilogy. Bennett delivers an immensely satisfactory conclusion full of characters old and new, twists, turns, action-packed set pieces, tender dialogue, heartbreak, and hope.
Miracles picks up several years after the conclusion of Blades, but more closely resembles Stairs in pacing and storytelling delicacy. While The Divine Cities may lack the quantity of memorable, fully-drawn characters present in other epic fantasy trilogies, the depth of the story's characters, along with the incredibly vibrant cities and expertly-constructed intertwined histories, provide a level of world-building unmatched by many higher profile series. Bennett has both a wonderful imagination and a talent for writing characters you care about, and those traits come out in spades in the unforgettable City of Miracles.
Miracles picks up several years after the conclusion of Blades, but more closely resembles Stairs in pacing and storytelling delicacy. While The Divine Cities may lack the quantity of memorable, fully-drawn characters present in other epic fantasy trilogies, the depth of the story's characters, along with the incredibly vibrant cities and expertly-constructed intertwined histories, provide a level of world-building unmatched by many higher profile series. Bennett has both a wonderful imagination and a talent for writing characters you care about, and those traits come out in spades in the unforgettable City of Miracles.
anna__b's review against another edition
3.0
Unfortunately this was easily my least favorite out of the series. I do like Sigrud and it was nice to get a conclusion to his character arc (along with some other previous main characters) but I really didn’t like the concept of the divine children and didn’t quite buy the reasons given for why they wouldn’t have come into play before, especially with the long timeline of this series. The powerscaling with the main villain also got extremely ridiculous. In the first two books, even though the scale got very large, I still felt like the stakes were grounded and believable, but I don’t think Bennett managed to pull that off as well here. I still really enjoyed this series overall and would recommend to anyone looking for something different in the fantasy genre, but this last book was just a bit of a miss for me.