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vinayvasan's review against another edition
4.0
A 4.5 really.
Truly an outstanding first book in a dark urban fantasy series set in South Africa (a star for that alone, change in setting from the usual London/ NYC vibe). Dresden is pretty much the gold standard for an urban fantasy series and most other books kind of have to live up to it else they run the risk of being branded as mere knockoffs. Poison City makes this work in multiple ways
It starts on the right note by infusing just that right element of cynical humor and a messed up lead character battling his own demons as he tries to take on the seamy supernatural side of things trying to mess up the fragile peace, saddled with a wise-ass, world weary, sherry loving sidekick of a dog. It also strikes gold by making things happen very fast. Yes, to an extent this comes at the expense of building up the rest of the cast but the world building is fantastic and the stakes higher. In so far, that the lead character has to keep striking and breaking deals of great consequences right through
The pacing is fairly frenetic, our lead character who starts off as a hot mess gets even more messed up and then there are the consequences and the revelations regarding God, which is admirable in its conceit.
On the flip side, the very pace of the book kind of does work against it where things just happen so fast that its effect on our characters doesnt last, which to me is a shame because there are instances where a breather or a quiet moment would serve the purpose
Overall, a very promising start to what seems like a intriguing series
Truly an outstanding first book in a dark urban fantasy series set in South Africa (a star for that alone, change in setting from the usual London/ NYC vibe). Dresden is pretty much the gold standard for an urban fantasy series and most other books kind of have to live up to it else they run the risk of being branded as mere knockoffs. Poison City makes this work in multiple ways
It starts on the right note by infusing just that right element of cynical humor and a messed up lead character battling his own demons as he tries to take on the seamy supernatural side of things trying to mess up the fragile peace, saddled with a wise-ass, world weary, sherry loving sidekick of a dog. It also strikes gold by making things happen very fast. Yes, to an extent this comes at the expense of building up the rest of the cast but the world building is fantastic and the stakes higher. In so far, that the lead character has to keep striking and breaking deals of great consequences right through
The pacing is fairly frenetic, our lead character who starts off as a hot mess gets even more messed up and then there are the consequences and the revelations regarding God, which is admirable in its conceit.
On the flip side, the very pace of the book kind of does work against it where things just happen so fast that its effect on our characters doesnt last, which to me is a shame because there are instances where a breather or a quiet moment would serve the purpose
Overall, a very promising start to what seems like a intriguing series
worldsinink's review against another edition
4.0
Full review available at Worlds in Ink
Paul Crilley’s Poison City is the fantastical love child of Supernatural and a Lauren Beukes novel. Part urban fantasy, part crime novel this is a pure twisted reading delight. You’ll never be able to look at humanity in quite the same way. Highly recommended! Just be warned that it does get quite dark
Paul Crilley’s Poison City is the fantastical love child of Supernatural and a Lauren Beukes novel. Part urban fantasy, part crime novel this is a pure twisted reading delight. You’ll never be able to look at humanity in quite the same way. Highly recommended! Just be warned that it does get quite dark
edmcdonald's review against another edition
5.0
I heartily enjoyed this book. The pace is quick from the off and that's exactly what I enjoy in a novel these days. Think Jack Reacher meets Rivers of London in South Africa and you'll have a generally good feel for what this story is all about.
Fresh, vibrant writing, witty and entertaining characters and a general sense that anything could happen at any time will keep you reading through the night.
Fresh, vibrant writing, witty and entertaining characters and a general sense that anything could happen at any time will keep you reading through the night.
kjcharles's review against another edition
Urban fantasy of the 'policemen in Occult Crimes division' type set in Durban. The setting is pretty vividly done, but the rest is fairly routine for the genre, including the lead: a hard-drinking male cop who doesn't play by the rules with the murdered daughter and the ex wife who left him but who he still oh god men *please* stop writing this.
Very violent, but though the hero is constantly beaten up and even killed at one point it never seems to hold him back because he is Hard Drinking Cop. Plus, the hero kills archangels, who are all powerful supernatural beings who've survived since the dawn of creation without anything bad happening to them, but evidently they've never met a Hard Drinking Cop in any of the millennia they've ruled Creation. This fails to make sense to me. Also, and most weirdly, this is set in South Africa but there's virtually no description of any named human character. I don't have a clue if that's a deliberate authorial decision and the characters are meant to to be a rainbow nation, or if everyone is just default white.
I liked the alcoholic dog spirit guide, but otherwise this didn't do much with its potential.
Very violent, but though the hero is constantly beaten up and even killed at one point it never seems to hold him back because he is Hard Drinking Cop. Plus, the hero kills archangels, who are all powerful supernatural beings who've survived since the dawn of creation without anything bad happening to them, but evidently they've never met a Hard Drinking Cop in any of the millennia they've ruled Creation. This fails to make sense to me. Also, and most weirdly, this is set in South Africa but there's virtually no description of any named human character. I don't have a clue if that's a deliberate authorial decision and the characters are meant to to be a rainbow nation, or if everyone is just default white.
I liked the alcoholic dog spirit guide, but otherwise this didn't do much with its potential.
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