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lanko 's review for:
City of Miracles
by Robert Jackson Bennett
Not sure how or what to write to review this great piece. I think the expression is "Bennett outdid himself".
Comparing to the previous two books this one is much more hectic and packing with action. Lots of action. It doesn't lose its philosophical and wondrous parts, but there sure is a lot more explosions and fights.
I guess that could only be expected when the protagonist is Sigrud.
Since the first book I thought him overpowered. Well, being in his head kinda of diminishes that a little, but it sure is noticeable the amount of times he is, in his own words, way too lucky. Against other humans he's a one man army and also manages to fend off divine stuff (and a Divine itself).
What saves him is that the scenes are very well-written.
The antagonist was also really good. The "night" theme was really great. When humanity walked its first steps in the world and confronted the night, what might lurk within, how that even millenniums later still somewhat affects us... that was great for the theme of a god.
The antagonist is also pretty resourceful and has a frightening power. His descriptions are awesome.
Until suddenly he just starts throwing teenage tantrums and acting very pathetically. It was mind boggling and almost killed the character.
This was intentional, as one chapter starts with a description of what an adult should be, and of course there are people (lots of it) with the same attitude and view of Nokov, but storywise that hurt the character a lot.
I didn't agree with that course, I think Nokov's issues could have been explored and fleshed out without doing that. It really made the character stop being menacing, less tragic and even less interesting.
And he isn't the only one. Later more divinities like him start appearing and acting in the same way.
There's some divine children here, but some of them "awakened" and lived for decades or centuries, so some of them, specially Nokov, could feel a little more mature.
As in the previous books there's also a "mystery solving" part, but far less central than in the previous books. There is a murder mystery, but this one is actually solved pretty quickly and the more mysterious aspects are about certain people's identities and powers.
I think it was pretty easy to see the relations between certain characters and powers, intentions and more specifically, who was a special divine child. The book tries to misdirect you various times but it was so clear it was misdirection that it had the opposite effect: it simply pointed out even more clearly who really was the special kid.
If the intention was to simply try to misdirect the characters but not the reader and give you that impression "oh, can't wait to see how these characters are gonna react when they realize this" and make the reader curious when that finally happens, then it works.
If it was done with mind blowing the reader with a surprise big plot twists in mind... then it doesn't.
The story really soars when describing the divinities. Their descriptions, origins and power of domains and the sentences used are really great. You really feel like it would be to be in the presence of these beings. Bennett really shines in those moments.
Now put together Sigrud, a modern spy with Viking vibes, Ivanya, and old lady who is also a billionaire who chooses to live in a little farm tending sheep and practicing with her rifle and Tatyana, a bookish teen girl and you have an interesting group. Special mention to Malwina as well.
Now throw them into divine plots of the so greatly described divinities mentioned above, crazy battles in crazy situations, with some amusing banter and moments thrown in and then the story becomes something more special.
And finally, the story will really surprise you in the way it ends. The world changes drastically. At the same time it marks the conclusion of the saga, it also leaves a very wide door open in case the author ever wishes to return to this world. Which hopefully he will someday.
Despite some nitpickings that I mentioned, this book has definitely far more pros and also helped with a reading slump. So that deserves extra points!
Comparing to the previous two books this one is much more hectic and packing with action. Lots of action. It doesn't lose its philosophical and wondrous parts, but there sure is a lot more explosions and fights.
I guess that could only be expected when the protagonist is Sigrud.
Since the first book I thought him overpowered. Well, being in his head kinda of diminishes that a little, but it sure is noticeable the amount of times he is, in his own words, way too lucky. Against other humans he's a one man army and also manages to fend off divine stuff (and a Divine itself).
What saves him is that the scenes are very well-written.
The antagonist was also really good. The "night" theme was really great. When humanity walked its first steps in the world and confronted the night, what might lurk within, how that even millenniums later still somewhat affects us... that was great for the theme of a god.
The antagonist is also pretty resourceful and has a frightening power. His descriptions are awesome.
Until suddenly he just starts throwing teenage tantrums and acting very pathetically. It was mind boggling and almost killed the character.
This was intentional, as one chapter starts with a description of what an adult should be, and of course there are people (lots of it) with the same attitude and view of Nokov, but storywise that hurt the character a lot.
I didn't agree with that course, I think Nokov's issues could have been explored and fleshed out without doing that. It really made the character stop being menacing, less tragic and even less interesting.
And he isn't the only one. Later more divinities like him start appearing and acting in the same way.
There's some divine children here, but some of them "awakened" and lived for decades or centuries, so some of them, specially Nokov, could feel a little more mature.
As in the previous books there's also a "mystery solving" part, but far less central than in the previous books. There is a murder mystery, but this one is actually solved pretty quickly and the more mysterious aspects are about certain people's identities and powers.
I think it was pretty easy to see the relations between certain characters and powers, intentions and more specifically, who was a special divine child. The book tries to misdirect you various times but it was so clear it was misdirection that it had the opposite effect: it simply pointed out even more clearly who really was the special kid.
If the intention was to simply try to misdirect the characters but not the reader and give you that impression "oh, can't wait to see how these characters are gonna react when they realize this" and make the reader curious when that finally happens, then it works.
If it was done with mind blowing the reader with a surprise big plot twists in mind... then it doesn't.
The story really soars when describing the divinities. Their descriptions, origins and power of domains and the sentences used are really great. You really feel like it would be to be in the presence of these beings. Bennett really shines in those moments.
Now put together Sigrud, a modern spy with Viking vibes, Ivanya, and old lady who is also a billionaire who chooses to live in a little farm tending sheep and practicing with her rifle and Tatyana, a bookish teen girl and you have an interesting group. Special mention to Malwina as well.
Now throw them into divine plots of the so greatly described divinities mentioned above, crazy battles in crazy situations, with some amusing banter and moments thrown in and then the story becomes something more special.
And finally, the story will really surprise you in the way it ends. The world changes drastically. At the same time it marks the conclusion of the saga, it also leaves a very wide door open in case the author ever wishes to return to this world. Which hopefully he will someday.
Despite some nitpickings that I mentioned, this book has definitely far more pros and also helped with a reading slump. So that deserves extra points!