A review by misterwisp
City of Bones by Martha Wells

adventurous challenging tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

It's pretty good. The enjoyable aspects are the world and the characters. The biggest difficult aspect is the slow pacing in parts, and elaborate excessive attention to small details can make things drag a bit. 

The world is centuries into the aftermath of some kind of magical eco-disaster that left behind a harsh desert. The cities are shaped by extremes of poverty and wealth. Acquisition, ownership, and trading of relics from the mage culture before the big disaster is the big shaping force in the society and culture. It feels interesting and unique. It's not just pseudo medieval Europe or anything like that. The characters are well written and felt worth investing in. 

The plot is a bit slow. Things take a long time to happen. Scenes often have a high level of description including specific breakdown of lighting conditions, the exact details of patterns on the furniture, and the minutiae of the clothing characters are wearing, etc. After a certain point it felt unnecessary and repetitive. 

Frustrations aside it was a good read and the pace picked up in the last quarter. Time spend was not regretted. The author has a creative imagination. There was payoff and the ending was satisfying. 
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