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A review by nclcaitlin
City of Blades by Robert Jackson Bennett
4.0
Five years on from the events of The City of Stairs, Mulaghesh has retired to the island of Javrat. However, in order to receive her full pension, she must embark on a touring shuffle of the Continent, the land where she fought a war in her youth, wasted decades of her life in bureaucracy, and lost a hand, all in the shadow of that nation's dead gods.
In fact, that’s merely a cover story in order for Mulaghesh to work covertly for prime minister Shara to find out the truth about a new material that has surfaced that seems to possess Divine qualities.
“Chains are forged of many strange metals. Poverty is one. Fear, another Ritual and custom are yet more. All actions are forms of slavery, methods of forcing people to do what they deeply wish not to do."
Mulaghesh is a fascinating character to follow. Not only is she an older protagonist, is one-handed and uses a prosthetic; she also suffers acutely from PTSD and guilt.
We get graphic flashbacks to her horrific experiences- from when she was in the Yellow Company, hiding her true age of fifteen years old at enlistment and all the atrocities she carried out in the name of war and victory.
“You aren't born this way. None of us are. We're made this way, over time. But we might be able to unmake some of what was done to us, if we try."
This was like a sudden adventure to the main plot to show the larger world, political climate, and give us an awesome side character story.
This was a lot more emotionally heavy and poignant, dark and insightful. This was an intense study of what it means to be a soldier, to serve, to be a hero. To remember, to be remembered. To forget, to pave a future.
A soldier serves not to take, they don't strive to have something, but rather they strive so that others might one day have something. And a blade isn't a happy friend to a soldier, but a burden, a heavy one, to be used scrupulously and carefully.
I haven’t been this enraptured by a book series in a while!
In fact, that’s merely a cover story in order for Mulaghesh to work covertly for prime minister Shara to find out the truth about a new material that has surfaced that seems to possess Divine qualities.
“Chains are forged of many strange metals. Poverty is one. Fear, another Ritual and custom are yet more. All actions are forms of slavery, methods of forcing people to do what they deeply wish not to do."
Mulaghesh is a fascinating character to follow. Not only is she an older protagonist, is one-handed and uses a prosthetic; she also suffers acutely from PTSD and guilt.
We get graphic flashbacks to her horrific experiences- from when she was in the Yellow Company, hiding her true age of fifteen years old at enlistment and all the atrocities she carried out in the name of war and victory.
“You aren't born this way. None of us are. We're made this way, over time. But we might be able to unmake some of what was done to us, if we try."
This was like a sudden adventure to the main plot to show the larger world, political climate, and give us an awesome side character story.
This was a lot more emotionally heavy and poignant, dark and insightful. This was an intense study of what it means to be a soldier, to serve, to be a hero. To remember, to be remembered. To forget, to pave a future.
A soldier serves not to take, they don't strive to have something, but rather they strive so that others might one day have something. And a blade isn't a happy friend to a soldier, but a burden, a heavy one, to be used scrupulously and carefully.
I haven’t been this enraptured by a book series in a while!