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andrewlawston 's review for:
City of Ghosts
by Stacia Kane
This third installment in the adventures of Cesaria Putnam, debunker, sees the drug-addicted witch of the Church of Truth joining the elite Black Squad in order to investigate strange goings on in Downside. It doesn't take long before Chess is spending as much time hanging around with her drug dealer's enforcer Terrible as she is working with her obnoxious Black Squad partner.
City of Ghosts finally sees the action focus a little more firmly on the City, an underground realm where the spirits of the dead roam tranquilly. Frequently alluded to in the first two books, it's frustrating the way in which the City is being unveiled very slowly throughout the series, but it shows great discipline on the part of Stacia Kane. I also note that after three full books, Chess still hasn't made it down to the Pipes 'onscreen' - the drug den whose oblivion she craves so much.
For once in my life I've read this series in publication order, but I would also say that Kane has taken pains to ensure that any new Downside reader can pick up the important threads and carry on from City of Ghosts. But there's also no mistaking the fact that the worldbuilding has largely been done, and that Kane is able to use the extra narrative room to develop her characters' relationships and interior lives.
If I had a single criticism, it would be that the book's magical battles sometimes defy belief as characters put together little spells by burning multiple ingredients in a firedish in the middle of a frenzied action sequence. It's a bit like that bit in Shrek where Princess Fiona has time to adjust her hair before finishing a bullet time kick to Robin Hood. It occasionally made me chuckle, but that's a very small niggle about a great book.
City of Ghosts finally sees the action focus a little more firmly on the City, an underground realm where the spirits of the dead roam tranquilly. Frequently alluded to in the first two books, it's frustrating the way in which the City is being unveiled very slowly throughout the series, but it shows great discipline on the part of Stacia Kane. I also note that after three full books, Chess still hasn't made it down to the Pipes 'onscreen' - the drug den whose oblivion she craves so much.
For once in my life I've read this series in publication order, but I would also say that Kane has taken pains to ensure that any new Downside reader can pick up the important threads and carry on from City of Ghosts. But there's also no mistaking the fact that the worldbuilding has largely been done, and that Kane is able to use the extra narrative room to develop her characters' relationships and interior lives.
If I had a single criticism, it would be that the book's magical battles sometimes defy belief as characters put together little spells by burning multiple ingredients in a firedish in the middle of a frenzied action sequence. It's a bit like that bit in Shrek where Princess Fiona has time to adjust her hair before finishing a bullet time kick to Robin Hood. It occasionally made me chuckle, but that's a very small niggle about a great book.