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bookishbambi 's review for:
Cities of Smoke and Starlight
by Alli Earnest
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
So, I consumed 400 pages of this book in a day which is borderline unheard of for me but the pacing made it really easy to just keep reading until, eventually, I was so close to the end I had to go for it.
Cities is a character-driven sci-fi fantasy with a small team on a secret mission akin to Rogue One; five unique individuals venturing off to save their country on the brink of war for reasons ranging from honour to money. The journey itself was clouded in mystery and intrigue, I got a lot of Uncharted 2 vibes out of it, especially in the third act, and Uncharted is one of my favourite game series so that really added to my enjoyment while reading this. However, I will say, some of the swearing replacements were jarring just speaking-wise, the word choices made sense but sometimes there were placed where they didn't quite work with the rhythm of human speech, y'know, but that was such a minor thing throughout the whole experience.
The cast was super diverse which was nice, I really liked every member of the team, I was able to get attached to them quite easily, found all of their voices very distinct and realistic, and enjoyed all of the little dynamics between the whole crew throughout the journey. The main characters in this, Kase and Hallie, took a while to fall in love with in comparison, but in a way that made me enjoy getting to know them and watching them grow more than I think I would have if I'd liked them right off the bat. Their dynamic is rife with banter and bickering, their initial meetings being very messy and hostile adds to the satisfaction in watching their relationship develop; and hey, if you want slow-burn, these guys moved at a snail's pace.
The world-building was good, if a little crowded. I think there were a lot of individual elements that were very interesting, but there was so much that not enough of the elements I liked were developed quite as much as I would've wanted them to be. I would've liked more info on the Cerls, their enemy, about the differences in their societies, why there was a war and why there might be another one, and just generally more detail about that specific conflict; why should I root for our heroes in Jayde over the Cerls (aside from the obvious), etc. etc.
Also, I wanted more about the whole First Earth concept, which was mentioned in passing a lot and brought up to explain why certain things existed in this universe, but was never fully expanded on. Especially when the Yalvs came into play, I think it would've been interesting to hear them talk about having their planet basically colonised by ships of lost humans, but we never got more than a few anecdotes about the whole affair. Also with the Yalvs, we never got explicit descriptions of them, but I wish Earnest had leaned into the sci-fi elements of the world more and made them more alien; their society was barely skimmed over, but the way they were written felt too human for a community that, as far as I understand, are the natives to this planet the humans only inhabit after escaping Earth centuries ago, so I wish they'd been more otherworldly and alien, basically.
Overall, aside from the ending feeling a bit abrupt, I really enjoyed my time reading the book and most of my criticisms didn't effect me during my reading process, so I'm happy to rate it highly, just not a five-star read for me. Will be reading the sequel immediately.
Cities is a character-driven sci-fi fantasy with a small team on a secret mission akin to Rogue One; five unique individuals venturing off to save their country on the brink of war for reasons ranging from honour to money. The journey itself was clouded in mystery and intrigue, I got a lot of Uncharted 2 vibes out of it, especially in the third act, and Uncharted is one of my favourite game series so that really added to my enjoyment while reading this. However, I will say, some of the swearing replacements were jarring just speaking-wise, the word choices made sense but sometimes there were placed where they didn't quite work with the rhythm of human speech, y'know, but that was such a minor thing throughout the whole experience.
The cast was super diverse which was nice, I really liked every member of the team, I was able to get attached to them quite easily, found all of their voices very distinct and realistic, and enjoyed all of the little dynamics between the whole crew throughout the journey. The main characters in this, Kase and Hallie, took a while to fall in love with in comparison, but in a way that made me enjoy getting to know them and watching them grow more than I think I would have if I'd liked them right off the bat. Their dynamic is rife with banter and bickering, their initial meetings being very messy and hostile adds to the satisfaction in watching their relationship develop; and hey, if you want slow-burn, these guys moved at a snail's pace.
The world-building was good, if a little crowded. I think there were a lot of individual elements that were very interesting, but there was so much that not enough of the elements I liked were developed quite as much as I would've wanted them to be. I would've liked more info on the Cerls, their enemy, about the differences in their societies, why there was a war and why there might be another one, and just generally more detail about that specific conflict; why should I root for our heroes in Jayde over the Cerls (aside from the obvious), etc. etc.
Also, I wanted more about the whole First Earth concept, which was mentioned in passing a lot and brought up to explain why certain things existed in this universe, but was never fully expanded on. Especially when the Yalvs came into play, I think it would've been interesting to hear them talk about having their planet basically colonised by ships of lost humans, but we never got more than a few anecdotes about the whole affair. Also with the Yalvs, we never got explicit descriptions of them, but I wish Earnest had leaned into the sci-fi elements of the world more and made them more alien; their society was barely skimmed over, but the way they were written felt too human for a community that, as far as I understand, are the natives to this planet the humans only inhabit after escaping Earth centuries ago, so I wish they'd been more otherworldly and alien, basically.
Overall, aside from the ending feeling a bit abrupt, I really enjoyed my time reading the book and most of my criticisms didn't effect me during my reading process, so I'm happy to rate it highly, just not a five-star read for me. Will be reading the sequel immediately.