City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett (2-Apr-2015) Paperback Paperback – 1600

I should have hated this story. It shouldn’t have worked for me at all for a few reasons.① - There is no love story. Well that isn’t specifically true. There is a story that involve two people who were a couple in the past but really that is it. In the present tense of the story there isn’t any romantic hopefuls. I love having someone in by books to ship even if nothing comes from it for books and books.② - It isn’t my typical fantasy set up. There are no dragons to be slain or lands to explore. No this is more of a political intrigue. A man is dead and someone has come to figure out why.③ - Religion. There is a ton of it. I sometimes like the addition of religion to a story but I’m not usually fond of stories when it is one of the main driving forces of the plot. Unless you are Brandon Sanderson and you can blend the Religion, Politics, Culture and World building all together and not many can.So this should have been a 2 star read for me. I should have been bored and maybe…possibly dare I say it even…not complete the book. But the reason I held on and finished the entire thing was because I loved the city, Shara and her secretary Sigrud. Sigrud is a hammer in a world of nails, and he is satisfied knowing only that. He is also one of the deadliest and coolest characters I’ve read in a long time. I also loved that he was not beautiful but came from a distant land with scars, horrors and a devastating past. “Life is full of beautiful dangers, dangerous beauties," says Sigrud. He stares into the sky, and the white sunlight glints off his many scars. "They wound us in ways we cannot see: an injury ripples out, like a stone dropped in water, touching moments years into the future.”Then there is Shara and she isn’t the beautiful and striking character that can flirt her way into men’s heads and hearts and coerce there trust that way. She is bookish and even boyish looking since she weighs about 95lbs soaking wet. But she is brilliant in her own ways and is not going to let anyone get away with anything they shouldn’t. I was pulling for her as it seems that she is alone with no one in the world to trust but Sigrud who if you are going to go into a city against unknown enemies you would want on your side.Then last there is a city. It is a place that gods used to live with the people and when the gods were killed it was like the city forgot how to be a city and so some of it sort or vanished and there are building that just stopped being there and stairs that end up going to nowhere now but sometimes out of the corner of your eye it is like you can almost still see something. I had the best time trying to figure out where parts of the city went and how could you get there again.This is a story about a race who had conquered another race for years and used them as slaves. But now the slaves have revolted and hold the power and turn about is not all fair play it seems. “Just because you won the War doesn't mean you can do whatever you like!' says Yaroslav. 'And just because we lost it doesn't mean you can strip us of everything we value!”I felt bad for both sides of that as it seems like no one is really right but also no one is really all wrong either. It is complicated a lot like Game of Thrones (I only use this reference because most people have read or watched the show) but when you can see all of the sides it isn’t like you can root for a single side because you understand the intricacies of it. It is more that you root for certain characters and hope that things work out for them regardless of the side they are on. That is what I felt like in this story.I loved the magic, gods and revelations that were made as the story got going. There were some really cool reveals along the way and overall after hitting 20% I was pretty into the rest of the story.Not something I would have read had I not been pushed by a few friends but something that I’m glad I picked up. Even if there wasn’t a clear ship to jump on.

THIS! This the book I have wanted so many other books to be, a complicated discussion about the costs of colonialism wrapped up in a heady mix of politicking, magic, dead gods, and fanaticism.I will note that the first chapter is deadly dull, and things only pick up after that, but it is well worth getting through it, I assure you.Once you get past the courtroom drama and murder-investigation kickoff, you get a DELIGHTFUL political operative, who also happens to be a small, non-descript woman, and her hulking nordic sidekcick, who is a delight of brutality, knot-tying, and complicated theology. You will also get a dimensionally unstable city, a colonial administration, a colonial governor who wants nothing more than a quiet retirement where she can admire the landscape, and a pervading sense of tension. Oh, and naturally, political machinations, zealots, the foods of exile, a kraken, and some stellar writing. I am nominating this book for a Hugo.On an absent god: "...if Orvos was ever here, then the greatest thing she ever gave us was the knowledge that we did not /need/ her to do good things. That good can be done at anytime, anywhere, to anyone, by anyone."On government, as voiced by a morally ambiguous character: "States are not, in my opinion, compose of structures supporting privilege. Rather, they are composed of structule denying it - in other words, deciding who is not invited to the table."On fighting a kraken-icemole hybrid: "The fat on his limbs is calcified now; he is milky white, crackling, a chandlers golem."I am panting for the second book while feeling well-satisfied with the ending of this one. If there was no second book, it would be a sufficient ending. But I don't have to settle! The second one, City of Knives, should be out in Fall 2015.Buy if: You like books about theodicy, fallible gods, or small fierce women. You enjoyed Lois McMaster Bujold's Chalion books. You are willing to buy extra copies to press on your friends so they will understand how excited you are.Skip if: You are looking for something stately or mannered or noble. This is far too nitty-gritty a book for that, without being Gritty.Books that have some of the same things, but didn't quite hit my cravings as well:The Drowning City, by Amanda DownumTrickster's Choice, by Tamora PierceA Stranger in Olondria, by Sofia SamatarThe Gaslight Dogs, by Karin LowacheeIf you liked this book, also read:Max Gladstone's Craft seriesBujold's Chalion seriesRobin LaFever's His Fair Assassin series

Shara Thivani is in Bulikov to investigate the murder of a friend. But when there, she realizes all is not well in the city of Bulikov.This book is worth reading just to get to know the character of Sigrud. He was amazing! I found myself he was the main character, but he for sure stole the show. The story did take awhile to build, and I did find that the slowly-building plot suddenly went into hyper-drive the last 150 pages or so, which made me feel that some steps were missing. There was so much background information provided, and then it feels with little actual reasoning behind why Shara is able to solve it the mystery dissolves. Still, the main characters who make up this world are great. They are complicated, lovable and make you want to get to know them better.This is a very interesting universe that I would recommend any fantasy lover dive into.