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Phillip's Reviews > City of Stairs
City of Stairs (The Divine Cities, #1)
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by
2024 update: Bumping this up to 5 stars. I think about this book a lot 3 years later and I'm finally starting the third one.
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I thoroughly enjoyed this and will be starting the next in the series, City of Blades, right away.
Wonderfully complex yet still approachable, and with a very original setting (to my eyes) that is refreshingly not European. Characters I was happy to cheer for - the extremely competent Shara, her "secretary" Sigrud, and the military governor Mulaghesh, and especially Vohannes Voltrov.
The titular Bulikov was a character of its own. I pictured it like a cross between the video game Dishonored's Dunwall and Fallen London, from the web game, and it breathed real atmosphere into every scene.
While this is largely "just" an espionage/mystery novel with a very unique and compelling setting, it does spend some time dealing with concepts of empire and cultural identity as well as featuring a very compelling queer character who deals with a multitude of internal and external conflicts in an absolutely believable way.
I also want to say that coming off of the very well-crafted but very dreary Traitor Baru Cormorant (which was a solid book, but not for me), it was refreshing to read a protagonist that was likable and a genuinely good, believable person in Shara. I loved her motivations and the way she treated those around her, her bravery, and her cleverness.
Ending spoilers: (view spoiler)
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I thoroughly enjoyed this and will be starting the next in the series, City of Blades, right away.
Wonderfully complex yet still approachable, and with a very original setting (to my eyes) that is refreshingly not European. Characters I was happy to cheer for - the extremely competent Shara, her "secretary" Sigrud, and the military governor Mulaghesh, and especially Vohannes Voltrov.
The titular Bulikov was a character of its own. I pictured it like a cross between the video game Dishonored's Dunwall and Fallen London, from the web game, and it breathed real atmosphere into every scene.
While this is largely "just" an espionage/mystery novel with a very unique and compelling setting, it does spend some time dealing with concepts of empire and cultural identity as well as featuring a very compelling queer character who deals with a multitude of internal and external conflicts in an absolutely believable way.
I also want to say that coming off of the very well-crafted but very dreary Traitor Baru Cormorant (which was a solid book, but not for me), it was refreshing to read a protagonist that was likable and a genuinely good, believable person in Shara. I loved her motivations and the way she treated those around her, her bravery, and her cleverness.
Ending spoilers: (view spoiler)
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Reading Progress
November 26, 2018
– Shelved as:
to-read
November 26, 2018
– Shelved
February 4, 2021
–
Started Reading
February 8, 2021
–
47.12%
"Reading three books (this, A Memory Called Empire, and The Traitor Baru Cormorant) in as many weeks that: have a female main character, who has a sorta diplomatic role, that has a running theme of empire/colonialism (to varying degrees), has made for an interesting reading experience."
page
213
February 13, 2021
– Shelved as:
read-in-2021
February 13, 2021
– Shelved as:
fantasy
February 13, 2021
– Shelved as:
mystery
February 13, 2021
–
Finished Reading
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Jess
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rated it 4 stars
Feb 15, 2021 03:12PM
I'm so thrilled you enjoyed it! I haven't played Dishonored but I can totally see the Fallen London connection. 100% same re: Baru being well-done but emphatically not my thing. I can't wait to see what you think of Blades!
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