City of Last Chances is a political fantasy adventure by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Released in electronic format in Dec 2022 by Head of Zeus, it's 545 pages and is now also available in hardcover and audio formats in addition to ebook. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.
The author is an often astoundingly adept wordsmith and this is a complex and immersive fantasy against a brobdingnagian tapestry of intrigue and a city-under-brutal-occupation. The prose seethes, and despite its impressive doorstopper brick of a page count, it's eminently readable and readers will find themselves surprised at the passing of time immersed in the story.
Although it's not derivative (at all!), readers who love Neal Stephenson, China Miéville, and Ann Leckie will likely find a lot to enjoy here. It's decidedly dark in places and the characters aren't so much black and white as varying shades of smudgy grey. The background and settings are also quite dark and disquieting and it's clearly by intent.
Four and a half stars. It's a big complex book, and very well written. For fans of political/campaign fantasy.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes
No comments:
Post a Comment