City of Bones

4.5 stars, Metaphorosis reviews

Summary
Khat is a krismen, of a race created by the ancients to withstand the perils of the Waste. In the city Charisat, he's distrusted and disregarded - but still sought after for his knowledge of relics and lore. And that combination attracts danger.

Review
City of Bones was the second (or perhaps first) Martha Wells book I read, and I still think it's the best. While Wells has been uneven (her Raksura books seem like they're by a different author), this book is her writing at its absolute best, and I strongly recommend it. Note that while this edition is billed as the author's preferred text, the differences between this and an earlier version are just minor stylistic edits; the story itself is unchanged.

Efficiently and effectively, Wells builds up a fascinating, complex world that we never quite see the full outlines of but that is nonetheless easy to follow. The emotional scale of the story is small, with a focus on just a few individuals, but the implicit scope is huge, with actions affecting the whole world. These are all hard things to pull off, and she does it beautifully here.

No book is perfect, and there's a somewhat muddled portion in the late middle of the book, where things happen a bit too fast, and there are a few too many muddy motives floated about. And there are some red herrings that we could have done without – e.g., Khat's attraction to one particular character has no real basis, and feels careless. But overall, this is a great book, and one whose taste will linger, even if the complexities of the plot do not.

If you're already a Martha Wells fan, you'll love this. If you're not yet one, you'll love this.