City of Last Chances
2022 • 543 pages
Ratings25
Average rating3.8
15
Ratings25
Average rating3.8
WINNER OF THE 2022 BRITISH SCIENCE FICTION ASSOCIATION AWARD FOR BEST NOVEL 'Endlessly creative... so much invention peeking around every corner' Patrick Ness Arthur C. Clarke winner and Sunday Times bestseller Adrian Tchaikovsky's triumphant return to fantasy with a darkly inventive portrait of a city under occupation and on the verge of revolution. There has always been a darkness to Ilmar, but never more so than now. The city chafes under the heavy hand of the Palleseen occupation, the choke-hold of its criminal underworld, the boot of its factory owners, the weight of its wretched poor and the burden of its ancient curse. What will be the spark that lights the conflagration? Despite the city's refugees, wanderers, murderers, madmen, fanatics and thieves, the catalyst, as always, will be the Anchorwood – that dark grove of trees, that primeval remnant, that portal, when the moon is full, to strange and distant shores. Ilmar, some say, is the worst place in the world and the gateway to a thousand worse places. Ilmar, City of Long Shadows. City of Bad Decisions. City of Last Chances. 'Ilmar is vividly alive with ideas, conflicts, and a sense of its own history – a truly breathtaking fantasy city, down every street a compelling story.' David Towsey 'A master at the height of his powers. This is epic symphonic fantasy, weaving a breakneck plot through a sumptuously dangerous world.' Ian Green 'A wonderful twisty stew of a book with a cast of fascinating characters, set against the brilliantly realized city of Ilmar.' Django Wexler 'A triumph of a book: wildly imaginative, immediately immersive and hypnotically compelling.' Sharon Emmerichs
Featured Series
1 primary bookThe Tyrant Philosophers is a 1-book series first released in 2022 with contributions by Adrian Tchaikovsky. The next book is scheduled for release on 12/5/2024.
Reviews with the most likes.
I can respect the ambition on this story and on the surface it ticks all the boxes that I like in a book. Fantasy with a dash of grimdark? Check. Machiavellian scheming? Check. Fascinating world building? Check.
The titular city is a boiling mess of revolution, criminality and idealism. Located on a portal to another world the whole place is a cauldron of different tensions and motivations. Recently conquered by the Palleseen, an intensely bureaucratic civilization that aims to ‘perfect' the world, the underlying tensions of the occupation provide the main setting. The Pals want order, but they are somewhat corrupt and lazy, following a brutal approach to dissent. The students are idealists who want to throw off the yoke of oppresion. The workers are chafing under increased work and the brutality of the occupation. The criminals and the old high society each want to try and take control of any revolution to make sure they end up on top at the end. The setting is delightful!
There are a lot of characters and this is where it began to fall down a little for me. Some of the characters I really loved (the priest with his god is brilliant!) but the shear size of the cast means that they don't really get time to develop and quite a few of them I just failed to engage with.
This is an epic novel, dense in its construction and I can really appreciate the self contained nature of it. There is a lot to love here.
I really wanted to like this book, but there was just too many characters to keep track of. The story was a bit overdone. I should have known with the glossary at the beginning of the book. This one just didn't hold my attention.
Probably 3.5. Took me a while to get into the story.
Overview: A weird fantasy in the style of [a:China Miéville 33918 China Miéville https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1243988363p2/33918.jpg]'s [b:Perdido Street Station 68494 Perdido Street Station (New Crobuzon, #1) China Miéville https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1680461055l/68494.SY75.jpg 3221410], told very skillfully in chapters from different points of view, resulting in a very satisfying experience.More detailed thoughts to be added shortly - this book really left my head spinning in a really good way.
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1,781 booksWhen you think back on every book you've ever read, what are some of your favorites? These can be from any time of your life – books that resonated with you as a kid, ones that shaped your personal...
