House of Open Wounds
Ratings15
Average rating4.6
15
Ratings15
Average rating4.6
FROM THE BSFA AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR OF CITY OF LAST CHANCES City-by-city, kingdom-by-kingdom, the Palleseen have sworn to bring Perfection and Correctness to an imperfect world. As their legions scour the world of superstition with the bright flame of reason, so they deliver a mountain of ragged, holed and scorched flesh to the field hospital tents just behind the front line. Which is where Yasnic, one-time priest, healer and rebel, finds himself. Reprieved from the gallows and sent to war clutching a box of orphan Gods, he has been sequestered to a particularity unorthodox medical unit. Led by 'the Butcher', an ogre of a man who's a dab hand with a bone-saw and an alchemical tincture, the unit's motley crew of conscripts, healers and orderlies are no strangers to the horrors of war. Theirs is an unspeakable trade: elbow-deep in gore they have a first-hand view of the suffering caused by flesh-rending monsters, arcane magical weaponry and embittered enemy soldiers. Entrusted – for now – with saving lives deemed otherwise un-saveable, the field hospital's crew face a precarious existence. Their work with unapproved magic, necromancy, demonology and Yasnic's thoroughly illicit Gods could lead to the unit being disbanded, arrested or worse. Beset by enemies within and without, the last thing anyone needs is a miracle... Reviews for City of Last Chances: 'Paints a vivid detailed backdrop' SFX 'Brilliant chaos ensues' Daily Mail 'Some of Tchaikovsky's best prose' SF Crowsnest 'An intriguing tangle... ingenious' Locus 'Endlessly creative' Patrick Ness 'Rich, inventive worldbuilding' Publishers Weekly 'Ilmar is vividly alive' David Towsey 'A master at the height of his powers' Ian Green 'An ambitious epic fantasy read' Grimdark Magazine
Featured Series
1 primary bookCity of Last Chances is a 1-book series first released in 2023 with contributions by Adrian Tchaikovsky.
Reviews with the most likes.
The second book of the series takes just one character and changes from being quite wide scoped to more narrowly focused in time and place but is equally as satisfying. It is a bit weird, sometimes takes flights off topic but Tchaikovsky is a wonderfully talented writer. Looking forward to the third one.
I loved book 1 (City of Last Chances) so much - this one was sometimes better sometimes worse, but I overall liked City better.
I've heard this book described as fantasy M*A*S*H, and I have to agree - funny quirky characters, but doesn't shy away from the reality of war. The first half was so good - intense, exciting, more amazing world building.
The second half felt a bit too episodic - some events just ended too quickly for me to take them seriously, even if they were still fun.
I love this world and how authentic the characters are. I'm not sure if there will be more in this world, but I'd read it if there was.
The first book in this series, City of Lost Chances, was just OK. I was reluctant to try this one, but many of the reviews stated that if you had mixed feelings about the first book, you would truly enjoy House of Open Wounds.
They couldn't be more correct! This book was fascinating, heart-wrenching, well thought out, and ended satisfyingly. I recommend this book to anyone who was OK with the first book, enjoys Adrian's books in general, approves of the 'found family of outcasts' trope, or wants to read a (mostly) stand alone fantasy book that has an epic feel to it.
I loved City of Last Chances. It scratched an itch for me that I didn't know I had - where a revolution happens not due to any particular group of people or a cause or anything singular. Just one chance dice game, that sets up and intensifies the existing tensions within the city. It was unique and it was bold and it was funny at parts and I loved it for just that.
I love House of Open Wounds for completely different reasons. There are certainly gems of something I have always wanted for other books but nothing completely unique. Reading through House of Open Wounds reminded me of some of my favourite parts in the Malazan series with the irreverent (lol) bickering native to the corps. The ending as well tied together together the threads set up through out the book beautifully reminiscent of the Malazan books again.
What sets this book apart from its predecessor is the characters. City of Last Chances while having a decent size of characters did not make me endear to any one of them. House of Open Wounds brings together a motley group of freaks who all bounce off of each other in interesting and fun ways. The world as well opens up to more than just Ilmar and it benefits heavily from that. The Palleseen are no longer straight up villainous but just people with their flaws and motivations. I still think City of Last Chances had the better world building which allowed House of Open Wounds to leapfrog off of that into more interesting areas.
idk i loved the book.
