City of Stairs: A Novel (The Divine Cities) Paperback – September 9, 2014

Phenomenal. If I have to chose one word to describe City of Stairs, that would be it. Phenomenal.City of Stairs is the story of two countries, the Continent with it’s divine city of Bulikov and Saypur, a land across the South Sea. For centuries Bulikov and the Continent were able to dominate Saypur through the might of Bulikov’s Divinities. Then, a Saypuri man called the Kaj figured out how to kill the gods. Now, the gods are dead and Saypur controls the Continent and the city of Bulikov.When a Saypuri historian is killed in Buikov, in steps Shara Komayd, a high ranking intelligence officer. She’s given one week to find the killer, but she starts to find a whole lot more in Buikov, the city of stairs.One of the best aspects of City of Stairs was the world building. The world felt real, it breathed, it was vivid. Buikov and Saypur came alive. More so, the world felt unique. (I found a page on the author’s website with artwork of Buikov. Each picture contains links to drawings of specific buildings with historical information. It’s really awesome, and I suggest checking it out.)In a genre filled with medieval Europe based worlds, I loved the diversity of City of Stairs. The cast was largely Saypuri and thus non-white. While I don’t know how accurate this is, I got the feeling that Saypur was based off India.The characterization was also excellent. Shara was a great heroine, and I liked how she wasn’t the only important female character. In fact, she frequently works with Mulaghesh, the female governor of the area. The other secondary characters are fascinating as well.City of Stairs also does a good job depicting moral ambiguity. It never falls into the trap of depicting one side as good and the other as evil. Instead, it creates a complex situation where it’s possible to feel sympathy for both sides. All of this fit well with its thematic exploration of colonialism and oppression, as well as ties to the past versus looking to the future.About half way through, the pacing really took off, and the suspense ratcheted up. It was to the point where I stayed up three hours later than I planned to finish it.I would recommend City of Stairs for fans of Three Parts Dead or for anyone else looking for an intriguing and well written novel.

This came highly recommended by people who participate in a fantasy discussion forum that I moderate, so when I was looking for something new to read, I bought it.I'll be honest, it took me awhile to get into this book. In the end, I thought there was a lot to like, but some of the themes took awhile to develop. I thought it was going to be a murder mystery in a fantasy setting, since there is a body discovered very early on, and the murder does eventually get solved, but that is not really the main focus of the story.There are a lot of ideas here that are put together really well and are a little bit different. In the city where the bulk of the story takes place (called Bulikov), when the native gods disappeared from the world, their works went with them, resulting in something called the Blink, where large portions of buildings -- and in some cases, large numbers of people -- just vanished. So there were a lot of stairs to nothing in Bulikov, hence the name of the book. After-effects of the Blink have mostly settled out, but a few are woven throughout the story and they are interesting and well thought out on the part of the author.As our main character, Shara, investigates the murder, she uses scientific, systematic, methodical means, even though it is becoming apparent that the laws of physics, as we know them, are not always operating. So the clash of science and magic is there, but it doesn't play out in what I would consider a conventional way. (Don't worry, it works.)Shara is from Saypur, an island that was a colony of Continental concerns way back when. However, when the gods disappeared, the Continent was in disarray and Saypur was not, having not had any native divinities. Saypur stepped in and takes over a lot of functions, which is an unusual turn of events but one that makes perfect sense within the world of the story. Also a little different is the fact that Shara's people, based on names and some physical descriptions, seem to be darker skinned folks (think from South Asia, also maybe Iran and/or Turkey, and environs), whereas the people of Bulikov have mostly Slavic-sounding names. So it is a bit of a reversal of the usual situation where lighter-skinned people subjugate others. However, racism, when it appears, takes similar forms. I mostly bring this up as an example of a trope the author has turned on its head and run with in a way that I would consider to be successful. I should note, however, that the populace of Bulikov plays very little role in the story. We are primarily occupied with the activities of the Saypuri crew and some Bulikov elites. That is a bit more conventional in fiction.The rulers from Saypur have instituted something called the Worldly Regulations, which prohibit discussion of the Divinities, their worship, and even learning about the full histories of the continental cities. At first glance, this seems overly cruel. Why deny people the chance to understand their heritage? However, when you learn more about the Divinities, themselves, and the methods and creatures they employed to carry out their edicts, they were often not very nice. They created harsh sets of laws that were impossible to follow, yet imposed equally harsh punishments for failure to comply. They created (or turned people into) nasty, flesh-eating creatures. They imbued their powers into objects with sometimes very dangerous results. So the thought starts to creep in, maybe the people are better off without these Divinities. I don't think there are any easy answers, and there's some colonial paternalism going on, but I think the author does a better job of presenting two sides to the argument than many others in the genre.At any rate, there were a lot of good ideas in this book, a lot of issues where two sides were set against each other and the actual consequences were thought through. I did enjoy thinking about those, and they contributed to my sense that world-building in this book was wonderful.But, world-building is only one element of a book. You also have writing style, plot, characters, etc. I find I don't have a lot to say about writing style. There were no verbal tics that irritated me. The writing did a good job of conveying the atmosphere, of describing the action, etc. The writing told the story rather than being the star of the story, which is my preference in a novel. Flowery prose is not really my thing.Shara and company were sympathetic. I would say not too many of the side characters were fleshed out. The Saypuri governor of Bulikov had a set of characteristics the author had clearly decided on beforehand, and he took the opportunity on several occasions to remind us of those (e.g., her athleticism, her desire to retire to somewhere warm and sunny). But she doesn't get much deeper than that. Shara's old school friend (and lover) Vohannes is more complex, although again, he seems to me to be a combination of predetermined characteristics (relating to his upbringing as the second son of a rich and prominent family and his sexual orientation). Shara's secretary/bodyguard, Sigurd, is more complex, more than the sum of his parts, perhaps because we only learn his true heritage late in the book. I think Sigurd is written particularly well. And then there is Shara. I did say she was sympathetic, and I meant it. You find yourself on her side and you want her to succeed. But she seems less interesting, to me, than some of the side characters. I can describe more of her attributes -- competitiveness, compulsive tea drinker, small-framed without many curves, glasses, studious -- than for the other characters, but I kind of feel like I've seen this character before. (OK, although I wear contact lenses now, she sounds a lot like me. Even to the point of being within a few years of my age. Maybe I am not as interested in characters who are like me? Or just not used to encountering them. Shara is less risk-averse than I am, I suppose.)For what it's worth, it's honestly quite weird for me to be able to list character attributes like this. Unless they are referred to in the text quite frequently. I will say, you don't notice this while you are reading, but when you think about it later, the lists of attributes hit you. I feel like this compartmentalization is a little odd, is all. Too planned, or something.Anyway, the thing I haven't talked about is the plot. It doesn't go where you think it will (although there was one thing Shara didn't notice about a character until it was too late that I saw with a 5-mile-high neon sign several chapters earlier, it was otherwise not predictable), but the foundation is laid in the story, through flashbacks (there are a lot, but they didn't bother me here, and they always served to advance the main narrative), through inventory lists, through discussions between characters, through the italicized parts at the beginnings of chapters, so that you never feel a sense of deus ex machina. It takes awhile to really figure out what the main story is going to be and I think this is why I had some trouble getting into it.At any rate, I did quite enjoy this by the end and will be reading book two fairly soon.

As a fantasy lover, this was a joy to read. Good characters, a wonderfully crafted world. Just a pleasure overall. I look forward to the next book.

Lo compre como recomendación de un amigo y al decir verdad, aunque no es del todo mi tipo de lectura, me encanto, me pareció sumamente entretenido e interesante, sin duda alguna lo recomiendo!

Wonderful book. I loved the unique world the author has created and introduced to me and look forward to reading more of this series.

Primo volume di una trilogia fantasy, dalle tematiche originali. Ambientato in una città dopo una guerra devastante sia dal punto di vista ambientale che culturale-religioso, è un mix di spy story e thriller politico con 2 personaggi principali che sono ben caratterizzati.Una piacevole novità.

Ótima aventura fantasy\sci-fi fora do já batido cenário pseudo-medieval europeu, com ótimos personagens e uma trama que mistura espionagem, deuses, colonialismo e ação.