Member Review
Review by
Sara B, Reviewer
City of Last Chances by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Thank you Netgalley and Head of Zeus for the ARC ebook for an unbiased review.
I have previously loved much of Adrian Tchaikovsky's writing, so was excited to delve into this book. While much of what he writes is sci-fi, this is much more epic fantasy, also a genre I love.
To begin with, I loved the whole thing. Sadly though I began to sag under the weight of all that was going on. While there are glossaries for factions plus a list of characters involved, I landed up having to refer to them much too often to make what was good about the book enjoyable enough, to mark 2 stars for me. A difficult decision for me to decide on this rating. So perhaps I can explain a little more as to what I loved and what I found disappointing.
One of Adrian's great strengths is the way the prose brings landscapes and characters alive. That is evident here. Sadly though the way they have the book laid out makes it a confusing mass of characters. I feel that it needed either less characters so you don't lose sight of who is who, or the stories of each are more bunched together, so aspects of their story don't get lost in the midst of the others.
If I felt the story flowed more, that was less convoluted on characters, then it would easily be a full star rating. The lore and overall world building were as good as I've come to expect from Adrian Tchaikovsky. There was plenty of intrigue, and I was able to keep reading because I wanted to know more about Ilmar and Anchorwood etc.
So conflicting emotions for me here. It undoubtedly had aspects of Adrian Tchaikovsky that I love, and as much as I wanted to love this book, characters were too convoluted for me to truly enjoy it all.
Others of course may be able to enjoy more from this. I sincerely hope that is the case, but sadly I wasn't able to be one of those people.
2/5 stars 🌟
Thank you Netgalley and Head of Zeus for the ARC ebook for an unbiased review.
I have previously loved much of Adrian Tchaikovsky's writing, so was excited to delve into this book. While much of what he writes is sci-fi, this is much more epic fantasy, also a genre I love.
To begin with, I loved the whole thing. Sadly though I began to sag under the weight of all that was going on. While there are glossaries for factions plus a list of characters involved, I landed up having to refer to them much too often to make what was good about the book enjoyable enough, to mark 2 stars for me. A difficult decision for me to decide on this rating. So perhaps I can explain a little more as to what I loved and what I found disappointing.
One of Adrian's great strengths is the way the prose brings landscapes and characters alive. That is evident here. Sadly though the way they have the book laid out makes it a confusing mass of characters. I feel that it needed either less characters so you don't lose sight of who is who, or the stories of each are more bunched together, so aspects of their story don't get lost in the midst of the others.
If I felt the story flowed more, that was less convoluted on characters, then it would easily be a full star rating. The lore and overall world building were as good as I've come to expect from Adrian Tchaikovsky. There was plenty of intrigue, and I was able to keep reading because I wanted to know more about Ilmar and Anchorwood etc.
So conflicting emotions for me here. It undoubtedly had aspects of Adrian Tchaikovsky that I love, and as much as I wanted to love this book, characters were too convoluted for me to truly enjoy it all.
Others of course may be able to enjoy more from this. I sincerely hope that is the case, but sadly I wasn't able to be one of those people.
2/5 stars 🌟
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