City in Chains

De: Harry Turtledove

Narrado por: Peter Berkrot

A gritty new epic fantasy by New York Times bestselling and Hugo-winning author, Harry Turtledove.

A conquered city. A growing resistance. A war for their freedom.

For three long years, the militant Chleuh have occupied the Kingdom of Quimper and its great capital, Lutesse. Times are hard since they won the war. There’s not much food or fuel—the Chleuh take anything that isn’t nailed down.

People in Lutesse have terrible choices to make. Do they go along with the Chleuh and try to make the best of a bad situation? Or do they try to fight back, hoping the occupation can’t last forever?

Take Malk Malkovici, junkman extraordinaire. He’s a foreigner in Lutesse, and one who follows the wrong gods. If he doesn’t make himself useful to the Chleuh, he’s a dead man. If he makes himself too useful and the occupiers lose the war, the resistance will have its revenge. It’s a fine line to walk.

Or Guisa Sachry, an actor who craves the attention of an audience to feel alice. But the Chleuh control the theaters the same way they control all the other arts. If he’s going to appear at all, he has to accommodate himself to them. And the longer the war goes on, the deeper in he gets.

It can't go on like this forever. Battle-dragons fly over Lutesse. Resistance rises.

Liberation may not be far away. . . .

CITY IN CHAINS is a new military epic fantasy by Harry Turtledove, the NYT bestselling and Hugo-winning author of Worldwar. Set in a city reminiscent of occupied Paris during World War II, join a trapped people as they turn to magic to try to make life tolerable among occupation by a Gestapo-like force.

©2025 Aethon Books (P)2025 Aethon Audio

Surprisingly powerful story

This is my first book by Mr Turtledove. I’ve heard of him as a fantasy alternate history author with plenty of street cred. Entering this story with little more preamble than that, I was utterly delighted.
I, myself, have found new characters in a familiar land with a magical twist, and I loved it. The peril of the playwright with a sordid habit or two endeared me in the end as I saw so much of myself in him. I too must not give up despite what others think. The playwright inspired me to be better in many ways, including having gratitude for what I have instead of fretting for what I don’t.

Peter Berkrot’s narration was top notch as usual. He adds a whimsical tone that fits so well with this adventure and the lively characters. Truly a magnificent performance!

I expect to read many more of Mr Turtledove’s stories after this. City of Chains was a sweet drink that quenched my thirst for new characters and a magical story. Cheers!

Excellent world building

Even though this is fantasy it felt like a real city with real events. The story in the city was engaging with interesting characters. Overall, it was very well done. The narration was very good too.

WWII Poland, but with Dragons

I'm having trouble wrapping my head around this one. Of the main characters there was only one that I found I cared about. There were others that I actively disliked. I feel that there were a number of missed opportunities to explore interesting elements, the dragon riders for instance.
There was background tragedy that I found difficultly becoming invested in. There seemed to be an attempt to generate a similar emotional response one might have when studying the ethnic cleansing in WWII. I do not think that is the best choice since the reality was so much worse than fiction can depict.