A City Dreaming

By: Daniel Polansky

Narrated by: Eric Meyers

M is a drifter with a sharp tongue, few scruples, and limited magical ability who would prefer drinking artisanal beer to involving himself in the politics of the city. Alas, in the infinite nexus of the universe which is New York, trouble is a hard thing to avoid, and now a rivalry between the city's two queens threatens to make the Big Apple go the way of Atlantis. To stop it, M will have to call in every favor, waste every charm, and blow every spell he's ever acquired. He might even have to get out of bed before noon.

Enter a world of Wall Street wolves, slumming scenesters, desperate artists, drug-induced divinities, pocket steam-punk universes, and hipster zombies. Because the city never sleeps but is always dreaming.

©2016 Daniel Polansky (P)2016 Hodder & Stoughton

Wonderful imaginative unusual fantasy- enjoy....

Looked forward to reading more by Daniel Polansky, after loving The Builders, and am very happy to have found A City Dreaming. This was an unusual, fascinating book and one I enjoyed from start to finish. The style is laid back, generally mellow, the prose is a pleasure and the strange, cleverly drawn character of M appealed to me from the start..

A clever mixture of magical realism and urban fantasy,.with no conventional plot line. Instead a series of chapters in the life of M, living in a New York where monsters and magical creatures mingle amongst the locals. We gradually get to know more about M's particular circle of friends, and the various tasks, adventures and pleasures shared are fascinating, weird, imaginative and non stop entertaining.

M is lazy, pleasure loving, morally flexible and can be deliberately irritating, but somehow always the one who gets called if someone is in trouble, or has a problem. He has magical powers which he uses gently or harshly, depending on circumstance. M remains a mystery and that is fine by me, I don't want him analysed, just hope he is around somewhere still.

A City Dreaming is also a long love letter to New York, shown in so many of it's complexities, diversity and idiosyncrasies. I laughed about the invasion of the coffee shops, and many other humourous happenings, but this is balanced by episodes of cruelty and horror. Only fair because any great city has it's dark, vile underside. If you are a New Yorker you will enjoy extra subtleties and nuances, but this does not make it any the less enjoyable for those of us who have only dreamed of visiting.

Eric Meyers is a new narrator to me and I am glad to have discovered his talent here. He added to my enjoyment of this excellent book which will remain a long term favourite of mine. (less)