The City That Would Eat the World

More Gods Than Stars, Book 1

De: John Bierce

Narrado por: Robin Miles

Thea is a washed-up mimic exterminator who expected more out of life, not some hero from stories. Aven is an impulsive wandering adventurer whose personal goddess is constantly getting her into trouble. Neither of them has the slightest interest in getting involved in world-shaking historical events.

History doesn't care what they want, unfortunately. It's fallen right into their laps in the shape of a god-slaying weapon from a fallen civilization. Thrown together out of chance, Thea and Aven will have to learn to work together if they want to survive their pursuers.

Because if they fail, and the weapon falls into the wrong hands? The results won't be pretty. No one's going to be using it on some random street corner goddess, teakettle god, or any of the other countless teeming millions of divinities on Ishveos.

No, there's one target that sits above all others.

Cambrias, whose watch never ends. Cambrias, whose power has given rise to Cambrias' Wall, the greatest city in the known multiverse—a city that has already covered much of a continent and is strip-mining entire mountain ranges for space and building material. A city that threatens to spread across the entire surface of Ishveos.

And there's no shortage of folks willing to kill Thea and Aven in order to stop the Wall, no matter the consequences.

Contains a special note from the author.

©2024 John Bierce (P)2025 Podium Audio

How do you follow up Mage Errant?

Bierce asks the question: What if the cops were driving the military industrial complex and imperial expansion.

But also magic.

It’s a nuanced take on real world problems while also being an incredibly fun adventure set in an incredibly interesting magical world.

I’m left with questions on how Mage Errants great powers would fare against a divinity!

Can’t wait for the next.

A new, creative world from Bierce

I loved Mage Errant, and this has not disappointed me so far. it's slightly less "scientific" about the magic system itself, but it makes up for it with the depth of the world. and more importantly, the dialog retains its charm, although I'm hoping there will be more characters in future books. (personally, I actually like that he introduces characters fairly slowly. I can get invested in the characters, unlike novels that dump dozens of near-meaningless names on you.)

PS: Sorry for errors in capitalization. I'm on mobile and for some reason the app didn't capitalize automatically.

Bierce doesn't miss

I've been looking forward to this since it was announced, and it scratched my lore obsessed itch. Rich, deep world and interesting magic system, captivating characters whose stories you can't wait to see unfold. I need more of More Gods Than Stars now!!

fun and expansive world

A truly great fantasy world. the book does a great job of going in depth with spacing out its world building so to never become too withdrawn from the plot. the two main characters are enjoyable, and the author does well in giving all the characters different voices.

narration was solid. I'm not overly picky myself, but couldn't find anything that detracted from my experience.

overall, a 5/5 for me

Great world building and amazing narrator

Bierce hits it out of the park again, super interesting world and an amazing narrator that’s perfect for the story

Such a Thing as Too Much World Building

FYI Lots of lgbtq+ themes. Which I'm fine with but it might turn off some people. I'm not even sure about the story. Is there one? Ya know how some books drone on and on about stats and other metrics that aren't strictly necessary to expand on the story? This book is like that but about economics. This book is a Mashup of Terry Pratchett, Neil Gamen, and an investment banker. The flashbacks are really awkwardly kind of stuffed into the story along with unending explaining about the world's economics. Maybe things would pick up later in the book but honestly I have no interest in trying to get that far.

loved the world building

loved the world building it was overall a good story but I found myself having trouble connecting with the mcs, still a good story but I don't think I will be giving book 2 a go

A More Deliberative Bierce Fantasy

While this story occurs in the same multiverse of Mage Errant, the tone of this novel is notably more deliberative than his most popular series. The characters are older and grapple with more somber challenges, reflecting through flashbacks on childhoods. The story is ultimately inspiring but listeners will find the frequent reflection a change of pace from the action-packed plot.

Bierce also flushes out another fascinating world of magic and politics while further examining perspectives of living under a fantasy empire. He at one point gets quite detailed regarding the economics of the prayer system (theonomics) which I loved.

The narration I also enjoyed. I did notice that the accent chosen for one of the characters was contrived. However, I did not notice until halfway through so make of that what you will.

Overall, strongly recommend!

World Creation with Brandon Sanderson

It amazing that it can be so crazy and creative with simple ideas. And their are great characters that are so repatibal.

The world

I love how this author makes the fictional world feel so real. The characters are also relevant and there are always great details that layer into the whole making it a place I can almost see and feel.