Low Town

A Novel

By: Daniel Polansky

Narrated by: Rob Shapiro

Length: 11 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's Summary

Drug dealers, hustlers, brothels, dirty politics, corrupt cops... and sorcery. Welcome to Low Town.

In the forgotten back alleys and flophouses that lie in the shadows of Rigus, the finest city of the Thirteen Lands, you will find Low Town. It is an ugly place, and its cham­pion is an ugly man. Disgraced intelligence agent. Forgotten war hero. Independent drug dealer. After a fall from grace five years ago, a man known as the Warden leads a life of crime, addicted to cheap violence and expensive drugs. Every day is a constant hustle to find new customers and protect his turf from low-life competition like Tancred the Harelip and Ling Chi, the enigmatic crime lord of the heathens.

The Warden’s life of drugged iniquity is shaken by his dis­covery of a murdered child down a dead-end street... set­ting him on a collision course with the life he left behind. As a former agent with Black House—the secret police—he knows better than anyone that murder in Low Town is an everyday thing, the kind of crime that doesn’t get investi­gated. To protect his home, he will take part in a dangerous game of deception between underworld bosses and the psy­chotic head of Black House, but the truth is far darker than he imagines. In Low Town, no one can be trusted.

Daniel Polansky has crafted a thrilling novel steeped in noir sensibilities and relentless action, and set in an original world of stunning imagination, leading to a gut-wrenching, unforeseeable conclusion. Low Town is an attention-grabbing debut that will leave listeners riveted... and hun­gry for more.

©2011 Daniel Polansky (P)2011 Random House

Critic Reviews

"Polansky hits all the right notes in his intelligent first novel, a blend of dystopian fantasy and hard-boiled crime.... Sharp, noir-tinged dialogue and astute insights into class struggle mark Polansky as a writer with a future." ( Publishers Weekly)

"A strong debut novel with a hero who doesn't waste time worrying about the moral implications of cutting someone's throat." ( Kirkus)

Great Listening Experience

This is one of those books that was made even better as an audiobook. An excellent narrator choice really made for a great listening experience.
The writing of the world and characters also made for a gritty noir detective novel.
I see there's 2 more books in this series, I wish they would release them in audiobook soon!

Impressive debut ??? Fantasy Noir

One part Richard K. Morgan and one part China Mieville. This debut novel starts out strong with Rob Shapiro doing an excellent(!) job of bringing life to the seedy streets of Low town. It starts strong, but doesn???t finish as strong. The world building is riveting enough, but as a detective novel it kind of fizzles out towards the end. Still, I am suitably impressed with this young author and will be watching out for more of his works in the future

Noir and fantasy walk into a bar...

Would you listen to Low Town again? Why?

I've listened to it twice already. I think you discover something new each time.

Who was your favorite character and why?

It's hard to like anyone in Low Town, but Yancey sticks out as an OK dude.

Which character – as performed by Rob Shapiro – was your favorite?

Warden. Mr. Shapiro captured his voice perfectly.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Oh god. No executive would ever touch this. "So get this, a fantasy drug dealer, who is also a veteran, gets involved with a series of wizard murders by demon. There's some racism, some poverty, and a lot of social commentary, and it ends with murder, murder, murder, and demons." No thanks.

Any additional comments?

It saddens me that Mr. Polansky's publishers will not produce audiobooks of the remainder of the trilogy. This is truly an outstanding work of modern fiction, and it's been buried. That's a crime greater than any Warden ever did.

Dark Fantasy done well

If you like Joe Abercrombie's writing I think Low Town is a story you will enjoy. Basically, a fallen man given an assignment he cannot refuse. Narration VERY good, so good that I will check the narrators work for more likely stories.

Very good book.

The main character was realistic, the story was fast pace and engaging, the narrator was good and it didn't jump between 5 different POV's. I loved it. It feels like a long time since I listened to something that didn't make me cringe and think "oh my god that's so fucking stupid" every other chapter. The book is pretty dark and definitely not family friendly but again, I loved it. I will definitely be reading more of Daniel Polanski's work.

For the noble embittered curmudgeons

A fantasy detective story set in the aftermath of a magical world's WWI, using a first person narrative where the main character is hates everything and spins his story with a heavy dose of invective for everything and everyone, himself chief amongst his targets. An unlikely and unwilling hero type of story that I cannot recommend enough.

Rarely wowed but consistently good

It's not a noir, but it's damn close. It read in a way that felt like a less intense Richard K. Morgan, if more predictable. This book didn't have any big twists that I couldn't see coming from half the novel away, but knowing the destination doesn't make the journey any less fun and it wasn't like I could call the whole novel just the big plot points.
I am writing this before reading the second novel so I'm not sure if any of the plot holes will be addressed in the next in the series but there are a few, though none that couldn't be explained by character oversight and not author oversight.
About the narrator, he's no Simon Vance or Colin Mace and has a rather limited set of voices and a weird accent that I had trouble placing as the character's or his. These are minor flaws though and he does a pretty good job.
I know I only really pointed out flaws but the ones I listed are the only ones I felt were worth mentioning. Overall it was a fun ride and I would happily recommend this to anyone. Not too fantastical to turn people off, not too twisted to confuse, it was a unique book in the fantasy genre

Solid

Good, solid book. Good narrator. There’s things about it I really like. Some things I think it needs more or. Nothing too special though. A good book. Maybe not an amazing book.

The Warden

The Warden is gruff, gritty, ugly, smart, witty, an ex war hero, ex intelligence agent, and a ruthless drug dealing addict, with a moral code when possible. He has a bar in the forgotten part of Rigus, called Low Town, where he fights to keep his turf free from other drug lords. Warden's life is in for an even bigger struggle when he stumbles upon a dead child and it soon becomes a matter of life and death to find the killer.
The story is grimdark, noir, detective, and fantasy loaded with sorcery.
If you love the oldtime crime detective stories, where the hero is also anti-hero with a no nonsense approach to life; and also enjoy a good dose of fantasy, then pick this one up and read.
Rob Shapiro was excellent bringing the book to life.

Low town is an excellent new world! Good Job!

I really liked this book...I can't wait to start the second one in the series!