Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City

The Siege, Book 1

By: K. J. Parker

Narrated by: Ray Sawyer

Length: 13 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

K. J. Parker's new novel is the remarkable tale of the siege of a walled city and the even more remarkable man who had to defend it.

A siege is approaching, and the city has little time to prepare. The people have no food and no weapons, and the enemy has sworn to slaughter them all.

To save the city will take a miracle, but what it has is Orhan. A colonel of engineers, Orhan has far more experience with bridge building than battles, is a cheat and a liar, and has a serious problem with authority. He is, in other words, perfect for the job.

Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City is the story of Orhan, son of Siyyah Doctus Felix Praeclarissimus, and his history of the Great Siege, written down so that the deeds and sufferings of great men may never be forgotten.

©2019 K. J. Parker (P)2019 Hachette Audio UK

Critic reviews

"Full of invention and ingenuity...Great fun." (SFX)

"Parker's settings and characterisations never miss a beat." (Library Journal)

Please, Audible, MORE KJ PARKER NOVELS!

Another entertaining KJ Parker read. I highly recommend Parker’s work to fans of ancient and medieval history—despite his work not being historical fiction; to fans of fantasy—despite there being no magic presented in the narrative; to fans of comedy—especially to those who prefer the dark, ironic, and clever sort of delivery that sometimes makes you uncomfortable for laughing at it.

Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City isn’t my favorite novel of Parker’s. That honor goes to The Folding Knife, or perhaps Sharps... maybe Devices and Desires. Then again, his collection of short fiction, Academic Exercises, might just take the cake. I really like his work. A lot.

But Sixteen Ways is special, because it is the first of Parker’s novels available from Audible. Audiobooks happen to be my preferred method of reading. Because I like Parker so much, I’m willing to make my eyes tired and take six months to finish one of his books in print. But I’d much rather listen to one of his books in a day and a half, as I did with Sixteen. Please, Audible, give us more!

phenomenal performance, stellar book

narrator was amazing, content was quality, literary grade work that is going into my shelf of top three books I've read

This one is really amazing

This book was really great. its not for everyone I imagine, but the narrator either the narrator brought exactly the correct tone to the story or the narrator actually made his tone the correct tone when a different one would have been very different. I suspect the first one. That being said, the second book is fine, but not at good.

If you like Tom Holt's work you will love this

Why? Because it in fact is Tom Holt who wrote it.
That should be all one needs to know.

Very, very entertaining

A wonderful pseudo historical fantasy work that makes me think of Douglas Adams collaborating with Umberto Eco. “The Name of the Rose”, but cheeky and funny, absolutely entertaining, and narrated to perfection.
If there’s an audiobook term for a “page turner”, this is it. The “unreliable narrator” Orhan is so full of shit but he presents it with humble sincerity: “I just build bridges”

great performance

I really enjoyed the story and the performance. Very well done, the narrator nailed the personna.

Top quality first person narrative

The story takes place in notConstantinople and the main character is as charming as he is irritating (in a good way, mind you). The schemes the author comes up with are legitimately genius and the prose is nothing short of excellent.

wonderful book

I didn't think I could find another audiobook I'd enjoy after listening to Steven Pacey read The First Law series. I was wrong. This book has similar terrific somewhat dark humor. The narrator is perfect. The story is smart and entertaining the entire way through. I'm sad it's over.

Brilliant writing. Transcends the premise

Much like in Andy Weir's "The Martian," the protagonist of this book is a problem solver. Orhan is an inventor, gadgeteer, and mechanical engineer. Often, the physics and logistics problems take the forefront of the story and the character's thoughts.

But unlike the story of a single engineer working alone, the cynical and self-despising Orhan must solve his hardest problems among, with, and for...other people. Lots of them. These are people who don't much care for him, or for each other, or even for the problem of their own survival.

Initially, it seems that the author is sweeping aside the usual institutional and bureaucratic barriers for his main character, letting Orhan get away with stepping into the power vacuum of a beseiged city. But as the stakes rise from the mere survival of a single city to genocide and the whole sweep of future history, the author shifts into a new and more powerful storytelling gear. Startling personal revelations about Orhan's past fit seamlessly into the escalating tension of the plot. Just as we gain a deeper understanding of how this middle-aged engineer became the way he is, the crisis of the present seems to be an eerie echo of his decisions and mistakes of the past.

The humanity of this book outshines the well-told military and mechanical aspects. Orhan sometimes does manage to solve complex people-problems by growing into the role of an effective leader, but sometimes not. Some of his people rise to the roles and challenges he defines for them, and some still let him down. At the start of the siege, one of the scarcest commodities he's got is his supply of "give a damn" about others. This resource is constantly depleted by the people of his own side, and sapped by the enemy.

It all rings beautifully true. The epilogue is poignant. Ray Sawyer delivers a drily humorous and ruminant performance which neatly fits Orhan's own sardonic, self-critical account of events.

In all, this is the best novel I have read in years. Looking forward to the other book in the series.

Painfully Slow Beginning; Start on Ch. 2

The author overcomplicated the introduction, which is an excruciating labyrinth of entirely unnecessary world building and context setting for a contrastingly simple setting. I skipped ahead to chapter 2, spared myself some agony, and never missed an important detail — the story then unfolds in a very straightforward and enjoyable narrative.