City of Last Chances

By: Adrian Tchaikovsky

Narrated by: David Thorpe

Length: 19 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

Arthur C. Clarke winner Adrian Tchaikovsky's triumphant return to fantasy with a darkly inventive portrait of a city under occupation and on the verge of revolution. There has always been a darkness to Ilmar, but never more so than now. The city chafes under the heavy hand of the Palleseen occupation, the choke-hold of its criminal underworld, the boot of its factory owners, the weight of its wretched poor and the burden of its ancient curse. What will be the spark that lights the conflagration? Despite the city's refugees, wanderers, murderers, madmen, fanatics and thieves, the catalyst, as always, will be the Anchorwood–that dark grove of trees, that primeval remnant, that portal, when the moon is full, to strange and distant shores. Ilmar, some say, is the worst place in the world and the gateway to a thousand worse places. Ilmar, City of Long Shadows. City of Bad Decisions. City of Last Chances.

©2022 Adrian Tchaikovsky (P)2022 Head of Zeus

World building

4.5/5 stars for me.
-it dragged a bit with the set up to the penultimate action.
-world building was great
-sets up many more entries in the world.
- the commentary on what we are willing to endure waiting for change or what we allow to happen to others if it benefits ourselves was masterfully done.

Worth reading

I really enjoyed this book. It had some great characters and a well developed world. The setting is pretty unique. It is a little hard to pin down, but it is reminiscent of the industrial revolution and WWI.

I also appreciated that it was pretty clean and wasn't overly dark or overly angsty. A lot of fantasy books are way over the top, and this one was not like that. My only complaint is that the ending was a bit sudden. I wish there was a sequel.

Those who are patient are rewarded.

The first few hours are a very slow going process to intricately and deeply explain the many characters, and components that paint the city and it's inhabitants. The very idea of the story is just that, the inhabitants and the many threads that interweave them together. Supernatural creatures, magic, black markets, gangs, gods, and mixed motivations. Once it gets going, the overall pace is very good (after the first few hours) and captivating with a very nice ending for those who made it past the turbulence.

Amazing world building

Tchaikovsky’s imagination is supported by the depth of his fully-fleshed (and highly fallible) characters, and action and high stakes leavened with dry humor.

Vibrant Fantasy World

Excellent world building. The author turns standard fantasy tropes on their collective ears and builds a city that is both familiar and new.

Awesome story

This book was a little slow to start, but had a number of excellent threads the lasted throughout it. Once it got going, both the character development, and the action were well written, and enjoyable. And I loved how the protagonists did not have an easy time of things.

A bit disjointed, but entertaining and interesting

This book has a lot of characters whose perspectives it switches between, and the switches are often. Despite this, it tells an interesting story of a city in turmoil. It feels a bit like you're an observer watching a particular series of events unfold across a much, much larger story.

Brilliant.

Such a unique story. I love all the different characters. Here are some more words so my review is long enough.

Occupied Paris during WW2 In Fantasy World?

I have no idea if that is an accurate description, but it was the most persistent correlation I had in my head throughout the book.

Pros
Good World building focused on a city and its mystic grove of trees A plethora of different characters who were well developed, and some interesting magic mechanics I thought was interesting. I enjoy when multiple magical systems are introduced.

Cons:
the way the view jumped from a large number of characters both major an minor, caused the plots and timelines to be hard to follow sometimes. Found it hard to get attached to any of the characters and, maybe due to the fact there were so many perspectives, I had a hard time finishing the book.

Great Narration, not my favorite A.T. Story

Some authors get stuck in a rut, but definitely not Adrian Tchaikovsky. I was expecting to enjoy a great sci-fi that challenges our assumption about sentient life, like many of his other works. But, this was entirely different. I loved the narration, but the story never grabbed me.