City of Last Chances (The Tyrant Philosophers)

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It's possible that I was drifting away from certain events or members of the dramatis personae because the city itself was more important than them in the grand scheme of things. So long as they act within their purview and extend their power to willing converts, however, a god's own strength does not seem to matter too much when preforming miracles. God used to be worshipped everywhere in Ilmar yet his followers are dwindling to the point where God can only be seen by his high priest, Yasnic. Finesse and clarity of detail in the world building is the rock on which Tchaikovsky has built the City of Last Chances .

The richness, complexity and strangeness of Illmar was beguiling and reminded me of New Crobuzon (China Miélville's "Perdido Street Junction"). It touches on colonialism and oppression, exploitation and subjugation, naive youthful fervor and cynical calculated greed.I quite enjoyed this dense storytelling approach as a challenge to sit back and enjoy the ride and as its an Adrian Tchaikovsky novel I should know it will work. The city of Ilmar may be not as strange and beautifully ugly as Miéville’s New Crobuzon, but it’s decidedly unpleasant in a oddly fascinating way. Ilmar itself has a history out of any number of medieval fantasy worlds of aristocrats, mages, soldiers, and monsters.

There were so many POVs that I didn't get spend very time with each character before the story jumped to a different one to keep the plot moving. For another, its magic, while quite present, takes a back seat to the totalitarian regime, rebellion, and a bit of worldbuilding mystery. I loved seeing how the individuals, from all walks of life, made this city their home and sought to transform it into something other than what is currently is. From the idealist student, priest going through a crisis, mercenaries and factory works, you get a rich picture of a city on the brink of civil unrest.So I’m genuinely jealous of you, currently reading this review - you’ve probably not read this book yet. I had never read anything by Adrian Tchaikovsky, despite seeing his name very often on Goodreads and various lists of sci-fi and fantasy authors to watch. That being said, it was a unique reading experience that I would recommend mostly because I'd be interested to see what other people think of this intriguing book. Travelling through it is extremely dangerous due to the monsters that live there, so unless you're an extremely capable fighter (such as Hellgram), a traveler will need powerful, rare protective charms to pass through. The Revolution Will Not Be Civilized: Most of the city's resistance factions are willing to get their hands as dirty as the Pals' are to free their city and make sure that they get to be on top instead of the other resistance groups when the city is free.

Approximately every 8-10 chapters, there is a Mosaic chapter, which I would describe as a city-eyed view of happenings: summarising what is taking place throughout many areas of the city at the given time. The building isn't considered a real part of Ilmar by the city's citizens, and the Anchorage's keeper acts as an ambassador to the Indwellers, which gives it a strong liminal quality.This makes him the polar opposite of Vulture gang enforcer Ruslav, who bullies his way through life, given pause only by his ter­rifying bosses (the dire Bitter Sisters and their voracious pet monster) and by his participa­tion in the Pursuit, the gang culture’s strange cross between courtly love and stalking.