City of Bones

by Martha Wells

Scientific magic and fairy magic collide headlong in the threatened kingdom of Ile-Rien, where the Captain of the Queen's Guard fights a perilous battle standing between opposing forces seeking to topping the kingdom's young king.

• ISBN10: 0812567080
• ISBN13: 9780812567083
• Publish Date: 15 June 1996 (first published 15 July 1994)
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Out of Print: 13 July 2011
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Tor Books
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 488
• Language: English

Reviews

[Quirky Cat]

Book Summary:

The city of Charisat is vast – and deeply separated. Each tier of the city represents another class of people. Those on the upper levels live grand lives, while those below...do not. Khat and Sagai live on the lower tiers, and they've made decent lives for themselves.

However, there's no denying the constant threat to Khat. He is from outside, and that puts him in constant danger. Yet even he can't resist the offer to look into a new Ancient artifact, knowing full well that trouble it will likely dump in his lap.

Side note: This is the edited and revised version of City of Bones, released in 2023. The novel was originally released in 1995. Having not read the original, I can't speak to what changes were made.

My Review:

Oh wow. I'm not going to lie, guys; I wish I had read City of Bones sooner. It's SO good! I instantly fell in love with this world and genuinely wish there was more of it (I checked, and I can't find any proof that the story continues into a series? Please tell me I'm wrong).

The story is split into two perspectives: Khat and Elen. Both come from vastly different lives and seeing how their stories wove together was a delight. Likewise, I enjoyed reading about this world's magical and political systems. Martha Wells is brilliant when it comes to worldbuilding.

Speaking of, you can see glimmers of her other series in City of Bones. Khat has some elements in common with other protagonists. That's not a bad thing. I love seeing authors play with similar tropes and designs, perfecting them as they go.

It's been far too long since I dove into a dystopian fantasy. I forgot how much I enjoy these complex elements and storytelling styles. I need to treat myself to books like this more often.

All things said and done, reading City of Bones has further convinced me that I desperately need to read through the rest of Martha Wells' backlog – ASAP. I'm clearly missing out!

Highlights:
Dystopian Fantasy
Magical Archaeologists
Complex Fantasy System
From the Author of MurderBot Diaries

Trigger Warnings:
Prejudice

Thanks to Tor and #NetGalley for making this book available for review. All opinions expressed are my own.

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[Metaphorosis Reviews]

3.5 stars, Metaphorosis reviews

Summary
In a fantastic alternate Europe, Thomas, favorite and once lover of the Dowager Queen, is on an errand to recover a kidnapped sorceror - a mission he's unlikely to survive, and that may be the point for the King and his sycophants.

Review
I can never remember whether I first encountered Wells through The Element of Fire or City of Bones. After just re-reading both, though, I tend to think it was City of Bones. That is an excellent book and would certainly have sent me looking for more. This is a good book, well written, but not really my kind of thing – it’s very courtly and political, though with enough engaging characters to keep things moving along nicely – after a pretty slow start. I’m not sure I’d have pursued more Wells books after reading just this.

As noted, the book starts slowly – very slowly. We’re thrown into actions scenes with our protagonist, but have neither the context to understand the world nor the background to find the protagonist appealing. I found the first couple of chapters dry and dense, to the extent that I shifted to a John DeChancie comedy for a while just to regain some momentum. After that stumble, the book does pick up considerably, though it sticks to a sort of romantic court politics that I just don’t find very interesting. This especially because the key romance is of an older man with a young woman – literally his former lover’s stepdaughter; I found it a bit on the icky side. The book not only is based in an alternate Europe (not my kind of thing either) but deals with a version of Faerie, complete with Seelie and Unseelie Courts (again, not my thing). I give credit to Wells for making this trifecta of ‘not my things’ pretty palatable and decently fast-moving.

I read this in the new, revised (likely only lightly, based on the re-released City of Bones) omnibus edition with its sequel, Death of the Necromancer, but I’d guess not too much has changed. At least, nothing particular stood out. If you like these kinds of topics, this book is well done. If you just like Martha Wells, this book is also well done, and you may enjoy it. I did eventually grow into the series enough that I picked up most of the several sequels.

PS I’m posting this with the original paperback cover, which, I have to point out, is pretty misleading.