The House of Shattered Wings (Dominion of the Fallen, #1)

by Aliette de Bodard

Paris in the aftermath of the Great Magicians War. Its streets are lined with haunted ruins, Notre-Dame is a burnt-out shell, and the Seine runs black, thick with ashes and rubble. Yet life continues among the wreckage. The citizens retain their irrepressible appetite for novelty and distraction, and The Great Houses still vie for dominion over France's once grand capital.
House Silverspires, previously the leader of those power games, now lies in disarray. Its
magic is ailing; its founder, Morningstar, has been missing for decades; and now something
from the shadows stalks its people inside their very own walls.
Within the House, three very different people must come together: a naive but powerful Fallen, an alchemist with a self-destructive addiction, and a resentful young man wielding spells from the Far East. They may be Silverspires' salvation; or the architects of its last, irreversible fall . . .

• ISBN10: 1473212553
• ISBN13: 9781473212558
• Publish Date: 20 August 2015 (first published 18 August 2015)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 5 March 2021
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Gollancz
• Format: Paperback (UK Trade)
• Pages: 416
• Language: English

Reviews

[neddieb]

This book had an awesome premise, however I found myself at times being bored. It was hard for me to read at times. The characters in this book including Phillippe was boring. Phillipe’s history was difficult to discern. Wish the author was a little more informative on who and what he was. I’m still kind of lost trying to figure Phillipe’s role in the story.

I would have liked to have read more on Morningdtar and Isabelle. There characters were really interesting however not enough emphasis was placed on them.

Too many fillers and not enough character building.
Book was okay.

[viking2917]

Very atmospheric urban fantasy set in an alternate Paris. Good fun, not quite as compelling as I hoped, but still very good.

[Charli G.]

** I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed are 100% my own.**

This book was very hard for me to stop reading. I kept wanting to come back to it again and again, finally just taking about 6 hours and finishing the last half of the book.

This story is unlike anything I've ever read before, and that's a good thing! The concept of fallen angels isn't new to fiction, but this take on them is refreshing. It brings into perspective the idea behind the fallen angels and behind Lucifer aka the Morning Star, and how God doesn't forgive the fallen angels.

I love the characters and even though I know that Morningstar should technically be considered a bad guy, I have to say that I really liked what of his character I got to see. I also really liked how the setting of the book was Paris, but not a Paris like we would ever know. I'm not even sure what time period this is actually set in - in the book it mentions 1914 and how the next fashion season never came about, then says it's been about 60 years since the War - but there's no other references to time so the book could be set in the 1970s or later.

All in all it's a very good read, though at times hard to follow if you're not paying close attention. I highly recommend you check this book out, if only for the fresh take on fallen angels.

[Lianne]

I was approved an ARC of this book by the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This review in its entirety was originally posted at eclectictales.com: http://www.eclectictales.com/blog/2015/08/17/review-the-house-of-shattered-wings/

I admit, the first few chapters of the book was a bit hard to get through; it almost felt as though the reader was thrown into the fray and it took some adjusting to the world, the magic system, what is going on. The setting was really interesting though–late twentieth century but rather post-apocalyptic after events of a Great War between the Great Houses. Post-war Paris feels familiar with all the famous landmarks and buildings but otherwise feels eerie and different with the Great Houses and the darkness and roughness of its streets.

As I mentioned it did take a while for me to warm up to the book. All of the characters felt rather remote to me; granted, perhaps that was what I was supposed to feel about the characters as the Fallen were pretty outerworldly and disconnected from everything else, even though they did fall. Nonetheless I was interested in them enough to keep reading, especially as the mystery of the curse and shadows haunting House Silverspires finally makes an appearance in the story. The mystery not only expanded on the history of the Great Houses, the characters involved, and the overall worldbuilding and magic systems that operated in this world, but it also added to the atmosphere of the story and the danger in which these characters were facing.

The conflict between the Houses was also very interesting and weaved into the mystery quite nicely. I wished there were more scenes about the politics going on between the Houses, as I was interested to read more about House Lazarus’ own goals and the chippy arrogance of House Hawthorne as well as what led to the demise of the lesser Houses. I liked that the consequences of the Great War is still being felt in this story, and you get hints as to why things are the way they are and what caused the war to begin with.

Overall I really enjoyed reading The House of Shattered Wings. It was slow at first, but once the mystery is revealed and the conflict established, it was hard to put the book down; I ended up reading most of it in a day. The worldbuilding and magics involved are definitely a highlight, but the mystery was intriguing and the all-around ominous nature of the shadows lurking around House Silverspires really creepy. Readers of fantasy will definitely want to check this title out!