The House of Shattered Wings by Aliette de Bodard

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

by Aliette de Bodard

Multi-award winning author Aliette de Bodard, brings her story of the War in Heaven to Paris, igniting the City of Light in a fantasy of divine power and deep conspiracy…

In the late twentieth century, the streets of Paris are lined with haunted ruins, the aftermath of a Great War between arcane powers. Those that survived the carnage still retain their irrepressible appetite for novelty and distraction, and The Great Houses still vie for dominion over France’s once grand capital.

Once the most powerful and formidable, House Silverspires now lies in disarray. Within its walls, three very different people must come together: a naive but powerful Fallen angel; an alchemist with a self-destructive addiction; and a resentful young man wielding spells of unknown origin. They may be Silverspires’ salvation—or the architects of its last, irreversible fall. And if Silverspires falls, so may the city itself.

Reviewed by Lianne on

4 of 5 stars

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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!

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  • Started reading
  • 12 August, 2015: Finished reading
  • 12 August, 2015: Reviewed