City of Stairs: A Novel (The Divine Cities)

This book was not anywhere on my radar, I only read it because it was my book club pick of the month.

The author WAS on my radar because I've seen so much hype over his Foundryside and Shorefall books.

I was completely shocked at how much I enjoyed this book. I will be completely transparent in that I was about halfway through when I went ahead and started trying to get my hands on the next 2 books in the series.

I have always been fascinated with Greek mythology growing up and this story fed into that addiction. I am a character driven reader and unfortunately in this story, I found the characters to be on the weaker and underdeveloped side until the end of the book. (Even then we only got 2 of them developed a bit) So if you're a character driven reader like me, you may struggle. The plot, however is what shines here - and it was SO good that it kept me turning page after page after page.

***CONTAINS BIG SPOILERS*** It took me SEVERAL attempts before I got into a good groove with this book. I think it was 60+ pages before I got even the slightest bit hooked. In all honesty, if it wasn't for it being a book club read, there's a good chance I would have left it unfinished, though I am glad I kept chugging along. I enjoyed all the characters. Shara had good character development and Sigrud had an interesting back story. There was never any confusion of who was saying what, because one thing the author did who was give each character distinctive personalities and stuck to them. The plot was unique but it didn't leave me feeling wowed at the end of the book. I even found some of the things, that I think were suppose to be twist, to be a bit predictable; Sigrud having experienced the Finger of Kolkan, Kolkan being in the glass, Shara being a descendent of the Divine, Vinya ordering the hit on Efrom, Sigrud being the lost prince, and so many more. Additionally, events that I felt were leading up to something big ended up feeling rushed or not as significant as i thought they would be; The Unmentionable Warehouses, Shara seeing Vohannes after all those years, Sigrud's time inside Urav, finally making it to the Old Bulikov. While the book was entertaining, I feel it could have been so much more. I would have loved more letters from the past that described the Divinities and their territories to greater extent. A greater exploration of the Warehouses instead of them catching fire right away would have also been awesome. Would I recommend this book? Eh, yeah. It wouldn't be "omg, you have to read this book!" My recommendation of City of Stairs would have a "but..." following it; a forewarning of sorts.

***THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS*** As I opened the book and began reading the first chapter all I could think was, “Oh God… a courtroom? Over some guy who made his store logo into something that appeared SIMILAR to a divine symbol? How agonizingly dull. I can’t believe I recommended this book.” But I read on, trudging through what then felt 150% buffoonism and 0% magical happiness I was expecting. It wasn’t until, oh, about 50 pages in or so that my entire perspective shifted. And that’s how it should be, shouldn’t it? Looking back the first couple chapters laid some serious exposition and it wasn’t until I reached the juicy bits, where the main story revolved around, did I appreciate the contents presented before me. City of Stairs takes the best of all genres, whisks them, bakes them, and fuses them together into a delightfully coherent and beautifully crafted novel. At the core we have a murder mystery, and a fucking great one at that. No Scooby Doo ‘yoinks’ shenanigans. This is adult content written for an adult audience and I very much appreciate that. Then, layered overtop that, we have political warfare raging throughout the continent. Tension is high, which enhances the suspense of the murder mystery. Lastly we have gods and the miracles they bestowed to mankind. These range from magic spells to everyday household object blessed by the divine and play a critical role in solving a vast majority of riddles to the murder. Known only to a few and forbidden by the many. As for the characters… I genuinely can say I thoroughly enjoyed every single character in City of Stairs. I even liked the random JoeBob-Who-Only-Appeared-For-Two-Pages-Of-The-Book-Because-Something-Ate-Him-Shortly-Thereafter characters (which there are surprisingly a lot of). The author does an incredible job with character development, giving each individual a personality, and adhering to that personality without making the reader beg the question, “What in the seven hells caused them to do that?! It’s so unlike them!” …no. It is exactly like them. And I love them for that. Muglahesh and Sigrud are definitely my top two favorite characters. Both have deep backstories and are positively dripping with personality. Both are simultaneously crass, yet profound. They may not carry the sophisticated wit of the lead character Shara, the wholesome goodness of Pitry, or the idealistic ambiguity like Vohannes, but that’s the wondrous thing about City of Stairs. Every character is vastly different all the while being quite the same. In their cause, and in their drive. What astounded me most was the Blink. I admit it was challenging to grasp the concept but that, too, was explained over time. Introducing the Blink in bits and pieces, or – more accurately – time-releasing information that allowed a deeper understanding of what it particularly meant and represented, gave me a sense of great respect for the author. The moment the Blink ‘clicked’ in my head the imagery being described proliferated and I could really SEE what I was reading. And then to name the book after this imagery, it was a thing of genius. City of Stairs would make for a phenomenal television series or movie. My only complaint, and it’s not really a complaint so much as an observation, is that the ending of the book felt very complete. It came together smoothly and all unanswered questions were met. I wondered how the author could squeeze out two more novels after tying the loose ends. The murder was solved, the gods are dead (with the exception of one who decided to walk with mortals), and political corruption on its way out; all tied neatly with a pretty little bow. I strongly suspect the following novels will not be blessed with magical overlay that permeated from City of Stairs. But by the gods, I am SO ready to find out!