The City of Dusk
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Description
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Many thanks to the publisher and to Netgalley for providing me with an eARC of this book! I was interested in The City of Dusk after loving one of the author’s earlier books, Timekeeper, and I am happy for the opportunity to read her newest release in advance. This book is about a world cut off from its neighboring three realms. Every realm has a god and their descendants all live together in the city of Nexus, the so-called City of Dusk and the place that used to be the gateway to the other realms. Now having barriers instead of the portals, the world slowly loses its vitality and might soon wither away into nothingness. This is what the four heirs of their gods want to prevent, although it seems like the only way to open the barriers is with the use of forbidden magic. I did like most parts of the book but I still had my difficulties with it. It took me a long time to really understand the complicated worldbuilding and to really get to know the characters. Usually, I am a fan of less exposure and more figuring things out as I go. Here, however, there are many different magic systems and political intricacies represented by all those characters and it was hard to keep track. The resulting atmosphere of this multicultural and magical city was still very intriguing, though. It took quite some time to really start liking the characters. I think the problem here, too, is that there are just so many. Not only do the four protagonists narrate from their POV, we also have a brother, a hunter, and a mysterious boy telling the story. That’s why, by the time I felt like I finally had a grasp on all characters, more than half of the book was already over. The characters themselves are interesting and complex, though, which I enjoyed. It was worth it going through all those chapters and trying to get to know everyone at once. While they felt a bit younger than they apparently are (most of them acted more like teenagers), it does make sense since they all grew up sheltered in a noble family. My favorite part of the cast is the diversity in personalities and personal values. Their interactions and dynamics with each other really helped in keeping me interested. The plot itself and the growing suspense are also well crafted. There are many secrets, past tragedies and new intrigues that have to be uncovered. Even though the beginning of the book feels almost unbearably slow, there is always something interesting going on. Though yet again, there were so many plot threads that I struggled a bit with the ending, when everything comes together and blows up. The finale is full of action and surprises, which helped, even though I didn’t completely understand everything that was going on. My guess is that some things were purposefully left without explanation, to be revealed in the sequel. In the end, I think this book is definitely worth reading. It is perfect for anyone who likes slower build-ups to an epic conclusion, and anyone who appreciates multi-layered worldbuilding. Most of my own problems stem from the fact that I’m usually more of an action-reader, but I still enjoyed this book. The ending is quite open and certainly enough to have me curious for what follows. I recommend it to anyone in the mood for a dark, epic fantasy series with a large cast and an even larger world!
All in all it was a good book!Pros: I loved the world building A lot of LGBTQ* and POC charactersTaesia!!!!Liked the plottwists!!!The story was really interesting and I will totally read the second bookCons:It took me reeeeaaaaallyyy long to read the bookA lot of text on the pages, was a pain in my ass to read that<spoiler> didn't liked the part where Angelica was at a brothel, thought that is problematic because it was portrayed as kind of normalised and there wasn't a word about the suffering that can be involved with prostitution </spoiler>The last 100 pages there was a lot going on, that overwhelmed me a bit
Description
Book Information
Posts
Many thanks to the publisher and to Netgalley for providing me with an eARC of this book! I was interested in The City of Dusk after loving one of the author’s earlier books, Timekeeper, and I am happy for the opportunity to read her newest release in advance. This book is about a world cut off from its neighboring three realms. Every realm has a god and their descendants all live together in the city of Nexus, the so-called City of Dusk and the place that used to be the gateway to the other realms. Now having barriers instead of the portals, the world slowly loses its vitality and might soon wither away into nothingness. This is what the four heirs of their gods want to prevent, although it seems like the only way to open the barriers is with the use of forbidden magic. I did like most parts of the book but I still had my difficulties with it. It took me a long time to really understand the complicated worldbuilding and to really get to know the characters. Usually, I am a fan of less exposure and more figuring things out as I go. Here, however, there are many different magic systems and political intricacies represented by all those characters and it was hard to keep track. The resulting atmosphere of this multicultural and magical city was still very intriguing, though. It took quite some time to really start liking the characters. I think the problem here, too, is that there are just so many. Not only do the four protagonists narrate from their POV, we also have a brother, a hunter, and a mysterious boy telling the story. That’s why, by the time I felt like I finally had a grasp on all characters, more than half of the book was already over. The characters themselves are interesting and complex, though, which I enjoyed. It was worth it going through all those chapters and trying to get to know everyone at once. While they felt a bit younger than they apparently are (most of them acted more like teenagers), it does make sense since they all grew up sheltered in a noble family. My favorite part of the cast is the diversity in personalities and personal values. Their interactions and dynamics with each other really helped in keeping me interested. The plot itself and the growing suspense are also well crafted. There are many secrets, past tragedies and new intrigues that have to be uncovered. Even though the beginning of the book feels almost unbearably slow, there is always something interesting going on. Though yet again, there were so many plot threads that I struggled a bit with the ending, when everything comes together and blows up. The finale is full of action and surprises, which helped, even though I didn’t completely understand everything that was going on. My guess is that some things were purposefully left without explanation, to be revealed in the sequel. In the end, I think this book is definitely worth reading. It is perfect for anyone who likes slower build-ups to an epic conclusion, and anyone who appreciates multi-layered worldbuilding. Most of my own problems stem from the fact that I’m usually more of an action-reader, but I still enjoyed this book. The ending is quite open and certainly enough to have me curious for what follows. I recommend it to anyone in the mood for a dark, epic fantasy series with a large cast and an even larger world!
All in all it was a good book!Pros: I loved the world building A lot of LGBTQ* and POC charactersTaesia!!!!Liked the plottwists!!!The story was really interesting and I will totally read the second bookCons:It took me reeeeaaaaallyyy long to read the bookA lot of text on the pages, was a pain in my ass to read that<spoiler> didn't liked the part where Angelica was at a brothel, thought that is problematic because it was portrayed as kind of normalised and there wasn't a word about the suffering that can be involved with prostitution </spoiler>The last 100 pages there was a lot going on, that overwhelmed me a bit