Bottom Line

An excellent secondary world fantasy novel that not only features a complex and multi-layered world but is also great fun to read.  Definitely recommended.

Representative Paragraph

Sigurd is awesome…

The leader of the attackers stands agog at this sight for a moment, before holding his sword high, screaming at the top of his lungs, and rushing in, bounding over the table. Sigrud gives him an irritated glance—What now?—and lifts up the headlocked man just in time for the man’s back to receive the point of the leader’s sword. Both masked men gag in shock. Sigrud swings the chandelier around so that it hooks the blade of the free attacker, shoves the man to the floor, and releases the chandelier. The leader lets go of the hilt of his sword, pulls out a short knife, and with an anguished scream, dives at Sigrud.  Sigrud releases the headlock on the dead (or dying) man, grabs the leader’s wrist before the knife can strike home, head-butts the leader soundly, and then—to the vocal horror of Vohannes—opens his mouth wide, lunges forward, and tears out most of the man’s throat with his teeth. The gush of blood is positively tidal.

Shara feels a little disgusted at herself for thinking only, This will definitely make the papers.

Commentary

City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett is a secondary world fantasy novel set mostly in the city of Bulikov.  Secret agent to the Saypuri Government, Shara Thivani, has come to the city to investigate the murder of her academic mentor (and fellow agent) Professor Efrem Pangyui.

We learn almost immediately that Bulikov was once the home of six divinities (essentially Gods) who ruled the people through magic and miracles.  And while the people of Bulikov benefited from having god’s walk their streets, the same couldn’t be said for neighbouring islands like Saypur where the god’s oppressed the people and forced them to work on behalf of Bulikov. After one town in Saypur is destroyed by the divinities for having the temerity to raise a hand against the oppression, the Kaj, a Saypuri local, decides that enough is enough. He develops a weapon that can kill the divinities and then, with an army of the bedraggled and oppressed behind him, kills at least five gods.

Cut to the present day and the tables have turned. Bulikov is now a colony of Saypur where talk of the divinities and miracles are banned.

Through the development and fleshing out of his secondary world, Bennett raises a number of issues. He explores that old canard of the oppressed becoming the oppressor by also questioning whether certain knowledge should be suppressed because of the threat it poses to everyone. He also takes a look at the relationship between the God and the believer and considers who in that relationship might actually be pulling the strings.

And throughout the novel he also dishes up a rollicking yarn peopled with memorable characters – I loved Shara and her offsider the very violent Sigurd – and some larger than life set pieces. In particular, Bennett is one of those rare writers who can choreograph major action scenes that are easy to imagine and enjoyable to read.

Because this is the first novel of the series, the book is crammed with ideas and exposition.  Most of this is well handled – Shara is conveniently an expert in all things Divine and acts as a conduit of knowledge when pressing questions are asked – but sometimes the info-dumping can be a bit clunky, especially earlier in the novel where Bennett is establishing both the setting and the fact that the people of Bulikov no longer have the right to pray or acknowledge the gods that were once part of their daily life.

Overall, though, I had a great deal of fun reading this novel. And, best of all, it’s a secondary world fantasy novel that’s complicated and multi-layered without the need to feature a million point of view characters.  Definitely recommended.