A City Stained Red

Sam Sykes
A City Stained Red Cover

A City Stained Red

Chiplefien
2/27/2015
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I did not expect to enjoy this book that much.

This is basically the fantasy novel that Joss Whedon never wrote. I guess it could be Brian Michael Bendis as well. That is high praise in both cases.

The book is filled with fantasy tropes, but trope-aware and subverts quite a few of them along the way, has wit on ends, has stakes and drama aplenty, a solid cast of characters, each imperfect, deepened in the second act, and having an arc of their own, and works as an ensemble as well.

In fact, the complaint that I've seen in several reviews that the action slows down by the middle is true in that each chapter is a different team member POV, while they're separated, so the plot slows down a bit, but I was certainly enthralled enough with the characters and the writing to care.

I've pre-ordered the sequel and will certainly read the first trilogy in the future.

It's probably more of a 4 star or 4,5 star book, but the sheer enjoyment of it makes me round it up.