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A review by nthnrgb
The City of Dusk by Tara Sim
4.0
Oh boy is this book a W I L D ride. For the first 75%~ of it I was SURE this was a standalone novel and now I'm DYING for a sequel while recommending it to friends to buy because it's definitely worth every penny.
Overall, the book is written in third person, alternating perspectives between the four main different houses (families), representing four different gods. You have Taesia, Dante, and Brailee Lastrider which are descendants from Nyx, god of night/shadows. Next is Nikolas Cyr, descendant of Phos, god of day/light. Then there's Risha and Saya Vakara, descendants of Thanas, god of death, and lastly Angelica Mardova, descendant of Deia, goddess of the elements. Each have powers relating to their godly great-great-etc grandparent (i.e., Lastriders have powers over shadows, Nikolas has power over light, Risha can animate/de-animate/talk/etc. to the dead, Angelica can control the elements). Ultimately, all of the houses are fighting to be named heir to a kingdom in the earth realm, where they all live as the other realms have been cut off from each other (which is causing their realm to slowly die). While they're coming up on Godsnight (an event every 100 years where the barriers between realms are thinnest), there's been a group committing acts of conjuration, which has long been outlawed. Even though they're supposed to be enemies, the heirs of each house have grown up together and are, in many ways, friends but are beginning to grow apart because of their duties and inherent family rivalries for the crown. Anything more would spoil this book but just be aware: there's a lot of shit you don't see coming, a lot you do but don't care that you see it coming because it's pulled off in such a masterful way that makes it delightful to read (cliches aren't bad, and I'll die on that hill, authors just have to be good at them and this one is).
A lot of folks seem to have issues with the length, characters, and worldbuilding but I think they're baseless. Is this book long? Yes, and it takes a bit to get going (see potential cons), however once you get through the first part of it, the length makes sense. Some folks think that the characters/families are confusing which I think is expected which such a large cast but the cast is also necessary, playing particular roles and helping to flesh out other characters. This is also the first book in a series, so there's going to be pieces that look "half-done" or "weirdly set-up" that will make sense later when we have the whole story. Finally, the worldbuilding. Some folks are upset that there's some words (i.e., ghagra choli and salwar) are given, but a description isn't. I honestly don't think it's a good use of book space to explain a cultural garment - we don't explain what we mean when we write "princess gown" because western culture has demanded we know what it is. If you don't know what the garments are, you can google them.
Frankly, this book is the first in a series I'm very excited about. If I had to pick series similar, I'd say Leigh Bardugo's Grisha Verse or Kelley Armstrong's Age of Legends series, as they're all high fantasy and the Grisha Verse (particularly the latest books) have a similar political/dark tone to them. Frankly though, The City of Dusk is in its own league and hard to compare for all the right reasons.
Potential cons of the book
- Good LORD was this book L O N G. The first 25-35% (roughly part one) is slow, in my opinion (although I have been told this is normal for adult fantasy), and this is the longest book I've read in awhile. HOWEVER! I will say, the length of the book makes a lot of sense, particularly once you finish the part one. Part one is a lot of set up (the worldbuilding in this book is IMMACULATE) that's necessary and I don't think, overall, any of the length is needless (that is to say, it all has a purpose that comes to light later)
- Less romance than I went in expecting. I read exclusively queer books these days (and this is delightfully queer) however I was personally expecting more romance/romance to be a more forthright aspect of it but that honestly doesn't happen until maybe the last 20% (and even that is more setup than actual romance. This con is me purely being someone who loves love).
What this book does right
-Representation. It feels actually genuine and integral to the book, as opposed to it just being there to say "look I have non-white, non-het, non-abled-bodied, etc. people I'm so ~diverse~" Nah this is actually a) well done b) meaningful and c) real.
-Worldbuilding. I said it earlier but it really is SO well done. A problem with a lot of books, particularly ones that are set in a new universe or something that don't rely on the character being new to the universe, is that they spend too much time telling readers (particularly at the beginning of the book) how everything works, instead of letting information come naturally as description/thoughts as characters do things naturally because that's /just the way they're done/. This book does just that though which is part of what makes it so good.
-Action. Holy crap. the 100 or so pages will have you DYING for the next word. It's a wonderful mix of worldbuilding, character development, and just damn good writing that artfully paints a picture in your head that doesn't just feel realistic, but is.
-Character development. Another thing this author is ICONIC at. This book is third person, alternating perspective which is my personal favourite was of telling stories because you get to know the main cast so much better to fully understand their motivations in a way that they don't allow those around them to see. There are a lot of characters, so I'd recommend getting the physical book because there's a House breakdown at the beginning that I kept wishing I could easily flip to (I was reading on my kobo and thus couldn't) but again, after part one a lot of stuff just comes together and starts flowing perfectly and you're more caught up/involved in the story without having to flip back and forth of "who's family are they apart of again?" Long books like this always come with some confusion, and it's about how quickly can an author and reader address the confusion and how well do they address it.
Overall, the book is written in third person, alternating perspectives between the four main different houses (families), representing four different gods. You have Taesia, Dante, and Brailee Lastrider which are descendants from Nyx, god of night/shadows. Next is Nikolas Cyr, descendant of Phos, god of day/light. Then there's Risha and Saya Vakara, descendants of Thanas, god of death, and lastly Angelica Mardova, descendant of Deia, goddess of the elements. Each have powers relating to their godly great-great-etc grandparent (i.e., Lastriders have powers over shadows, Nikolas has power over light, Risha can animate/de-animate/talk/etc. to the dead, Angelica can control the elements). Ultimately, all of the houses are fighting to be named heir to a kingdom in the earth realm, where they all live as the other realms have been cut off from each other (which is causing their realm to slowly die). While they're coming up on Godsnight (an event every 100 years where the barriers between realms are thinnest), there's been a group committing acts of conjuration, which has long been outlawed. Even though they're supposed to be enemies, the heirs of each house have grown up together and are, in many ways, friends but are beginning to grow apart because of their duties and inherent family rivalries for the crown. Anything more would spoil this book but just be aware: there's a lot of shit you don't see coming, a lot you do but don't care that you see it coming because it's pulled off in such a masterful way that makes it delightful to read (cliches aren't bad, and I'll die on that hill, authors just have to be good at them and this one is).
A lot of folks seem to have issues with the length, characters, and worldbuilding but I think they're baseless. Is this book long? Yes, and it takes a bit to get going (see potential cons), however once you get through the first part of it, the length makes sense. Some folks think that the characters/families are confusing which I think is expected which such a large cast but the cast is also necessary, playing particular roles and helping to flesh out other characters. This is also the first book in a series, so there's going to be pieces that look "half-done" or "weirdly set-up" that will make sense later when we have the whole story. Finally, the worldbuilding. Some folks are upset that there's some words (i.e., ghagra choli and salwar) are given, but a description isn't. I honestly don't think it's a good use of book space to explain a cultural garment - we don't explain what we mean when we write "princess gown" because western culture has demanded we know what it is. If you don't know what the garments are, you can google them.
Frankly, this book is the first in a series I'm very excited about. If I had to pick series similar, I'd say Leigh Bardugo's Grisha Verse or Kelley Armstrong's Age of Legends series, as they're all high fantasy and the Grisha Verse (particularly the latest books) have a similar political/dark tone to them. Frankly though, The City of Dusk is in its own league and hard to compare for all the right reasons.
Potential cons of the book
- Good LORD was this book L O N G. The first 25-35% (roughly part one) is slow, in my opinion (although I have been told this is normal for adult fantasy), and this is the longest book I've read in awhile. HOWEVER! I will say, the length of the book makes a lot of sense, particularly once you finish the part one. Part one is a lot of set up (the worldbuilding in this book is IMMACULATE) that's necessary and I don't think, overall, any of the length is needless (that is to say, it all has a purpose that comes to light later)
- Less romance than I went in expecting. I read exclusively queer books these days (and this is delightfully queer) however I was personally expecting more romance/romance to be a more forthright aspect of it but that honestly doesn't happen until maybe the last 20% (and even that is more setup than actual romance. This con is me purely being someone who loves love).
What this book does right
-Representation. It feels actually genuine and integral to the book, as opposed to it just being there to say "look I have non-white, non-het, non-abled-bodied, etc. people I'm so ~diverse~" Nah this is actually a) well done b) meaningful and c) real.
-Worldbuilding. I said it earlier but it really is SO well done. A problem with a lot of books, particularly ones that are set in a new universe or something that don't rely on the character being new to the universe, is that they spend too much time telling readers (particularly at the beginning of the book) how everything works, instead of letting information come naturally as description/thoughts as characters do things naturally because that's /just the way they're done/. This book does just that though which is part of what makes it so good.
-Action. Holy crap. the 100 or so pages will have you DYING for the next word. It's a wonderful mix of worldbuilding, character development, and just damn good writing that artfully paints a picture in your head that doesn't just feel realistic, but is.
-Character development. Another thing this author is ICONIC at. This book is third person, alternating perspective which is my personal favourite was of telling stories because you get to know the main cast so much better to fully understand their motivations in a way that they don't allow those around them to see. There are a lot of characters, so I'd recommend getting the physical book because there's a House breakdown at the beginning that I kept wishing I could easily flip to (I was reading on my kobo and thus couldn't) but again, after part one a lot of stuff just comes together and starts flowing perfectly and you're more caught up/involved in the story without having to flip back and forth of "who's family are they apart of again?" Long books like this always come with some confusion, and it's about how quickly can an author and reader address the confusion and how well do they address it.