City of Miracles by Robert Jackson Bennett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Series: The Divine Cities (Book 3 of 3)
Genre: Urban fantasy, fantasy, post-apocalyptic
Published: 2nd May 2017 by Broadway Books (US) & 4th May 2017 by Jo Fletcher Books (UK)
With its stunning denouement in City of Miracles, Robert Jackson Bennett’s masterful genre-redefining trilogy is now one of my all-time favourites.
…
City of Blades by Robert Jackson Bennett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Series: The Divine Cities (Book 2 of 3)
Genre: Urban fantasy, fantasy, post-apocalyptic
Published: 26th January 2016 by Broadway Books (US) & 7th January 2016 by Jo Fletcher Books (UK)
City of Blades was one of the best sequels I’ve read; it has everything I could ask for that expands upon an already fantastic start to a trilogy.
(This is a repost of an old review I wrote in May 2018)
Cover art illustrated by: Sam Weber
City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
Series:The Divine Cities (Book #1 of 3)
Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Urban fantasy, Post-apocalyptic, Horror
Pages: 452 pages (US paperback edition)
Published: 9th September 2014 by Broadway Books (US) & 2nd April 2015 by Jo Fletcher Books (UK)
A truly wonderful start to a trilogy and one of the most original world-building I’ve ever had the chance to experience in a novel. …
City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
Series: The Divine Cities (Book 1 of 3)
Genre: Urban fantasy, fantasy, post-apocalyptic
Published: 9th September 2014 by Broadway Books (US) & 2nd April 2015 by Jo Fletcher Books (UK)
It had been a while since I’ve come across such a magnificent start to a series or trilogy; City of Stairs was a fine example of genre-redefining for urban fantasy.
Time really flies huh? Another year is coming to an end soon! This year I’ve read and reviewed 129 books. It’s been another fantastic reading year. Considering the high amount of 4.5 and 5 stars books I’ve rated this year, I’ll even say that this year miraculously ended up being my best reading year so far. There will be four rules I set in this list in order for me to give appreciation to more authors rather than having only a few authors hoarding this list.
All the books listed below received a rating of 4.5 or 5 out of 5 stars from me. Without further ado, here are the top 20 books I’ve read in 2018! (All full reviews of these books can be found on my Goodreads page; some are already available on this blog.)
City of Miracles by Robert Jackson Bennett
My rating: 6 of 5 stars
City of Miracles is a stunning accomplishment; it is a marvelous ending to what I now consider my favorite trilogy, and a fast-paced, addictive story in its own right.
“One should not seek ugliness in this world. There is no lack of it. You will find it soon enough, or it will find you.”
Sigrud je Harkvaldsson was one of my favorite side characters in both City of Stairs and City of Blades, and I was both incredibly excited and more than a little nervous to read his story. Sometimes when a side character becomes the focal point of the story, they seem to lose a bit of their appeal for some reason. That was definitely not the case here. Sigrud has a wealth of experiences under his belt, most of them not good ones. Those experiences have shaped him into the man he is today, for better or for worse. He feels that he really only excels at one thing: violence. Once again, he finds himself in a position calling for violent action, and he revels in it. Until he doesn’t. Sigrud grows so much throughout this book, and I loved seeing him learn from past mistakes and struggle with his past and who that past made him. …
So far, 2018 has been a wonderful reading year for me. I’ve found new favorite authors, and had the opportunity to read new work from authors I’ve loved for years. Of the 93 books I’ve read and reviewed this year, I gave 76 of those at least a 4 star rating on Goodreads. The books I’ve chosen have been overwhelmingly successful for me. When Petrik mentioned each doing a Top 10 from the books we’ve read so far this year, I jumped at the suggestion. But now, looking at the books I have to choose from, I’m regretting my decision. How on earth am I going to choose just ten out of the dozens of fantastic books I’ve read so far this year?! All I can do is my best, right?
To help narrow things down, I’m going to follow the same rules Petrik used for his list:
Every book below is one I rated 5 complete stars. Links to my full Goodreads reviews will be provided within each mini-review. Without further ado, here are my favorite books of the year to date! …
Between January 1st, 2018 and July 31st, 2018, I’ve read and reviewed 82 books, and so far it’s been another fantastic reading year. Considering the number of books I’ve read and reviewed this year, there will be four rules I set in this list in order for me to give appreciation to more authors rather than having only a few authors hoarding this list. The rules are:
All the books listed below received a rating of 4.5 or 5 out of 5 stars from me. Without further ado, here we go! (All full reviews of these books can be found on my Goodreads page; some are available on this blog.) …
City of Blades by Robert Jackson Bennett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
“Dying nobly is preferable to living savagely.”
I’m completely blown away by Bennett’s world building. City of Blades thrilled me and surprised me and cut me to the quick with its rich character development and lore. I cared so much about the characters, and felt every emotion they felt as I read. Bennett’s world is unlike any I’ve ever come across; he absolutely excels at creating both empathetic characters and compelling mythology and history to add a depth and uniqueness to his writing that I believe to be rare.
“O, the things we kill for our dreams, forgetting all the while we shall wake up to find them naught but dust and ash!
What fools we are to pretend that when we walk to war we do not bring our loved ones with us.”