So I’ve finally caught up with my event reviews, my city
reviews and my book reviews – with one exception. Which I will now rectify!
I’ll confess I’ve never read any of David Gemmell’s books –
not deliberately I might add, they just never jumped out at me when in the
bookstores as a “must read”. With David now sadly departed, his wife Stella has
branched out into some storytelling of
her own (having been David’s right hand person for so long).
This one was parked in Waterstone’s on a table of books with
the general theme “Fantasy and Adventure”. The front picture looked good, the
blurb sounded like my kind of tale and the price was nicely lower than it
normally is (BOGOF offer). So off we go with Stella Gemmell’s debut novel The
City.
The City is set in what I would describe as a “typical
fantasy setting”, a medieval/non-technological version of our world where
magic, exotic creatures and sword play are plentiful and widespread.
Unsurprisingly the main setting is the eponymous City itself; vast, sprawling
and utterly decrepit in more than one way.
For years the City has been engaged in countless battles,
fighting enemies on many fronts while the inhabitants struggle to survive
day-to-day. The City is broken, crumbling and on the verge of rebellion. The
Emperor hasn’t been seen for years and a select few rule an unstable system
plagued by the typical machinations of high-society families.
The plot weaves intricately through three or four narratives
which appear at first to be unconnected but ultimately tie together, if not
tightly then certainly well enough. Gemmell’s approach is slowly-softly and the
story is allowed to breathe and grow, sometimes a touch too slow. The pacing
however is generally pretty consistent and we are given plenty of time to get
to know our protagonists.
Jumping between flashback and real-time narrative, we are
given a glimpse into the histories and motivations of the main characters in a
way that feels quite organic. Once you get used to the style. Gemmell keeps the
number of critical characters down to a handful which helps; the old solider
who isn’t all he appears (Bartellus), the famous general who is hiding a dark
secret (Fell Aaron Lee) and the daughter
of a once well respected family who is trying to escape her past (Indaro) are
the most prominent.
There is a nice little plot twist about halfway through when
you become aware that several of the seemingly unconnected characters share a
common goal which eventually becomes the driving force of the story. What
starts out as seemingly a simple attempt at rebellion becomes more complicated
as we progress.
Throw in a few “immortal” beings, some political shenanigans
of the highest order and a healthy dose of blood and gore and it becomes
apparent that The City is a bit more sophisticated than might have first
appeared.
The denoument is unusual too, in that the story ends rather
abruptly once the main goal of the rebellion has been achieved – and we are
left with very little sense of what will happen in the future. This feels like
Book 1 of a series but it isn’t and you are left quite deliberately to your own
imagination to determine what the fate of the City and its inhabitants will be.
Overall thoughts
This is an intriguing and interesting debut into the genre
from someone who has been around these kind of stories for a long time. It
shows an intelligence and an appreciation of the subtleties required to tell
the tale, but also enough experience to add her own twist and make it somewhat
different from “normal” books of this ilk. Personally I found it enjoyable but
not gripping, I never became enthralled by the tale or the characters in a way
I do with the likes of Sanderson, Hobb, Pratchett and Adams.
Would I read another of her stories? Yes I think I probably
would. Would I rush out and buy it on day one? No I suspect I’d probably wait
for another BOGOF offer first. It wasn’t bad at all, just not at the very top
level.
Verdict: 4 stars out
of 5
Till next time,
DT
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