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City of Blades: A Novel
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Series:
Divine cities volume 2.
Published:
Random House Worlds 2016
Status:
Checked Out
Description
A triumphant return to the world of City of Stairs.
 
A generation ago, the city of Voortyashtan was the stronghold of the god of war and death, the birthplace of fearsome supernatural sentinels who killed and subjugated millions. 
 
Now, the city’s god is dead. The city itself lies in ruins. And to its new military occupiers, the once-powerful capital is a wasteland of sectarian violence and bloody uprisings.
 
So it makes perfect sense that General Turyin Mulaghesh— foul-mouthed hero of the battle of Bulikov, rumored war criminal, ally of an embattled Prime Minister—has been exiled there to count down the days until she can draw her pension and be forgotten.  
 
At least, it makes the perfect cover story. 
 
The truth is that the general has been pressed into service one last time, dispatched to investigate a discovery with the potential to change the world—or destroy it. 
 
The trouble is that this old soldier isn't sure she's still got what it takes to be the hero.
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Format:
Adobe EPUB eBook, Kindle Book, OverDrive Read
Street Date:
01/26/2016
Language:
English
ISBN:
9780553419726
ASIN:
B00TCI29Q4
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Citations
APA Citation (style guide)

Robert Jackson Bennett. (2016). City of Blades: A Novel. Random House Worlds.

Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)

Robert Jackson Bennett. 2016. City of Blades: A Novel. Random House Worlds.

Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)

Robert Jackson Bennett, City of Blades: A Novel. Random House Worlds, 2016.

MLA Citation (style guide)

Robert Jackson Bennett. City of Blades: A Novel. Random House Worlds, 2016.

Note! Citation formats are based on standards as of July 2022. Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy.
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Date Added:
Jun 12, 2018 17:48:14
Date Updated:
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title
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fullDescription
A triumphant return to the world of City of Stairs.
 
A generation ago, the city of Voortyashtan was the stronghold of the god of war and death, the birthplace of fearsome supernatural sentinels who killed and subjugated millions. 
 
Now, the city’s god is dead. The city itself lies in ruins. And to its new military occupiers, the once-powerful capital is a wasteland of sectarian violence and bloody uprisings.
 
So it makes perfect sense that General Turyin Mulaghesh— foul-mouthed hero of the battle of Bulikov, rumored war criminal, ally of an embattled Prime Minister—has been exiled there to count down the days until she can draw her pension and be forgotten.  
 
At least, it makes the perfect cover story. 
 
The truth is that the general has been pressed into service one last time, dispatched to investigate a discovery with the potential to change the world—or destroy it. 
 
The trouble is that this old soldier isn't sure she's still got what it takes to be the hero.
seriesId
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reviews
      • premium: False
      • source: New York Times Book Review
      • content: Praise for City of Stairs:

        "Readers seeking a truly refreshing fantasy milieu should travel to Bulikov, and welcome its conquest."
      • premium: False
      • source: Washington Post
      • content: "A delightful urban fantasy that travels through a city full of Escher-like staircases and alternate realities."
      • premium: True
      • source: Publisher's Weekly
      • content:

        Starred review from November 16, 2015
        Bennett’s astonishingly good sequel to 2014’s City of Stairs makes a riveting and often heartbreaking case against war. The Continent, a land that’s somewhat like Russia, once colonized Saypur, a land that’s somewhat like India; then the Saypuri discovered how to kill the Continental gods, and they conquered their former oppressors. Tensions between the two lands remain high. Saypuri prime minister Shara Komayd coerces retired general Turyin Mulaghesh into visiting the Continental city of Voortyashtan, where the goddess of war and death once ruled, and where a spy recently vanished. On her mission, Turyin meets Signe, the daughter of Shara’s former assassin, Sigrud. She’s the CTO of a company intent on revitalizing the local harbor. Turyin is also reunited with her wartime comrade Biswal, with whom she committed atrocities that still affect them decades later. Bennett continues his theme of the influence of imperialism on what appears to be a very similar world to ours (albeit one in which gods helped shape the geopolitics), seamlessly melding spycraft and mythology. Turyin, a physically and emotionally wounded warrior who both loathes battle and excels at it, serves as a fascinating character to shoulder the book’s heavy burden of tragedy. This is a deep, powerful novel that’s worth reading and rereading with many pauses for thought. Agent: Cameron McClure, Donald Maass Literary Agency.

      • premium: True
      • source: Kirkus
      • content:

        November 15, 2015
        "Don't forget, it was their choice to get involved in this war": Fantasian Bennett builds another world, convincingly, in which empires rise and fall and blood flows. Less literarily allusive than its predecessor, City of Stairs (2014), this contribution to that worldbuilding epic is also more somber in tone, not that there isn't some good humor along the way. Turyin Mulaghesh, sometime general in the Saypuri army, is righteously ticked off to discover that someone in the bureaucracy is messing with her pension, luring her in for an unpromising mission: she'll need to go to the ghost city of Voortyashtan, where a massive harbor project is underway to consolidate imperial power, and hang tight until the paperwork can get straightened out. But there's more to it than that, for which reason Mulaghesh grumbles, "Why in hells would I want to do this?" Yes, hells, for when she's not spitting out stronger curses, Mulaghesh talks like a teenager down at the mall or a Viking with a hangover ("If you're not the kin of Sigrud je Harkvaldsson, then I am a dead fucking dog"). Bad things are happening in Voortyashtan, one-time home of the gods who fell in defeat to the empire; in its raw tribal violence and the unending atrocities clashing armies commit it might be another Afghanistan, though there are ghosts and gods in twilight to contend with, to say nothing of strange doings down beneath the surface of the planet. Shades of Outland, Dr. Lazarus! Yet the crimes are less cut and dried than all that, especially when a giant metal woman comes into the picture, "her hands...nothing but knives, long and curved and thin...." Bennett clearly has fun doing all the scene-setting and complicating that his tale involves, and while in the end this is a warning against the totalitarian impulse, it makes all kinds of detours into the dark hearts of men--and women, too. Sometimes too talky but richly detailed and expertly plotted. A grand entertainment.

        COPYRIGHT(2015) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

      • premium: True
      • source: Library Journal
      • content:

        Starred review from December 1, 2015

        Turyin Mulaghesh had hoped for the quiet retirement Shara Komayd promised her after the events of City of Stairs, but it seems there's one last task to accomplish. She must travel to Voortyashtan to investigate the disappearance of a ministry operative. Upon arrival, Turyin sees that the Saypuri government has hired a Dreyling company run by Signe, the daughter of Shara's old partner in mayhem Sigrud (who also makes an appearance), to dredge the harbor of Voortyashtan and make it a viable port once again. Turyin fails to find the missing woman, but she does uncover evidence that the goddess of death and war who once protected Voortyashtan may be dead but not completely gone. VERDICT Building beautifully upon the richly detailed world introduced in the first book of the series, Bennett (The Troupe; American Elsewhere) serves a stew of fantasy and adventure with a healthy dose of humor and a ladle full of violence. Switching protagonists from sneaky Shara to the blunt soldier Turyin gives the sequel a fresh feel, and readers will be eager to read more books set in this fascinating universe.--MM

        Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

      • premium: True
      • source: School Library Journal
      • content:

        June 1, 2016

        The Battle of Bulikov is five years over (City of Stairs), and Gen. Turyin Mulaghesh has retired on the island nation of Javrat. A messenger arrives from Shara Kamayd, former junior diplomat, actual spy, and now prime minister of Saypur. Turyin and Shara fought the Battle of Bulikov together, and it changed them and their world. Since then, Shara has been responsible for a complete transformation of Saypuri dominance over the Continent. Now she needs Turyin's experience with renegade gods and miraculous artifacts, because something is not quite right in the remote country of Voortyashtan. A new metal has been discovered with incredible properties, and the continued existence of miraculous materials means that perhaps the vanquished God of Voortyashtan is still alive. Turyin knows exactly how dangerous that is, and soon finds herself in the inhospitable land of Voortyashtan, reliving some of her worst battle experiences and trying to cope with gods, miracles, the perfidy of the greedy, and the heroism of loyal citizens. This complex tale of conquest and war, politics and magic, and battle fatigue and heroism will draw new and old readers. The regret Turyin and others have about their past deeds, while striving to do better will resonate with readers who enjoy fantasy lands as nuanced and complex as the real world. VERDICT A great option for lovers of intrigue, politics, and ancient meddlesome gods walking through the world.-Gretchen Crowley, Alexandria City Public Libraries, VA

        Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

      • premium: True
      • source: Booklist
      • content:

        December 1, 2015
        In a novel that works both as stand-alone and sequel, Bennett returns to the same postapocalyptic fantasy world he created to much critical and reader acclaim in City of Stairs (2014), but this time, the setting is a ruined city where the ruling god is dead and lawlessness abounds. The retired General Mulaghesh is forced back into the fray in the city of Voortyashtan, so named for defeated god Voortya, who had promised her army of supporters a glorious afterlife before they were all destroyed. While Mulaghesh's cover story is to assist the military commander, her real assignment is to investigate the disappearance of another officer who had uncovered a dangerous secret about Voortya and her defeated army. Like the very best speculative fiction, the novel immerses readers in a made-up world, only to force us to take a harder look at the real one in which we are currently living. Give this to fans of other strong world-building, high-fantasy series with political-military intrigue like those by Brian Staveley, Kameron Hurley, or even George R. R. Martin.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

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shortDescription
A triumphant return to the world of City of Stairs.
 
A generation ago, the city of Voortyashtan was the stronghold of the god of war and death, the birthplace of fearsome supernatural sentinels who killed and subjugated millions. 
 
Now, the city’s god is dead. The city itself lies in ruins. And to its new military occupiers, the once-powerful capital is a wasteland of sectarian violence and bloody uprisings.
 
So it makes perfect sense that General Turyin Mulaghesh— foul-mouthed hero of the battle of Bulikov, rumored war criminal, ally of an embattled Prime Minister—has been exiled there to count down the days until she can draw her pension and be forgotten.  
 
At least, it makes the perfect cover story. 
 
The truth is that the general has been pressed into service one last time, dispatched to investigate a discovery with the potential to change the...
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