City of Bones

It seems that every Amazon fantasy recommendation I get these days involves a coming-of-age story of young boy destined to fight an ancient evil. This book is a refreshing change of pace. It creates a very intriguing, post-Apocalyptic world where life is harsh unless you are one of the privileged few. Within that world, there are some very interesting characters, some from a privileged background and the main characters from the lower segments of society - Khat belongs to a mutant/engineered race called Kris, who arent even accepted as having souls, by most of society. So from a worldbuilding point of view, this creates a really, really fresh background for the story. The story itself is told quite differently as well - unlike a "omg, we must do X, Y, Z or the Dark Lord will take over the world" type of quest, the characters - and the reader - muddle along without knowing what's at stake: that is only revealed towards the end. The scale of this story is much smaller than "save the world"... it is Khat's struggle to save himself from whatever machinations he's gotten into. So yeah, in that context, the grand denouement isnt as taut or climactic as in other stories, but i dont see that as a fault: that is very much in keeping with the scale of the book. And yes, between the original world setting and an equally original story that flows with ease and ample development, this is a book that was very hard to put down. I was hooked by page 3. I rarely give books 5-stars but this is definitely a 5-star read for fantasy buffs, IMO.

there's a lot to like about this novel. it's got a really great setting, a fully-realized city with a wide range of characters populating it. a unique and interesting magic system. some really great characters and even the minor characters are well done. and the plot keeps increasing the tension and suspense as it goes. i rarely say this kind of thing, but the book was kind of hard to put down. i love me some science fantasy and this novel was just excellent in that regard. but it's not quite perfect. some of the world-building elements are rather contrived and don't seem to make any sense except how they advance the plot. i'm convinced the part about kris men having a "pouch" was put into the novel solely to get the author out of a plot hole. the part about warder's going mad if they use too much magic, while a fascinating idea, was never really explained either and seemed to only be in the book to make the character of constans seem more mysterious. too many plot elements just get abandoned near the end of the book, like the whole thing with the character lushan never really gets resolved. but the biggest problem, for me anyway, was that the big revelation scene when khat and arad read the book and learn the truth about the "inhabitants of the west" simply made no sense at all to me. i think the reader was supposed to be shocked along with the characters, but i didn't even understand what they were talking about. as a result, the finale of the book seems kind of anticlimactic because i never really understood what was happening. but the writing is solid, the characters are well written and believable, and overall i thought the book was really great, it just had a few things that bothered me enough to give it four stars instead of five.

I was introduced to this book by my partner, as it is her favorite. I am so glad I took up her suggestion. This story is intense. It was hard for me to pick just one 'mood descriptor' from the review list - hopeful, dark, nostalgic, light-hearted, suspenseful, thoughtful, this book is all of those things. The characters are complex, interesting, compelling, and likable (or hate-able, if we're talking about a bad guy - of which there are very few 'true' ones). Everyone has their reasons. The fantasy race of krismen are well thought out and different enough from 'just a humanoid' to be very interesting. This will keep you on the edge of your seat and is nearly impossible to put down. An excellent story in the fantasy genre, I would recommend this to just about anyone old enough to read a book that alludes to sex. Of note, there is another book called City Of Bones by Cassandra Clare. That is NOT AT ALL THE SAME BOOK and be careful when purchasing!

I really liked the world creation and the main characters were very believable. The plot was twisty and full of unexpected, but never outlandish, developments. A very satisfying read.

This complex fantasy is unlike anything that's written by Martha Wells these days. We, the fanatic admirers of Murderbot, ART et.al tend to get very confused arriving here to meet settings and characters that she had created long-long ago. But the writing remains true. The characters remain solid (and prickly— a trait that had been smoothly transferred to Murderbot, it seems). And the plot is adequately labyrinthine, with large dollops of action. Very good, clean, well-written fantasy. Recommended.

One of my favourite books of all time is "Golden Witchbreed" by Mary Gentle, which I highly recommend. On reading "City of Bones," I had that same delight resurface on finishing it. I will definitely read it again. It's very different from the Murderbot series (another favourite) and will definitely read more by Martha Wells

Murderbot was my introduction to Martha Wells’ writing. It took a second or third reading to appreciate the breadth of her talent. She is a master storyteller. So now I am deliberately reading everything she has written. City of Bones is an earlier work, but the revised edition is as good as anything of hers I’ve read. I recommend it without reservation.

J'ai découvert Martha Wells récemment, je suis en train de lire tous ses livres. Celui-ci est passionnant, aussi bien que la série des Raksura, ce n'est pas peu dire. Seul regret, j'aurais aimé qu'il y ait d'autres aventures avec ces personnages, et je ne crois pas qu'il y en ait ....