Over the weekend I finished reading the third book in the Divine Cities trilogy by Robert Jackson Bennett. I haven’t plowed through a series like that in a few years (the last one was Richard K. Morgan’s A Land Fit For Heroes trilogy, which I’m tempted to compare/contrast with the Divine Cities, but I would need to do a refresher read first).
I started reading this series not sure I was going to get very far into it; just from the summary of book one (City of Stairs), I could tell this was going to be a look at the impact and aftermath of imperialism and colonialism, and in 2017 of all years I wasn’t sure I was up to grappling with more political horror in my downtime.
I loved City of Stairs, though, and City of Blades, the second book. There was a library back-up for book three (City of Miracles), which caused me great impatience, and once I had it in hand I got through it in a few days, including staying up past my bedtime to finish it. (Something I haven’t done in years; thanks for the trip back to pre-responsible adulthood, Mr. Bennett.)
Ultimately I would recommend the series, without really any caveats, but it’s not a go out of my way, shout it from the rooftops rec. The writing and plotting are strong, and all three books stick their landings, which is my major peeve with fiction these days. The characters are what grabbed me in the first two books, though, and City of Miracles is weaker on that front.
City of Stairs and City of Blades center on two really excellent female characters: Shara Komayd and Turyin Mulaghesh respectively. Shara is an intelligence operative and a politician; Turyin is a seasoned military commander. They’re complex, layered, with very different priorities and approaches to the world, and they both felt absolutely real. I would recommend Shara and Turyin to anyone reading for character over plot, full stop. Their motivations, fears, and strengths feel psychologically true and drive their stories believably. I would read another trilogy just about either one of them.
City of Miracles is centered on Sigrud je Harkvaldsson, who was Shara’s partner/backup in book one and an independent operator in book two. And while book three gives Sigrud his own complexities, he never quite breaks out and feels real like Shara and Turyin did. He’s a bit of a flat guide through the story. Without spoiling anything, I think it’s fair to say that the twists and reveals for him here are based in pain and grief, which puts the reader in an odd place. This is a character you know well, and are rooting for, but cheering him on extends his suffering.
The supporting cast in City of Miracles is largely female, but these characters never quite snap and shine like Shara and Turyin, or the other supporting characters in the previous books. Book three of a trilogy is where you get to what we used to call the Big Bad back in the Buffy The Vampire Slayer days. (After Buffy vanquished an enemy, and then a bigger enemy, over the first half of the season, the back half would bring on the TRUE villain of the piece.) Things in City of Miracles are focused on the most world-shaking enemy of the three, so maybe there just isn’t enough room for character. It was a shame, though.
I said in another post that I had figured out the end twist of City of Miracles; I was wrong about that! The book took a different twist than what I thought I saw. I thought Bennett was building to a different overall theme than he actually was, though the two overlapped. I love seeing spinning-off points like that, where a story could have gone different ways.
I meant to talk about the worldbuilding here as well, but I think I’ll save that for another post. Short version: I’m fascinated with what Bennett did there, but again, find the third book to be weaker than the first two.
salt water 