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hoila's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
timinbc's review against another edition
4.0
Four and a half. Not perfect, but perhaps as good as it could have been, with the huge scope of the world Bennett has built in the first two books and indeed the first half of this one.
One flaw for me was that this volume felt a little, I dunno, melodramatic? overdrawn? Such as when
And golly, I almost didn't finish this book. Lookit, Sigrud kills people on pages 2, 5, 10, 15, 48, 50, 52, 53 (two), 54 (two) and 70. Up close and nasty. He disembowels Bambi in a "ceremony". He tortures a bad guy and hangs him on a meat hook. Hello, Anton Chigurh.
But that ended, mostly, just in time, and we got on with a good plot.
After a bout of slipping through shadowd and car stealing, I thought "Hello, Sandman Slim." Later, as we met more Divinities, I thought "American Gods." But again, Bennett settled down and got on with it.
Maybe coincidence happened a few too many times because the plot needed it, but with the grand scope of the plot we have to give the author some rein.
A lot of nobility and persistence and honour. Not at the level of, say, Guy Gavriel Kay, but with a chance of getting there in a future series.
Nice balance of young and old characters, male and female. The inevitable "bad guy is immensely powerful and cannot possibly be defeated" except that you know he will be -- and in this case his defeat is actually reasonably believable, not the sort of David-and-Goliath or Achilles-heel or "lucky shot through his magic armour with an enchanted peashooter."
Good series, good finish.
One flaw for me was that this volume felt a little, I dunno, melodramatic? overdrawn? Such as when
Spoiler
Olvus reveals that Nokov is her son.And golly, I almost didn't finish this book. Lookit, Sigrud kills people on pages 2, 5, 10, 15, 48, 50, 52, 53 (two), 54 (two) and 70. Up close and nasty. He disembowels Bambi in a "ceremony". He tortures a bad guy and hangs him on a meat hook. Hello, Anton Chigurh.
But that ended, mostly, just in time, and we got on with a good plot.
After a bout of slipping through shadowd and car stealing, I thought "Hello, Sandman Slim." Later, as we met more Divinities, I thought "American Gods." But again, Bennett settled down and got on with it.
Maybe coincidence happened a few too many times because the plot needed it, but with the grand scope of the plot we have to give the author some rein.
A lot of nobility and persistence and honour. Not at the level of, say, Guy Gavriel Kay, but with a chance of getting there in a future series.
Nice balance of young and old characters, male and female. The inevitable "bad guy is immensely powerful and cannot possibly be defeated" except that you know he will be -- and in this case his defeat is actually reasonably believable, not the sort of David-and-Goliath or Achilles-heel or "lucky shot through his magic armour with an enchanted peashooter."
Good series, good finish.
tregina's review against another edition
4.0
I feel like I liked this just slightly less than the other two books in the series, for various reasons, but I mean. It's still pretty great.
cjvphd's review
5.0
City of Miracles is a fantastic final chapter to a wonderful trilogy. Bennett delivers an immensely satisfactory conclusion full of characters old and new, twists, turns, action-packed set pieces, tender dialogue, heartbreak, and hope.
Miracles picks up several years after the conclusion of Blades, but more closely resembles Stairs in pacing and storytelling delicacy. While The Divine Cities may lack the quantity of memorable, fully-drawn characters present in other epic fantasy trilogies, the depth of the story's characters, along with the incredibly vibrant cities and expertly-constructed intertwined histories, provide a level of world-building unmatched by many higher profile series. Bennett has both a wonderful imagination and a talent for writing characters you care about, and those traits come out in spades in the unforgettable City of Miracles.
Miracles picks up several years after the conclusion of Blades, but more closely resembles Stairs in pacing and storytelling delicacy. While The Divine Cities may lack the quantity of memorable, fully-drawn characters present in other epic fantasy trilogies, the depth of the story's characters, along with the incredibly vibrant cities and expertly-constructed intertwined histories, provide a level of world-building unmatched by many higher profile series. Bennett has both a wonderful imagination and a talent for writing characters you care about, and those traits come out in spades in the unforgettable City of Miracles.
anna__b's review against another edition
3.0
Unfortunately this was easily my least favorite out of the series. I do like Sigrud and it was nice to get a conclusion to his character arc (along with some other previous main characters) but I really didn’t like the concept of the divine children and didn’t really buy the reasons given for why they wouldn’t have come into play before, especially with the long timeline of this series. The powerscaling with the main villain also got extremely ridiculous. In the first two books, even though the scale got very large, I still felt like the stakes were grounded and believable, but I don’t think Bennett managed to pull that off as well here. I still really enjoyed this series overall and would recommend to anyone looking for something different in the fantasy genre, but this last book was just a bit of a miss for me.
scarbaur's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
toastandhoes's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This one was in some ways better and in some ways worse than the previous. It did make me cry more so make of that what you will
florinese_expert's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
nclcaitlin's review against another edition
3.75
Perhaps civilization never truly suited Sigrud, but he must feign it now, after so 13 years in the wilderness on the run.
Ex-prime minister Shara was assassinated forcing Sigrud out of hiding to exact revenge. Only he finds Shara has started recruiting orphans to her cause and waging a war against something that works in the shadows.
The majority of the Divinities might be dead, but what about their offspring?
Sigrud finds himself on babysitting duty as someone is targeting Shara's adopted daughter. This really allows Bennett to explore the trauma of Sigrud’s own relationship with his family and face a world where violence cannot be the only and automatic answer.
“It's unfair that the dead leave us," she says. "But it's worse that they never really go away."
I am always hesitant, scared, and awed when authors decide to get involved with timey-wimey stuff. Getting the logic right, ensuring there’s no plot holes, stupid loopholes, or absurd inconsistencies is a skill few manage to pull of satisfyingly. Unsurprisingly, Bennett is one of these rare geniuses.
What a tremendous sin impatience is, he thinks. It blinds us to the moment before us, and it is only when that moment has passed that we look back and see it was full of treasures.
I loved that each book focuses on a different character and story yet connects to a larger picture.
The ending was brave but justified and oddly satisfying, yet I can see how it might frustrate some.
Ranking:
Book one (favourite)
Book two
Book three (least favourite)
Ex-prime minister Shara was assassinated forcing Sigrud out of hiding to exact revenge. Only he finds Shara has started recruiting orphans to her cause and waging a war against something that works in the shadows.
The majority of the Divinities might be dead, but what about their offspring?
Sigrud finds himself on babysitting duty as someone is targeting Shara's adopted daughter. This really allows Bennett to explore the trauma of Sigrud’s own relationship with his family and face a world where violence cannot be the only and automatic answer.
“It's unfair that the dead leave us," she says. "But it's worse that they never really go away."
I am always hesitant, scared, and awed when authors decide to get involved with timey-wimey stuff. Getting the logic right, ensuring there’s no plot holes, stupid loopholes, or absurd inconsistencies is a skill few manage to pull of satisfyingly. Unsurprisingly, Bennett is one of these rare geniuses.
What a tremendous sin impatience is, he thinks. It blinds us to the moment before us, and it is only when that moment has passed that we look back and see it was full of treasures.
I loved that each book focuses on a different character and story yet connects to a larger picture.
The ending was brave but justified and oddly satisfying, yet I can see how it might frustrate some.
Ranking:
Book one (favourite)
Book two
Book three (least favourite)