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lukeb314's review
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
An adventuring party come to a city with many problems and each brings their own, which this book does a wonderful job of exploring.
ashleyc5's review against another edition
I think I've been currently-reading this for 4 years. It's funny, but I don’t even know what the goal is here.
crimsoncor's review
4.0
Came to this with high expectations based on Sam's online persona and it was 'aight. The occasional humorous leavening of the grimdark story works pretty well in the first book in the series and while none of the characters are exactly huggable (except Kataria. shicts forever) it is enjoyable while you get to know them. I don't think the series maintains this momentum through the next two books, though.
songwind's review
4.0
This was the first Sam Sykes book I've read.
It was definitely fun, and manages to be both similar to and different from other secondary world fantasy. Sykes pays loving tribute to some fantasy tropes, lampshades others, and expands upon still more.
The story begins simply enough. Lenk and his comrades, adventurers all, have been stiffed on their last job. Lenk has had enough of the violent life, and needs the money to be able to settle somewhere and start a more peaceful life. They follow their contact across the sea to Cier'Djaal, trading center and heart of silk production. In fairly short order they realize they've come to the city at a time of major turmoil.
The story of the events in the city is interesting in itself, but the real story here is the characters and their interactions with one another. The two non-human members of the group are confronted with a great deal of racism (speciesism?), of both the overt hate and systemic sorts. This aggravates conflicts within the party, and uncovers more that hadn't been obvious before. The pressures of civilization quickly widen the cracks between the party members.
Sykes use of humor is especially good. More than once I found myself laughing aloud and sharing a passage with my wife, who also likes fantasy.
It was definitely fun, and manages to be both similar to and different from other secondary world fantasy. Sykes pays loving tribute to some fantasy tropes, lampshades others, and expands upon still more.
The story begins simply enough. Lenk and his comrades, adventurers all, have been stiffed on their last job. Lenk has had enough of the violent life, and needs the money to be able to settle somewhere and start a more peaceful life. They follow their contact across the sea to Cier'Djaal, trading center and heart of silk production. In fairly short order they realize they've come to the city at a time of major turmoil.
The story of the events in the city is interesting in itself, but the real story here is the characters and their interactions with one another. The two non-human members of the group are confronted with a great deal of racism (speciesism?), of both the overt hate and systemic sorts. This aggravates conflicts within the party, and uncovers more that hadn't been obvious before. The pressures of civilization quickly widen the cracks between the party members.
Sykes use of humor is especially good. More than once I found myself laughing aloud and sharing a passage with my wife, who also likes fantasy.
mehitabels's review against another edition
3.0
I did enjoy this book. But it was . . . convoluted. Too much crammed into the story, so I never felt like the characters really evolved. I suppose there is plenty of room for the six characters that didn't get a story line to appear in a second or third book. It left me a little numb.
Still, props for a believable world, interesting premise, and pretty smooth storytelling.
Still, props for a believable world, interesting premise, and pretty smooth storytelling.
singsthewren's review
3.0
This was a strange read for me. I didn't like it very much, but I liked it just enough to want to finish it and see where it went. The entire read felt like I was watching other people play DnD, down to character decisions, character archetypes, the world, the mysterious and helpful villains who appeared randomly for no reason when the characters got stuck... seriously did he just write up one of his DnD campaigns?!
I love roleplaying, but I don't really like watching other people roleplay, and I think that was part of my issue with the book. I felt really emotionally distanced as a reader instead of a participant. I also found the characters really obsessed with the idea that fear is the main driving principal behind all human actions, which didn't strike as realistic to me and also kept drawing me out of the narrative. It's very grim-dark but sort of silly at the same time, and that incongruity kept me from really diving in.
I love roleplaying, but I don't really like watching other people roleplay, and I think that was part of my issue with the book. I felt really emotionally distanced as a reader instead of a participant. I also found the characters really obsessed with the idea that fear is the main driving principal behind all human actions, which didn't strike as realistic to me and also kept drawing me out of the narrative. It's very grim-dark but sort of silly at the same time, and that incongruity kept me from really diving in.
blodeuedd's review
3.0
I do like a messed up city, you know, the kind of city where you would never want to live, heck you would not even want to visit. It makes for a good story and a good setting.
In this city things are brewing. It has grown fat on it's on people. Some are rich, some have nothing. Spiders roam everywhere because they are the source of money. There are soldiers from many places, and tensions are high. No one wants to ignite it, but everyone wants the be the ones left standing. And if that wasn't enough a "God", well demon, is trying to come back and take power. His followers are tearing things apart. Like I said, it's not the place to be right now.
This book follows the same group from an earlier trilogy. Since I ever only read book 1 from that one and that was ages ago, I can say that it works like this. Though it could always have had a bit more presentation. But it works.
The book changes between a few POVS. Lenk, our hero, ok I am kidding, he is not a hero. He is a killer. Kataria who comes from a race who hunts humans for fun. Oh I liked her, she struggles with her place in the world in this book. Denaos who has been to the before (now that would be quite the book), Asper a healer who is the sane and nice one, but who has a secret. Plus a wizard and a dragonman. They are all on their own adventures and agendas. The city seems to throw them all into different directions. Like it wants them to separate.
The book is about, them all going and doing their own stuff (too much to tell her, secrets hello.) The city crumbling around them and they trying to stay alive, while killing a few. And trying to find the man who led them here so they can get paid. Adventure, secrets and death is what the story has to offer.
I do wonder where the story will go, at the end I had doubts. Maybe the city really should fall. It was not a good city. It also had me wondering about other things, thrilling.
In this city things are brewing. It has grown fat on it's on people. Some are rich, some have nothing. Spiders roam everywhere because they are the source of money. There are soldiers from many places, and tensions are high. No one wants to ignite it, but everyone wants the be the ones left standing. And if that wasn't enough a "God", well demon, is trying to come back and take power. His followers are tearing things apart. Like I said, it's not the place to be right now.
This book follows the same group from an earlier trilogy. Since I ever only read book 1 from that one and that was ages ago, I can say that it works like this. Though it could always have had a bit more presentation. But it works.
The book changes between a few POVS. Lenk, our hero, ok I am kidding, he is not a hero. He is a killer. Kataria who comes from a race who hunts humans for fun. Oh I liked her, she struggles with her place in the world in this book. Denaos who has been to the before (now that would be quite the book), Asper a healer who is the sane and nice one, but who has a secret. Plus a wizard and a dragonman. They are all on their own adventures and agendas. The city seems to throw them all into different directions. Like it wants them to separate.
The book is about, them all going and doing their own stuff (too much to tell her, secrets hello.) The city crumbling around them and they trying to stay alive, while killing a few. And trying to find the man who led them here so they can get paid. Adventure, secrets and death is what the story has to offer.
I do wonder where the story will go, at the end I had doubts. Maybe the city really should fall. It was not a good city. It also had me wondering about other things, thrilling.
fouroffivewits's review
4.0
http://fouroffivewits.com/2015/06/26/you-should-read-the-city-stained-red-by-sam-sykes-rat-queens-by-kurtis-j-wiebe-a-double/
"What makes fantasy so enticing these days is the subversion of tropes. Martin subverts the hero in A Song of Ice and Fire, Joe Abercrombie subverts the gathering of unlikely parties for a quest to save the world in The First Law books, but these two books do it differently.
Starting with The City Stained Red, Sam Sykes, like Scott Lynch does in The Lies of Locke Lamora, injects his world with lovable, likeable, snarky, and sarcastic jerks. In the city of Cier’Djaal everyone has a mouth of them despite the seriousness of the situation. Unlike mercenaries, adventurers like Lenk and his gang are considered lower than prostitutes in respectability in this world, which I have dubbed Lenkworld, Simple there to get paid a foot war of rival gangs are killing each other, one of those gangs wants to resurrect a dead god king, and all the characters are having revelations about themselves. All the while characters, and not just the main characters, have insults, quips, banter, retorts, wisecracks, and witticisms on their lips on every page. It isn’t overdone though, working more like a buffer to the darker parts underneath. There’s a sickness in this city as Gariath, a dragonman, puts it. The system is manipulated by the equivalent of the upper class and the crime organizations. The humans, being the only species welcome in Cier’Djall, are bigoted against everyone who isn’t them in this city. Our heroes all are struggling with guilt, love, acceptance, and identity while trying to survive in this city when all hell breaks loose. It is rare, like The Lies of Locke Lamora is rare, that a book can be both funny and tragic but Sam Sykes does it well. What makes it different from …Lamora is the suffering his characters are going through internally.
An added bonus, I had no idea this was part of an ongoing series. It is the beginning of a new trilogy continuing from a previous trilogy. I was ninety percent through the book when I found that out and had no struggle with backstory or history by not (yet) reading those previous books."
"What makes fantasy so enticing these days is the subversion of tropes. Martin subverts the hero in A Song of Ice and Fire, Joe Abercrombie subverts the gathering of unlikely parties for a quest to save the world in The First Law books, but these two books do it differently.
Starting with The City Stained Red, Sam Sykes, like Scott Lynch does in The Lies of Locke Lamora, injects his world with lovable, likeable, snarky, and sarcastic jerks. In the city of Cier’Djaal everyone has a mouth of them despite the seriousness of the situation. Unlike mercenaries, adventurers like Lenk and his gang are considered lower than prostitutes in respectability in this world, which I have dubbed Lenkworld, Simple there to get paid a foot war of rival gangs are killing each other, one of those gangs wants to resurrect a dead god king, and all the characters are having revelations about themselves. All the while characters, and not just the main characters, have insults, quips, banter, retorts, wisecracks, and witticisms on their lips on every page. It isn’t overdone though, working more like a buffer to the darker parts underneath. There’s a sickness in this city as Gariath, a dragonman, puts it. The system is manipulated by the equivalent of the upper class and the crime organizations. The humans, being the only species welcome in Cier’Djall, are bigoted against everyone who isn’t them in this city. Our heroes all are struggling with guilt, love, acceptance, and identity while trying to survive in this city when all hell breaks loose. It is rare, like The Lies of Locke Lamora is rare, that a book can be both funny and tragic but Sam Sykes does it well. What makes it different from …Lamora is the suffering his characters are going through internally.
An added bonus, I had no idea this was part of an ongoing series. It is the beginning of a new trilogy continuing from a previous trilogy. I was ninety percent through the book when I found that out and had no struggle with backstory or history by not (yet) reading those previous books."
pastaylor's review against another edition
3.0
I haven't read any of the other books in this series, so I was a bit at a loss. The mix of action to plot was off - there was one fight scene after another, without enough sense of stakes or rationale for the fighting. He's a good, entertaining writer though. I may skip future installments.
malus23's review against another edition
2.0
I think this one just wasn't going to resonate with me. It wasn't badly done, I just never really got to that point where I sank into the story and got swept up. There wasn't any one thing I hated, or loved - just a constant tolerance. Even by the end, I didn't really care if they found a solution or just all split apart and the city was destroyed. Might have been better if it did, that would've been unique and unusual. And then the constant gloom and doom would have had more impact, maybe?