Reviews with content warning for Death - City of Last Chances

This is my fourth book by Adrian Tchaikovsky, and my first of his fantasy books. I thoroughly enjoyed it! City of Last Chances has a lot I love in fantasy: multiple POVs, compelling world-building with complex political dynamics, characters who are ethically ambiguous at best, and and a significant element of strangeness. Tchaikovsky has created a great ensemble case of characters, perhaps none of whom are straightforwardly likeable but many of whom I was really interested in. This is absolutely a fantasy book, with elements of magic, fantastical technologies, and mysterious portals between worlds, but the institutions and factions moving against each other were what interested me most. The dynamics between the regime established by the colonizing Palleseen in Illmar — including, to name a few, the School of Correct Erudition, School of Correct Appreciation, and School of Correct Speech — as well as the resistance groups (Shrikes, Vultures, Herons) and workers’ organizations (the Siblingries) were the most compelling aspect of the story for me. Illmar itself also comes alive on the page, and the plot contained enough twists to keep my interest while unfolding gradually. Tchaikovsky has helpfully provided a list of characters and factions at the beginning of the book — this is the kind of fantasy that warrants this inclusion, with many characters and factions to keep track of. Definitely recommend.

Content warnings: murder, violence, death, gore (though not especially graphic), execution by hanging, colonization, police brutality, war, injury detail

Thank you to NetGalley and Head of Zeus / AdAstra for providing an ARC in exchange for this review.

Content Warnings

rubyhosh's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

5.0

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