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A review by songwind
The City Stained Red by Sam Sykes
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.