Scan barcode
A review by mburnamfink
One Man: A City of Fallen Gods novel by Harry Connolly
4.0
One Man is a fast moving fantasy gangster novel. Kyrioc used to be a noble heir, but after a disastrous quest to prove his worth, he's been disfigured, and lives under an assumed name in a slum. When his neighbor stumbles into a criminal deal, and her daughter gets kidnapped, Kyrioc has to get her back by killing everyone who stands in his path.
This is a world of weird magic, with a city built among the skeletons of gigantic dead gods, and usual gifts. And it's fine enough. Lots of action, lots of cool bits. But it doesn't have the verve of great books in this genre, the gonzo new weird of Perdido Street Station, the high-octane magic of Gladstone's Craft series, the characterization of The Lies of Locke Lamora, or even the gritty noir attitude of Low Town.
One Man/ is complicated rather than complex, using multiple points of view to disguise what's a pretty simple variant of the Taken basic plot, where a killer has to go back in to save an innocent. Good enough if you're looking for new fantasy, but nothing that elevates it to great.
This is a world of weird magic, with a city built among the skeletons of gigantic dead gods, and usual gifts. And it's fine enough. Lots of action, lots of cool bits. But it doesn't have the verve of great books in this genre, the gonzo new weird of Perdido Street Station, the high-octane magic of Gladstone's Craft series, the characterization of The Lies of Locke Lamora, or even the gritty noir attitude of Low Town.
One Man/ is complicated rather than complex, using multiple points of view to disguise what's a pretty simple variant of the Taken basic plot, where a killer has to go back in to save an innocent. Good enough if you're looking for new fantasy, but nothing that elevates it to great.