Imagine my surprise when I reached page 3116 of the electronic advanced reading copy (eARC) of Ian Whates' City of Dreams and Nightmare which I've been reading on my trusty Nokia 6680 with a Mobi ebook reader software.
For the sake of brevity, I'm truncating the title of the book to just "City".
I had expected the Mobi-powered eARC to run another 2000 pages or so along with a more sinister sub-plot to extend the somewhat faster determination of the plot in the first 3000 pages but instead page 3116 ended what is presumably the first book in a series.
Digressing ... being alone in Pagadian City (a rather smallish city in the southern Philippines) has allowed me the luxury of finishing "City" and actually do a review, the first ever book review I've done in ages -- the last dating back to my days in the university. And since I'm expected to do a bit of travelling (alas, locally, that is) from now until June, I should be downloading more eARCs from Angry Robots to read in transit.
But back to Mr. Whates' "City" ... did I like it?
Surprisingly (as evidenced by my surprise at the abrupt end at Mobi page 3116), the book was a short read. Language was quite easy to comprehend as I recalled not having to have fished out old Mr. Webster from the shelf (or hitting www.m-w.com, that is) to look up obscure and dumbfounding words. The story, despite the plot being a rehash of age-old formula of secret-bad-guy-plots-end-of-world-unlooked-for-hero-emerges-with-wise-and-all-powerful-co-stars, was tightly written, engaging and immersive.
"City" is one of the more engaging books in the fantasy field that I've read in recent memories, And while the plot, like I've said, is another take of an age-old formula, Mr. Whates has managed to refreshen the plot with original and innovative ideas and concepts (at least to me and the range of my books in and exposure to the field) like Kite Guards (elite warrior class that fly and glide using their capes ala flying squirrels), and khybul which is crystalline shit from lizard-men that they shape into sculptures of beauty.
Incidentally (and totally out of the topic here), khybul sounds and is almost similar to a Filipino term, "kybo" -- an acronym for "keep your bowels out". Kybo pertains to a make-shift toilet and the term gained notoriety in the late 80s and early 90s among campers (this was before the advent of portalets). My personal experience with kybos was in a week-long camping trip as a Boy Scout attending a Southeast Asian jamboree. But I digress ...
Mr. Whates has also taken familiar concepts and ideas, remolded them, and turned them out fresher and crispier and that much more easier for us to consume (figuratively speaking, of course). Take the case of street-nicks and their gangs ... respectively thieves and rogues and their thieves guilds. The Arkademics (like Magnus and Thomas), both good and bad lot, reminded me of the Church Hierocracy from the David and Leigh Eddings' Elenium and Tamuli series. Our protagonist, Tom the street-nick, is our Garion (again from the Eddings) who discovers he has fantastical powers and is abruptly thrust with responsibility, most notably the responsibility to save the world. And while the Prime Master is no Gandalf or Elminster (from Forgotten Lance) or Zed (from the TV version of Terry Goodkind's fantasy series), he exuded a rather Yoda-ish or Obi-Wan Ben Kenobi-ish aura throughout the story. I however cannot shake off the image of Emperor Palpatine during Primey's scenes in the book.
On the other side of the court, we have the Hounds of the Dog Master remind me soundly of the, guess what -- the Hounds that Garion and Belgarath outsmarted when they went to face Torak at the god's sleeping spot in vast Mallorea. Dog Master and The Maker's characters were no Sauron or Melkor but more akin to the Witch-King, leader of the Nine of Mordor. They could also be likened to Count Dooku and Saruman (incidentally both played by Sir Christopher Lee in the film versions). Dewar the Assassin kept appearing in my mind as one of the shapeshifter-antagonists or Baron Harkonnen's twisted Mentat henchman in B. Herbert and K.Anderson's Dune preludes.
What would be most innovative for me though in the book, what actually stands out for me is Whates' depiction of his story-world -- Thaiburley, the "City" -- a vertical city divided physically in Rows, socially divided into the Heights (where the affluent live) and the City Below (where the lower-classed citizens made their lives). All throughout the story, I keep envisioning Thaiburley as this one huge building and the Rows are floors in the building that open up to a huge balconies. However, what challenged my imagination was having buildings within each Row which then meant that each "floor" was several storeys high to accommodate the concept of buildings inside the "building". Think of the Empire State Building in the USA or for a local flavor, the RCBC Plaza.
For me, the concept of Thaiburley and its vertical rather than horizontal orientation was quite a refreshing take on world-building. Rather than sprawl as in the case of most fantasy stories and epics, we are instead treated to ups-and-downs with Thaiburley although much of the action takes place Below City where the "slums" are located. The nearest I could think of that is similar in city-structure would be the Hidden Kingdom of Gondolin and its seven gates from Tolkien's epic.
But did I like "City"?
The story starts off action-packed. Mr. Whates early on establishes the premise and plot of the story -- that of the innocent protagonist who is framed up for a crime he did not commit and how he slowly finds out more about himself and the hidden super powers that suddenly decided to manifest itself just when our hero was in the midst of trouble in the first place. With that clearly established, Mr. Whates then proceeds to become Dan Brown-ish with a fast-paced "police" chase filled with obstacles and puzzles that our beloved hero and other sub-protagonists (in "City" those sub=prots would be Tylus the Kite Guard and the deadly Katarina "Kat", survivor of the Pits -- a gladiator ring of sorts) participate in. If my reading was accurate, I believe the entire story of "City" in a span of just a few days, three days at most.
Mr. Whates' introduces us to his world and its denizens rather gently in that you don't get a feeling of info-overload or ramming-down-the-throat when street-nicks, Jeradines, Tattooed Men, sun-globes, arkademics, swarbs, and Kite Guards made their appearance in the book. When these unique elements in Mr. Whates' world were introduced, you readily get enough information and description -- more of it's subtly imbibed into you -- that you don't need to turn back pages to recall what these elements were.
The characters in the book were also well-crafted though they were not original nor that remarkable (you've seen dozens of Magnuses, and Toms, and Tyluses, and Kats and Rayuls and Insints in other books and worlds and sci-fis and fantasies). But they worked well enough for the book to move the story along quite well. It might also be just a case of yours truly having had read the same plots and storylines for years and years on.
But did I like the "City"?
As I've mentioned, the writing was tight, the action sequences and the talkies portions interspersed effectively that you could liken it to a measure of a symmetric musical piece. The build-up to what was supposed to be the climax was, in my honest opinion, done quite well.
However, I was just a tad disappointed with actual climax portions -- when Tom unleashed his powers to free the infected street-nicks, and when Dewar and Kat faced off with the Dog Master.
For the Tom climax, I would've wanted more flash and more magic rather than him passing out and we learn later on from recounting by the Prime Master and Ty-Gen that he had succeeded. I would've wanted to read about how the street-nicks managed to shake off the hypnotic persuasion devices that the Dog Master had latched onto them.
For the death of the Dog Master, I would've wanted more action, more dialogue, and probably seeing Dog Master die fighting rather than him getting his throat slit up by Kat with a stealthy come-from-behind approach.
I guess that's where the surprise came in ... the abrupt death of the Dog Master had me thinking this was a secondary plot of the book. I thought that there was more to read after the rather quick death of the DM ... there was Insint still AWOL, right? But Mr. Whates quickly dashed my delusion of another 2000 pages when he started narrating the usual end-of-book-whatever-happened-to-them-afterwards, capping with Insint contemplating his next move against Thaiburley.
It was however the main plot of the book. But it's more likely just a small ripple in the over-riding arc of the series. Nevertheless, as this was central to this particular book, it could've been done with more pizzaz, more firepower to make for an explosive first book.
But did I like City of Dreams and Nightmare?
Yes.
Despite the disappointment I felt at the climax and end of the book, the richness and uniqueness of the world of Thaiburley, and the build-up that Mr. Whates has done more than made up for those aforementioned shortcomings.
Mr. Whates has hinted a lot of things still yet to be discovered and explored in Thaiburley like that great heart-like mechanism that Tom saw on one of the Rows when he was escaping from Magnus' hands -- presumably the Core that Prime Master was referring to that can be tapped by special individuals like the healer priestesses and seers and the likes of Tom.
Cliffhangers also abound at the book's end, enough to pique your curiousity.
What happens now to Tom after it is discovered he is a unique individual able to harvest the power of the Core more abundantly or powerfully than other tappers? He's no ordinary street-nick but being a street-nick is the only thing he knows?
What of Kat and her sister, Chavver, and their relationship with the Tattoo Men? Will Kat survive her duel with her sister and will we see the romance of Kat and Tom flourish?
Will Tylus survive his captaincy and establish his training school for Kite Guards in the City Below? Will he be able to keep his cape in check?
What of the Demons who actually look like Angels?
Have we seen the last of Dewar?
Will we be able to see more of the young seductress, Jezmina?
Will we finally be able to figure out why this book is entitled City of Dreams and Nightmare (taking note of the singularity of "nightmare")?
In summary, City of Dreams and Nightmare is a good, quick book to read. You're presented with a new world to explore and although the characters may be too familiar, they've been given a fresh innovation and make-over to make them unique. The plot is predictable but the twists and turns and fresh concepts interjected by Mr. Whates propelled the story forward. It's a good intro to Mr. Whates' world but the overall action still has to pick-up in probably the next two or three books so I think the next book in the series will probably be better. But as the first book, the strength of this book is in the crafting of the characters and the setting-up of the action that has yet to come in the coming books.
I give City of Dreams and Nightmare, 3.5 thumbs-up out of a possible 5. That means it's a good read but don't expect too much fireworks.
