City of Last Chances (The Tyrant Philosophers)

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Big Damn Heroes: Led by Shantrov, the insanity-inducing, hallucinatory forces of the Reproach are what save the refugees from the Gownhall from being arrested by the Palleseen forces set to guard the Anchorwood and Anchorage.

But as we get into the swing of things, we see the same faces circling around again and again, and eventually have some chapters told from the same perspective twice, and something begins to emerge. Tchaikovsky again shines with his suspenseful second Final Architecture space opera (after Shards of Earth).

and all of whom are connected by threads of politics and obligation and camaraderie and rivalry and the shared experience of being in this city, at this time, under this regime. A thank you to Cassie Waters from Head of Zeus for inviting us aboard the book tour for The City of Lost Chances by Adrian Tchaikovsky.

I loved the world-building of this city, but I expected that: I read a review that compared it to New Crobuzon in the China Mieville novels and that obviously got my attention, as that fictional city haunts my dreams. The city of Ilmar may be not as strange and beautifully ugly as Miéville’s New Crobuzon, but it’s decidedly unpleasant in a oddly fascinating way. Interservice Rivalry: One of the big hinderances for the otherwise-overwhelming power of the Palleseen occupation.

By book’s end you have a good sense of the world building and a few characters that you will know and enjoy.

In the end, this was a good but just short of great read for me for many of the reasons I mentioned. The finest involves a group hanging and when I witnessed it, my initial thoughts were "That that's an excellent future Netflix cliffhanger right there! The book starts with a few characters being introduced, but then you start to realise that the chapters keep moving on to new people. However, once we pass 60%, we have gathered all the data and perspectives we need, and the plot begins to pick up.

From the idealist student, priest going through a crisis, mercenaries and factory works, you get a rich picture of a city on the brink of civil unrest. I purchased (and enjoyed) the audiobook during these harder chapters when I found myself disinterested, to help keep me focused and push forwards to the excellent scenes and exchanges that I knew would come. Bittersweet Ending: By the end of the book, hundreds of people are dead, including several people the characters knew, Shantrov and Lemya are both changed forever by the Reproach, and the Palleseen are still in control of the city.