LoveReading Says
LoveReading Says
City of Last Chances is a weighty book of around 500 pages, each filled with beautiful, colourful imagery that brings the rich narrative and last cast of characters to life. Adrian Tchaikovsky's intricate world building is astounding: a vibrant city under occupation and on the verge of revolution, with a dark criminal underworld, a rebel resistance movement, and history seeping through every street. Conflict stirs around each corner as the tension escalates. This wasn't a fast-paced read for me – it required intense thought and concentration, focusing on how the complex plot develops and the different strands weave together. A map, character list and details of each faction at the beginning of the book helped to keep me on track. To balance out the underlying political and social commentary, flashes of dark humour and emotion drove the story forward. There's plenty of action, supernatural and murder too. A challenging but rewarding read.
Victoria Goldman
Find This Book In
| Primary Genre |
Fantasy
|
| Other Genres: |
|
| Recommendations: |
|
About
City of Last Chances Synopsis
Arthur C. Clarke winner and Sunday Times bestseller Adrian Tchaikovsky's triumphant return to fantasy with a darkly inventive portrait of a city under occupation and on the verge of revolution.
There has always been a darkness to Ilmar, but never more so than now. The city chafes under the heavy hand of the Palleseen occupation, the choke-hold of its criminal underworld, the boot of its factory owners, the weight of its wretched poor and the burden of its ancient curse.
What will be the spark that lights the conflagration?
Despite the city's refugees, wanderers, murderers, madmen, fanatics and thieves, the catalyst, as always, will be the Anchorwood – that dark grove of trees, that primeval remnant, that portal, when the moon is full, to strange and distant shores.
Ilmar, some say, is the worst place in the world and the gateway to a thousand worse places.
Ilmar, City of Long Shadows.
City of Bad Decisions.
City of Last Chances.
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9781801108447 |
| Publication date: |
9th November 2023 |
| Author: |
Adrian Tchaikovsky |
| Publisher: |
Head of Zeus -- an AdAstra Book an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing PLC |
| Format: |
Paperback |
| Pagination: |
528 pages |
| Series: |
The Tyrant Philosophers |
| Primary Genre |
Fantasy
|
| Other Genres: |
|
| Recommendations: |
|
Press Reviews
Adrian Tchaikovsky Press Reviews
'Ilmar is vividly alive with ideas, conflicts, and a sense of its own history - a truly breathtaking fantasy city, down every street a compelling story' -- David Towsey
'A master at the height of his powers. This is epic symphonic fantasy, weaving a breakneck plot through a sumptuously dangerous world' -- Ian Green
'A wonderful twisty stew of a book with a cast of fascinating characters, set against the brilliantly realized city of Ilmar' -- Django Wexler
'A triumph of a book: wildly imaginative, immediately immersive and hypnotically compelling' -- Sharon Emmerichs
Author
About Adrian Tchaikovsky
Adrian Tchaikovsky was born in Lincolnshire before heading off to Reading to study psychology and zoology. He subsequently ended up in law and has worked as a legal executive in both Reading and Leeds, where he now lives. Married, he is a keen live role-player and occasional amateur actor and has trained in stage-fighting. He's the author of Children of Time, the winner of the 30th Anniversary Arthur C. Clarke Award, and the Sunday Times bestseller Shards of Earth.
More About Adrian Tchaikovsky
