A walk to Aldebaran gets complicated!

Enjoyable story that lends itself well to a series with good characters and some interesting ideas.
All well written with some typical Tchaikovsky descriptions.

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A fantasticly novel take on fantasy

This books seems to run on the saying "Everyone is the hero of their own story" and this book has so many interesting characters.
The world is also just a mad of ideas that could be individual stories just as well. A fantasy city under occupation from a strange Nation that aims to perfect the world by rendering magic down to pure power for their own use, a university of ideal driven students, demon powered factories, gangs of organised crime and underground magic users. And that's just the stuff on the surface, this world has a depth that just unfurls so naturally in your mind, it's a treat to read.

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1 person found this helpful

Perfect hit for me

I enjoyed this story far, far more that typical fantasy. Compelling characters, interesting social observations and lack of simplistic moralisms plaguing fantasy (and SciFi) recently. I want more!

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4 people found this helpful

Not sure the narrator got the text

Complex set up at the beginning- Lots of characters. Names hard to remember and so blurred them sometimes and found it a bit hard to follow. Thought the narrator struggled with the author’s text rather than bringing it to life much of the time. But despite all of that, overall a really interesting story and if there are more books in this series (is it a series?) then more if the complex world building should make sense / have more time to evolve. So hugely imaginative but a bit hard to follow at least in the beginning.

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An amazing book!

I absolutely loved this book, it was dark but hopeful, grim but humourous. I hardly knew what was going to happen next and even when I did I was still somehow surprised by it! The narrator also did an excellent job and was a true pleasure to listen to, a good range of voices and great intonation. I want more books like this!

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2 people found this helpful

Could have been shorter...

This novel starts like a collection of short stories. It takes many hours to draw the various bits together, and by the time the Plot sort of comes together I had forgotten what happened in the earlier parts which were somehow supposed to inform what was then happening... It took a very long time to go anywhere and then seemingly a very long time to wrap up. Or rather not wrap up.
Also why are most of the characters Scottish? This was a confusing choice, a little more vocal differentiation would have been enjoyable. Lots of characters and factions but lots of.the same voice... perhaps it would be more enjoyable to read rather than listen to.
There also seem to be some issues with production which make for a clunky listen.
This is the second book from this author I've listened to and I can't say I'll be rushing to read any more!

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1 person found this helpful

Excellent

I'll begin this review by saying that I am a fan of Adrian Tchaikovsky - Dogs of War and Bear Head are two of the best books I have read for years, but I am more of an S-F reader and not really into fantasy, so I was not too sure what I would make of City of Last Chances.

Firstly, the performance is first rate - David Thorpe really manages to bring life to the huge cast of characters.

Secondly the story - I would definitely put this in the small group of novels that I categorise as "what's actually going on here?" The world is so different from our own, but seems utterly plausible at the same time. Every question answered leaves two more in its wake. It manages to be in equal measures both funny and tragic.

So why the 4 star rating?
Initially, I found it quite difficult to follow. The first 10 or so chapters each has a different point of view, meaning there are a lot of names to hold in you head. In paperback this would not be a problem, I could just flick back a few pages to refresh my mind, but in audiobook format that's not so easy.

Overall though I would definitely recommend this and will be listening to the sequel shortly.

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Confusing

Huge fan of Adrian and after devouring the empire in black and gold series (which is truly epic) I had high hopes for this book. It starts hopeful but I found it hard to follow and was left not quite sure what had actually happened at the end! On reflection I believe it’s due to the disjointed character changes and background histories that are never fully explained. Love this guys work but this was a no no for me so won’t be seeking out the second book

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4 people found this helpful

A real value for money book

David Thorpe did an excellent job of performing this book. Clear diction and discrete characters.

The story is engrossing. Characters are often sympathetic but flawed and as a result fleshed out and roubdee. The concept of a transient passage across worlds could have dominated the tale, but it does not. It is not accessible all the tine, or safe when it is. Further, the city is under occupation and has its own forbidden areas.

I really enjoyed the interplay of the multilayered urban setting. The cultures who struggle to get along. This was a great book.

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Unnecessarily long

Not particularly a page turner. Lots of characters to begin with, and I only ended up finding 2 interesting. It's a massive time investment when things only start to get halfway. There was so much more the author could've done with the Priest and Ruslav.

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