The City by Stella Gemmell – a Review

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Description:
The City is ancient, layers upon layers. Once a thriving metropolis, it has sprawled beyond its bounds, inciting endless wars with neighboring tribes and creating a barren wasteland of what was once green and productive.

In the center of the City lives the emperor. Few have ever seen him, but those who have recall a man in his prime, though he should be very old. Some grimly speculate that he is no longer human, if he ever was. A small number have come to the desperate conclusion that the only way to stop the war is to end the emperor’s unnaturally long life.

From the mazelike sewers below the City, where the poor struggle to stay alive in the dark, to the blood-soaked fields of battle, where few heroes manage to endure the never-ending siege, the rebels pin their hopes on one man—Shuskara. The emperor’s former general, he was betrayed long ago and is believed to be dead. But, under different aliases, he has survived, forsaking his City and hiding from his immortal foe. Now the time has come for him to engage in one final battle to free the City from the creature who dwells at its heart, pulling the strings that keep the land drenched in gore.

Review:

The City by Stella Gemmell is her debut novel.  This not Gemmell’s first foray into writing though, as she helped with her late husband’s, David Gemmell’s fantasy series; especially completing the unfinished book to raves. 

The City is an epic fantasy novel of an interesting world created by Gemmell.  The City could be anywhere, but you learn early on, it does have an old feel of a european major city that is currently in ruins.  The City is run by an Emperor, who is very old, considered immortal, and a cruel dictator. A long long time ago, the City was a beautiful place with happy people.  Today, we see the multiple layers of destruction, decay, people trying to survive, and a city that has been at war for far too long.

When we start the city, we are immediately thrown into the god awful conditions that people are living in, especially those underground in the sewer.  There are different factions that we meet, and we do get to meet a lot of characters.  In fact, so many it was very confusing for me at the start to keep up with these characters and factions that we meet.  Fantasy is world building, and Gemmell wanted us to see all of the pieces, cultures, different life styles, and the conditions they all lived in, as she spent a lot of time doing this, and before you realize it, years have passed. 

This is a 500 plus page novel, and I would say it took a third of the book, with all the information for the pieces to fall into place, and then the book became very interesting, exciting, as we head to the climatic conclusion.  You become vested into most of the main characters you meet over time, and see how they become part of how the story leads us to.

The crux of the story is that after so many years of war, death, destruction, corruption, and horrible living conditions, a revolution is put together by the different faction soldiers to kill the emperor.  Until he is dead, the war would continue, and all will die.  Once the emperor is eliminated, only then can peace come, and hopefully a resurrection of the City.  We get to see different pov’s from different characters: the Immortal leaders/soldiers; the different revolution armies, who must join together to have a chance to end this ongoing war; a war hero in hiding, and the adopted daughter he helped save many years ago; and a unbelievable supporting cast.  It is a culmination of revenge, betrayal, loyalty, and perseverance.

Gemmell has created some wonderful characters that once you know them over time, you learn to care very much for them;  Bertellus, the old man, who was once a revered war hero, now in hiding, and his daughter, Emly;  Indaro, who I ended up liking the most, as she was a tough female warrior in hard times; Fell, the soldier who had to switch sides to help end this war that would eventually destroy them all.  There are plenty more interesting characters, and it is hard to keep up with them. 

Make no mistake, this is a dark and violent fantasy epic.  It is a huge book, which does start off slowly, in order for you to know the characters and the world.  But it is a great story, and well worth sticking with this.  If you have no patience to see this through, then this may not be for you.  Stella Gemmell has an excellent writing style, and has put her name out there as one of the fantasy authors who must be watched.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher