Read in November 2011
Synopsis:
In a place where an ancient holocaust devastated civilization and caused most of the world’s water to evaporate, a new civilization has arisen–where sand ships cross the deserts between city-states, where bones are used to work magic of all kinds. Charisat is the greatest of city-states, the Imperial seat where your status is determined by how high up the tiers of the city you live. Khat is a trader and sometime thief, one of a race genetically altered to survive in these new conditions. Elen is a scholar and a lady who is investigating the ancient ruins, looking for the secrets of their magic. Together they must solve a mystery involving a fanatical cult whose members are trying to unleash an evil that will topple Charisat–and from there, destroy the world again
My Thoughts:
I enjoyed Martha Wells writing, especially the action scenes, but the ending left me in the lurch. While I cared about the main characters, I didn’t care for the configuration and alignments that fell out in the end.
GR Status Updates:
| 11/20/2011 | page 1 | 0.0% | ||
| 11/22/2011 | page 48 | 10.0% | “Starting Chapter Three” | |
| 11/22/2011 | page 105 | 22.0% | “Starting Chapter Six” 2 comments | |
| 11/25/2011 | page 184 | 38.0% | “Starting Chapter Nine” | |
| 11/28/2011 | page 238 | 49.0% | “Starting Chapter Twelve” | |
| 11/30/2011 | page 307 | 63.0% | “Starting Chapter Fifteen” | |
| 11/30/2011 | page 326 | 67.0% | “‘The luck was nice, but it left him uneasy, knowing the more he had of it now, the more likely it was to fail spectacularly at some later point.’ –Khat” | |
| 11/30/2011 | page 377 | 77.0% | “Starting Chapter Eighteen” | |
| 11/30/2011 | page 420 | 86.0% | “Starting Chapter Twenty-one” | |
| 11/30/2011 | page 488 | 100.0% |
The world sound interesting, but I take it the story left something to be desired?
More where the characters ended up. Their motivations became skewed at the end (if I’m remembering correctly … been over two years since I read the book). I loved the action and the worldbuilding was good. Something just didn’t sit well with my with the characters by the end.