City of Bones by Martha Wells

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Post apocalyptic, Fantasy
Content: Strong language, Sex is implied



Where once great galleons roamed the sea,
sand ships now traverse the Great Waste,
and a glittering chain of city-states
dots the desert that has no end... 

Khat, a member of a humanoid race created by the Ancients to survive in the Waste, and Sagai, his human partner, are relic dealers working on the edge of society, trying to stay one step ahead of the Trade Inspectors and to support Sagai's family. When Khat is hired to find relics believed to be part of one of the Ancients' arcane engines, they are both reluctant to become involved. But the request comes from the Warders, powerful mages who serve Charisat's Elector.

Khat soon discovers that the deadly politics of Charisat's upper tiers aren't the only danger. The relics the Warders want are the key to an Ancient magic of unknown power, and, as all the inhabitants of Charisat know, no one understands the Ancients' magic.

I love Martha Wells's Murderbot series, but this one is quite different, so I wasn't sure if I would end up liking it or not. However, the plot sounded interesting so I gave it a try. I shouldn't have worried. Wells has an easy writing style that I'm able to quickly immerse myself in, right from the get-go.

The tiered city element to this story reminded me a little of the tower of Babel. It also reminded me of a couple of other books I've read, with the least wealthy being at the bottom, of course, and the most wealthy being at the top of the city structure. Other than that, this was kind of different from anything I've read before. There are both fantasy and sci-fi elements incorporated into this post apocalyptic-type story. I thought the world was very well drawn. Wells is definitely a master at world building. There is so much about the history and culture of this world packed into this book, but yet it's blended into the story so you never feel like you're getting an info dump. I found the ancients and their magic and technology very interesting.

This is a stand-alone, but it could have easily been part of a series. There is a lot more that the author could have explored, and I was rather frustrated at where we leave the relationship between the characters in the end, but I still really enjoyed this book and liked the characters immensely.