Before continuing, please note that this is the third book in “The Divine Cities” trilogy. Before reading this novel, it would be a good idea to have read the previous two. There is also a chance that there may be spoilers below. It has been a few years since the first book, so I’m not 100% sure. Here is my review for the first book, City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett. I am a little shocked that I never posted a review of City of Blades though. I had the opportunity to meet the man himself and receive a signed ARC. If I get the chance, I will have to gather my memories and get that one up as well. If I do, I will edit this and link it here. Sufficed to say, I love the first book and really like the second as well. For now, let us move on to the third book.

Rounding out his trilogy, Robert Jackson Bennett give us City of Miracles. What a way to end the series. We return to the Continent to rejoin our favorite Dreyling, Sigrud je Harkvaldsson. It has been a number of years since the events at the end of City of Blades and Sigrud is still a fugitive, hiding away, doing odd jobs, and hoping Shara Komayd contacts him. (Okay, so kinda spoiler alert here, but not really, the following takes place in the first 10 pages, even before what I already introduced. It is on the book jacket and all previews, reviews, descriptions, etc.) While working one of these jobs in exile, Sigrud receives the news that his long time friend and partner has been assassinated. He now has one goal, the same one that got him into the predicament he is currently in, revenge. One of the most effective operatives to ever work on the continent returns from hiding to get justice for his old friend.

As one may guess from being the final book in “The Divine Cities” trilogy, Sigrud will have to tackle the divine once again, this time without direct help from Shara, the one who always the the knack for it. A spy’s job is never quick or easy though. Killing a target is simple. Uncovering what is happening behind the scenes and bringing everything to a stop will prove to be one of Sigrud’s most challenging operations yet. I feltthat this novel nicely wrapped up the series with another fantastic and epic story. The plot brought me right back to City of Stairs, with a very familiar feeling.

The characters were very well developed, even Sigrud, who we have known well through two prior books, got excellent additional depth. The world building was also very interesting. We already know many of the locations from the earlier novels, however the landscapes have changed significantly enough through advancements and industrialization, that the familiar names have all new features. With the divine, settings can (and do) change in the blink of an eye as well. The enjoyment level, as I mentioned, brought me right back to City of Stairs, and to me, was more enjoyable than City of Blades, which I also really liked. I give City of Miracles a 5/5, easily. If anyone has read any of the trilogy, you absolutely must complete it. If you have not yet begun the series, I highly recommend it.

The end of anything tends to be a little sad, but this novel, both with knowing it was over, and the actual content left me quite sad, though with a juxtaposed happiness for world and the accomplishments of the characters we grew to know and love. Those sort of feelings only come from a well written, well balanced story that creates emotional bonds between the world, the characters, and the readers. I for one thoroughly felt this bond and I will be watching out for Robert Jackson Bennett’s novels in the future, hoping for a similar experience.

Disclaimer: I received this review copy through Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.

City of Stairs was an interesting book (which is due to be released on September 9th, 2014 by Broadway Books, a Crown imprint) that immediately intrigued me. I had not really been aware of it leading up to the promotional stage and though I know of Robert Jackson Bennett, I did not actually know much about him or his writing. This is actually the first chance I have had to read his work. When I looked at the description it immediately stood out as something I needed to request. The story takes place primarily on a colonized continent. The Continent was formerly a world power which wielded its’ own pantheon of gods. The gods are now long gone and a smaller island nation has colonized the Continent. More or less at the center of the Continent is the city of Bulikov, our main focal point. An even with certain political and legal implications brings our main character, Shara, over to Bulikov, and that is just the first few pages.

In town with the credentials of a diplomat  assigned to the local embassy sent to investigate recent events, Shara is actually about as far from a political player as one working for thier govenrment can get;, she is one of Saypur’s top operatives on the continent. Her true job is less diplomatic politician and more undercover spy. What sounds so far like a geopolitical drama evolves into a world with a unique magic system and a strong fantasy based story. Religious extremists, divine miracles and unexplainable events cause Shara and her associates to believe that these long gone gods may not be as gone as everyone seems to think. The plot really escalated quickly and refocuses several times. There is drama, magic, twists and plenty of action. More than enough for any fantasy fan.

I really appreciated the level of characterization and descriptiveness the author used. The characters were given not only depth, but layers. I really liked how the the layers were teased out over the course of the book, slowly revealing more and more about them and their history. I felt like I had a strong understanding of many of the main characters at the end and a really nice glimpse into their pasts and their motives. I am a sucker for strong characterization and Bennett certainly gave us that. It was not only the characters that were given full back stories, but also the regions, the deities and political structure. The world building was fantastic and unique. It bordered on fantasy world building and urban fantasy world altering. It does not end there either. The descriptions were detailed and vivid. One particular scene stands out where Shara is cooking while discussing some rather in depth Continental history. The detailed descriptions of her preparations intertwined in her conversations felt so casual yet was extremely well done, completely taking me into to scene where i could absolutely see her standing there crushing garlic and slicing meat. I do not know why that stuck with me so much, but I was completely impressed with it.

If you cannot already tell, I really, really enjoyed the book. The action scenes were great, the world building was very well done and magic system was interesting and unique. I have not talked about Sigrud at all in this review so far, but you will love Shara’s “secretary” and travel companion. I do not know if there is anything in particular that I  can point out that I  did not like. I have to give City of Stairs 5/5.  I absolutely recommend pucking this up. I would even go as far as saying to pre-order it, it liked it that much. I am not claiming that this is the most revolutionary book I have read and it will change your life. It was however damn good and fairly unique and I am confident that most SFF fans will love it. The novel was a very well balanced book. I hope we see something else in this universe. I know I will have to pull some of Robert Jackson Bennett‘s other works after this.

Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher, through Goodreads in exchange for a fair review.