Book Review: The Shock of Night by Patrick W Carr

Book Details:
Title: The Shock of Night
Author: Patrick W Carr
2015, Bethany House
IBSN: 978-0764213465
Genre: Fantasy

Book Summary:
When one man is brutally murdered and the priest he works for mortally wounded on the streets of Bunard, Willet Dura is called to investigate. Yet the clues to the crime lead to contradictions and questions without answers. As Willet begins to question the dying priest, the man pulls Willet close and screams in a foreign tongue. Then he dies without another word.

Willet returns to the city, no closer to answers than before, but his senses are skewed. People he touches appear to have a subtle shift, a twist seen at the edge of his vision, and it's as though he can see their deepest thoughts. In a world divided between haves and have-nots, gifted and common, Willet soon learns he's been passed the rarest gift of all: a gift that's not supposed to exist. 

Now Willet must pursue the murderer still on the loose in Bunard even as he's pulled into a much more dangerous and epic conflict that threatens not only his city, but his entire world--a conflict that will force him to come to terms with his own tortured past if he wants to survive.

My Review:
I very rarely do this but... I just couldn't get into this book. I read Patrick Carr's last series The Staff and the Sword and although it was a little more dense than my usual fare, I still enjoyed it. I was interested to read this new series by the author and even got the prequel - which I finished. 

I tried several times to get into this one. I think if you are normally a fan of this type of dark, dense fantasy reading then it is probably a good read. I just couldn't really understand what was all going on and there was a lot of murder going on.

Like the other series, there was a lot of mystical, magical things going on in this fantasy world. People in this word have these strange gifts that they can use for good or bad. There are pure gifts and more diluted gifts that have been split over time. I think someone is stealing gifts in this book, but honestly it was getting beyond me. 

If you were a huge fan of the author's first series or books like it, then I think you would like this one too. It just wasn't for me this time around.

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book for my honest review. No other compensation was received and all thoughts and opinions are strictly my own.

Book Review: City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett

Book Details
Title: City of Stairs
Author: Robert Jackson Bennett
2014, Broadway Books
ISBN: 978-0804137171
Genre: Fantasy

Book Summary

The city of Bulikov once wielded the powers of the gods to conquer the world, enslaving and brutalizing millions—until its divine protectors were killed. Now Bulikov has become just another colonial outpost of the world's new geopolitical power, but the surreal landscape of the city itself—first shaped, now shattered, by the thousands of miracles its guardians once worked upon it—stands as a constant, haunting reminder of its former supremacy. 

Into this broken city steps Shara Thivani. Officially, the unassuming young woman is just another junior diplomat sent by Bulikov's oppressors. Unofficially, she is one of her country's most accomplished spies, dispatched to catch a murderer. But as Shara pursues the killer, she starts to suspect that the beings who ruled this terrible place may not be as dead as they seem—and that Bulikov's cruel reign may not yet be over.

My Review

First of all, I’d like to say that I really enjoyed this book. It is the first book I’ve read by this author and it was a little different than books I usually read, but I liked it. That being said, I also found it to be very dense reading. I almost felt like I was wading through the story. This is not to say that it was not interesting or that I wanted to quit reading it… but the text was very rich. I would not say this was an easy read, but worth it if you’re willing to put in the time.

City of Stairs is set in a fantasy world where there are mortals and divinities. There is also some part human/part god “children” out there. I am not going to go into an explanation of it all here, but basically there were six divinities and they ruled/blessed/created a holy city. This city oppressed the other nations around it until finally someone from a neighboring country rose up and figured out a way to kill some of the gods. Here is where my main objection to the story comes up. I don’t quite understand how a “god” or “divinity” can be killed… but I’ll let it slid for the sake of the story. The city falls into ruins after the gods are killed and the citizens are poverty-stricken and oppressed by their conquerors’.

We meet Shara, a secret operative and “ambassador” to this holy city. She has come to investigate the murder of a famous historian who came to the holy city for research. While she is there, she makes a lot of discoveries, about the gods, the city and a group of people trying to “restore” the old city. Shara is a very complex character. She is intelligent and is fascinated by the old stories of the gods and their miracles. She brings along her “secretary” who is really more of a bodyguard, Sigrud. In my opinion, he is one of the best characters in the book! He is tough and scary, but smart and funny. For a secondary character he is a very deep character and has a rich storyline. You will fall in love with him.

Honestly, this story has so much going on in it that it can’t even be put in a short review for fear of giving something away. If you have any interest in fantasy you should pick it up. There is a bit of everything in this story, romance, drama, battles, mysteries, remarkable world building and interesting characters. And the front cover is kind of awesome too.

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Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher through the Blogging for Books program. All thoughts and opinions are strictly my own.