City of Strife è un romanzo perfetto se avete voglia di un fantasy pieno di architetture che vi faranno sognare a ogni aperti e di intrighi che vi faranno continuare a macinare pagine come se non ci fosse un domani. Immagino di dovervi avvertire, quindi, che la serie non è ancora conclusa e che mancano ancora gli ultimi due volumi (anche se l’uscita di City of Torment potrebbe essere vicina, ma quest’anno è diventato presto molto strano e chissà).

Comunque, tornando a City of Strife, l’elemento più rimarchevole del libro mi sembra la costruzione dei personaggi, che dà senso a tutto il loro brigare e alle relazioni che si creano tra di loro. In particolare, ho apprezzato la presenza di personaggi che non sono forti perché capaci di impugnare una spada e far fuori centinaia di nemici con la sola forza del loro braccio – come se ne trovano a tonnellate nei fantasy – ma lo sono perché hanno il coraggio di mettere a repentaglio la loro vita e i propri privilegi per aiutare qualcun’altru.

Inoltre, c’è un antagonista così stronzo, così perverso e così viscido che fin dalle prime pagine ho iniziato a sperare che faccia una fine orribile – e che Arseneault non lo sprechi, facendogli fare una fine anticlimatica, perché è davvero una merda schifosa. A questo proposito, vi dirò di tenervi alla larga da questo romanzo se gli abusi psicologici e fisici vi mettono a disagio perché l’antagonista ne fa largo uso.

Un altro pregio del romanzo è una buona presenza di personaggi queer inseriti in maniera armonica nella storia e non come una medaglia da reclamare perché l’autrice si è ricordata che c’è vita oltre allociseterolandia. Ho delle perplessità su alcune rappresentazioni, ma molto dipenderà da come evolverà la storia, quindi per il momento ho deciso di fidarmi di Arseneault.

Quindi City of Strife non ha difetti? Sì, ce li ha. Il più macroscopico mi è sembrata una scarsa attenzione per la descrizione della magia, che non sappiamo proprio come funzioni di preciso in questo mondo. È anche vero che stiamo parlando del primo libro di una serie e c’è tempo per approfondire, oltre al fatto che l’autrice ci butta negli eventi e ci lascia lì a osservarli dipanarsi. Io non amo gli spiegoni, per carità, ma è pure bello imparare qualche dettaglio del mondo del quale si legge. ( )

I really enjoyed this book!

It has all the elements I love in second-world fantasy: a city with various political & economic elements, all at each others' throats; a wide-ranging cast of characters; an interesting premise and not too many infodumps; and creative systems of magic.

The characters are well-drawn and distinct for the most part. Whether you love them or hate them, you definitely understand why they're acting the way they act and how they think they're doing what's best. My only exception is the main villain, Avenazar. He's left fairly one-dimensional but this is the first installment of the series so I hope we'll get some more inside info on him and why he acts the way he does. He certainly does function as a terrifying antagonist though, and in his impulse to destroy and dominate her reminds me of a certain US president who's name I won't mention...

Anyway, I enjoyed the relationships between the characters very much. I enjoyed how even to protagonists are called out when they make mistakes, how they are forced to reckon with the consequences of their actions. The diversity of this world is incredibly well done and it's so nice to see a fantasy work where so many different facets of gender, sexuality, disability, and race are explored.

I can't wait for the next book, I'm very intrigued and excited to find out what happens next! ( )

I was uncertain for the first third, convinced for the second, and way into it for the third. Far too often novels happen to me the other way around.

Populated by interesting ppl, and with a shelter for the homeless at the heart of the story.

I got this off a Twitter list of SFF-with-maginalized (not YA). I went and bought half the list. Off to a fine start. ( )

Trigger warning: abuse

I picked up City of Strife because I heard it was a second world fantasy that had a lot of aro and ace characters. Turns out the entire main cast is queer!

In the city of Isandor, merchant families vie for power. But a new threat looms… The Myrian Empire aims to expand, and the first step is to conquer the city-state of Isandor. Yet the merchant families will not recognize the threat the Myrian enclave poses. The only one willing to fight the Myrians are the House Dathirii, led by an idealistic young lord. People throughout the city — from the noble’s towers to the slums of the lower city — will find themselves charting the course for Isandor’s future.

I generally liked the characters, which was a good thing because oh boy were there ton of characters. Not just characters generally, there were tons of POV characters! Off the top of my head, I can count twelve, and I think I may be missing some. At times it could be a bit overwhelming. While I may have liked most of the POV characters, it doesn’t mean they’re all good people. My favorite was probably Nevian, an aro ace wizard student with an abusive mentor. Yet, he’s probably one of the most morally grey characters of the bunch, willing to throw others under the bus to ensure his own survival.

On the other hand, I did find the character cast slanted male. And most important relationships in the book (which are all largely platonic — important doesn’t equal romantic) are between male characters or characters of different genders. The only relationship we saw between women was a wizard in the Myrian enclave trying to protect her student from Nevian’s sadistic master. It’s implied that Branwen (House Dathirii’s spymaster) and her aunt Camilla care for each other, but they only have a short scene together. I really hope the sequel pays more attention to female characters and the relationships between them.

Whenever I read a second-world fantasy book, I try to figure out what the gender norms are. I had a bit of trouble doing so for City of Strife. At first I read Isandor as egalitarian, but then one character says sexist insults to a female guard and gets called out on it. Since sexism is clearly present, it’s obviously not egalitarian. My best guess is that Isandor’s mostly like our world in that regard — it’s someplace that likes to think of itself as egalitarian when it really isn’t.

My confusion over cultural gender norms may be a result of the generally thin world building. There’s some interesting ideas at play in Isandor’s setting. Particular highlights include the fire magic and religion of the Myrians and the city being built out of towers, bridges, stairs, and walkways. It gave a whole new meaning to “upper” and “lower” class! However, while City of Strife has some interesting world building ideas, the setting never felt fully immersive. It’s hard to describe, but the best fantasy settings feel almost like they’re real places, so vivid they leap off the page. Unfortunately, City of Strife never quite got their for me. Apparently it’s based on the author’s RPG campaign? It made since in hindsight, given the elves and halflings and what not. Maybe that explains some of the trouble I had with the world building.

A topic that continually interests me is use of language in fantasy novels. What words do fantasy authors use? Should “modern” words be avoided? What constitutes “modern”? And how does this relate to identity labels for concepts such as gender and sexual orientation? Presumably, the fantasy characters are speaking in a different language, so is the story being “translated” into modern English? It’s an interesting topic, and one I’ve thought about exploring more in depth. Based on City of Strife, Claudie Arseneault comes down on the side of using language regardless of how modern it feels. This includes everything from slang such as “okay” to words such as “bisexuality,” “sexism,” and “transphobia,” that I don’t know if I’d ever seen in a second-world fantasy novel before.

In the end, the most important thing is that I had fun with City of Stife. It was easy to read, maybe a bit of a popcorn book. Plus, I really enjoyed reading a fantasy novel with a predominantly queer cast, particularly one that was aro and ace inclusive. I’d like to read the sequel, and since City of Stife ended on a cliffhanger, sooner is better than later. It’s a book I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend to anyone looking for queer fantasy novels.

Originally posted on The Illustrated Page. ( )

City of Strife is set in the bustling city of Isandor and stars a huge cast of characters, each with intersecting storylines, histories, and paths. A few examples:

- Arathiel, a human whose ill-fated journey to find a cure for his sick sister transformed him, dulling all his senses and giving him a much longer lifespan. It’s been over 130 years since he last set foot in Isandor, and he now feels like an unwelcome stranger there. The one place he feels comfortable: the Shelter, which provides food and a place to sleep to anyone who needs it. It’s there that he becomes friends with Larryn, the Shelter’s owner, Cal, a halfling, and Hasryan, a dark elf.

- Nevian, an apprentice mage in the Myrian enclave. He lives in constant fear of Master Avenazar, who killed his previous tutor and now regularly abuses him. Nevian’s only ally is Varden, a High Priest of Keroth and former Myrian slave. Unfortunately, Varden, too, must tread carefully around Avenazar.

- Lord Diel Dathirii, an elf and head of the Dathirii family. When he witnesses Avenazar publicly torturing Nevian, he decides that it’s time to finally take a stand against the Myrians, who have thus far been permitted to live by their own laws while in their enclave in Isandor. The rest of his family will stand by his decisions and support him, but that may not be enough if Isandor’s other noble families decide to abandon House Dathirii to face the Myrians alone.

City of Strife is one of the very few (perhaps only?) ARCs I’ve ever requested from an author. I was interested in the book’s LGBTQIA+ cast and “found family” aspect, and the author had a nice online form that, if I remember correctly, only asked for interested reviewers’ email addresses (easy! low stress! didn’t require NetGalley or a Twitter DM!). The long book description concerned me a little and made it difficult to tell what the book would be like, but I figured I’d give it a shot.

I’m glad I did, because I enjoyed it immensely, although I’m now unhappy that I’ll have to wait who knows how long for Book 2 to come out. A word of warning: City of Strife ends with lots of things still unresolved and several characters in peril. Crossing my fingers that none of the characters I care about get killed off in the next two books.

One thing that dismayed me when I first started reading: the many, many POVs. The book was written in third person, but chapters/sections focused on different characters’ perspectives. Almost every named character had a chapter or section written from their POV, and it wasn’t until I’d gotten 15% into the book that a POV repeated itself.

The POVs turned out to be both the book’s strength and its weakness. I loved gradually learning how the various characters’ stories were interrelated - what the stuff at the Shelter had to do with House Dathirii, who Nevian was secretly visiting for magic lessons, what would prompt Arathiel to reveal his noble blood to his friends at the Shelter and/or Isandor’s noble families, etc. However, all those POVs and complex and interrelated storylines meant that some of my favorite characters and storylines didn’t get as much page-time as I’d have liked. For example, Arathiel and, eventually, Hasryan ended up being my favorite characters, and I particularly looked forward to seeing Arathiel find a place for himself at the Shelter with Larryn, Cal, and Hasryan. Unfortunately, there wasn’t nearly as much on-page friendship-building as I expected, and one character’s actions near the end of the book destroyed my impression of the trio as an overall warm and welcoming group.

I much preferred House Dathirii, which, aside from a couple exceptions I’m hoping that one of the next couple books will cover in more detail, was largely just as warm and welcoming as it initially appeared to be. I particularly loved Camilla. Everyone could use someone like Camilla in their lives.

House Dathirii brings me to another aspect of the book I both loved and had problems with: the politics. I love fantasy and sci-fi books with lots of politics, and this one had House Dathirii clashing with the Myrian enclave and struggling to get support, a 10-year-old murder that was relevant to current politics, and more. Fascinating stuff. Unfortunately, I prefer when there’s at least one character who’s incredibly skilled at navigating politics, and this book didn’t have that, at least not front-and-center. Avenazar was so lacking in self-control that I was amazed he’d never done anything in Myria to earn himself an execution. Maybe he had really good family connections protecting him? And then there was Diel: principled, idealistic, and almost completely lacking in the ability to sit back, pick his battles, and maybe go at things a little more subtly and indirectly. At least he recognized that it was other members of his family who did the heavy lifting when it came to making sure the family survived whatever fight he’d chosen to involve them all in.

All in all, despite my complaints this was a riveting read, and I wish the next couple books were out already. In the meantime, I plan on getting myself a copy of Arseneault’s Viral Airwaves.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) ( )