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Gears Of The City (2008)

by Felix Gilman(Favorite Author)

3.72 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

0553806777 (ISBN13: 9780553806779)

languge

English

genre

Fantasy

publisher

Spectra

series

Thunderer

review 1: "Gears of the City" is a wonderful book, and a great follow-up to the previous "Thunderer." While evidently this book can be read as a stand-alone, it makes much more sense after being exposed to the complex character that is the city itself as introduced in Thunderer. I've heard Gilman compared to Mieville. While I recognize the skill and vision behind Mieville's "Perdido Street station" and "The Scar," there is something effortlessly beautiful and lyrical about Gilman's writing that adds real literary depth to the style of the so-called "New Weird" writers. Though I haven't read Mieville's more recent works, which have garnered no small amount of praise, I would heartily recommend Gilman's writing as an introduction to this sub-genre that defies genre. Gilman's two books... more work on so many levels: as social criticism, as character study, as mystery, as dystopian fantasy, and as an unfolding adventure. Put simply, Gilman draws you in with his clever and lucid writing. He never forces you to digest byzantine metaphors wrapped in steampunk tropes. And he isn't derivative (though I feared at first in Thunderer that he might be). His imagery and storytelling seem to integrate previous ideas while still feeling fresh. And that's a good sign for this genre of writing.
review 2: I really loved this. I thought it was a much stronger story than the first book, Thunderer, and I enjoyed that one quite a bit. Unlike Thunderer, though, this one took no time at all to grab me. It was engaging, exciting, and incredibly well thought out. The massive, ever-changing city of Ararat and it's workings made more sense in this book, which I suppose is the point of writing a sequel. The pacing was nice, the twists were well-planned (if not the tiniest bit predictible at times), and from start to finish, it was just a great read. less

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