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City of Stairs
- Narrated by: Buffy Davis
- Series: The Divine Cities, Book 1
- Length: 20 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Science Fiction & Fantasy, Fantasy
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Summary
You've got to be careful when you're chasing a murderer through Bulikov, for the world is not as it should be in that city. When the gods were destroyed and all worship of them banned by the Polis, reality folded; now stairs lead to nowhere, alleyways have become portals to the past, and criminals disappear into thin air.
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Critic reviews
"A smooth novel of near perfection and the best Epic Fantasy novel I've read this year. I cannot recommend this novel highly enough." (SFF World)
"With nods to Neil Gaiman's slumbering deities, Ursula K. LeGuin's two-faced political schemers and China Miéville's labyrinthine worlds, City Of Stairs is a compulsively readable and thought-provoking tale that confirms the author as one of the genre's most exciting talents." (SciFiNow)
"[Bennett has] said that he hopes that his readers learn something definite about the world from his books; he's succeeded in his aim. A murder mystery, spy thriller, fantasy adventure and philosophical treatise rolled into one. Highly recommended." (Sci-Fi Bulletin)
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What listeners say about City of Stairs
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Breakfast
- 22-09-16
Layered intelligent fantasy
I really enjoyed this - interesting characters, a fascinating world and a complex and credible clash of cultures. A spy thriller with a hint of detective story set in a city transformed by destruction of the gods who once lived there. Basically every aspect of this is pretty great. Also it is well read. All in all one of the best audio books I have listened to.
9 people found this helpful
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- Mr. M. Edwards
- 20-11-16
Fantastic narration of a fantastic story
A little overlong, and it slightly drags in places, but this is a brilliantly original fantasy.
The world building is good, as is the twisty turny plot. It's peripherally simiar to Richard Morgan's series of fantasty, but with a lighter tone and a great deal of heart.
Highly recommended.
6 people found this helpful
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- Mr Banks
- 23-10-19
Could not stand the narrator. Stopped listening.
Could not stand the narrator. Stopped listening in the end, just couldn't cope with the tone of her voice at all
5 people found this helpful
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- Steve
- 09-08-17
Takes time to get into it but ok in the end
There is a very slow start here hindered by the narrator who uses such screechy tones at times it was close to being returned. I persisted however and it was nice to be rewarded with an original fantasy/steampunk. There are niggles here and there but I'll probably check out the next in the series. Worth a go if you fancy something a little different.
4 people found this helpful
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- Alan Bowman
- 14-07-20
An average read
The books features some pretty interesting plot lines and has a lot of potential. However, I found it hard to cate about the characters any more than superficially, and the first half meanders a lot. Overall I thought it was okay but not as good as some of the reviews make out. The narration again was fine but in places it felt hammy and some of the characters grated on me.
3 people found this helpful
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- james
- 25-12-15
Great deconstruction of the consequences of God's
Fantastic book very clever idea played out with imagination and verve. Well worth a read for any fan of contemporary fantasy
3 people found this helpful
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- Mr. J. Darkins
- 26-03-19
dry but good story, poor performance
the story was good and original. loved the world created. interesting characters.
the story teller was really poor. inaudible at some points and sloppily read key exciting passages. she didn't get me excited about the book and didn't sound like she enjoyed it at all. real shame.
author did well weaving threads of references back into the book to provide a well thought out complex story.
the political side I was far less interested in than the exciting divinity side. not sure why it felt like steam punk. felt like a better fit for fantasy, especially with Sigrid.
wouldn't read another if similar reviews, but will follow authors next books. amazing imagination.
1 person found this helpful
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- Fathands
- 06-02-19
funny engaging strange
great mix of humour, humanity, social commentary and the extraordinary. great female lead and fleshed out supporting cast
1 person found this helpful
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- R
- 02-01-22
(Great book) Terrible terrible reading
I love this book so much. I read it a while ago and decided to buy it as an audio book so I can listen to it on my walks. But the reading is absolutely terrible. So bad. Ashara Komayd, the main character, an amazing strong woman, has been given the most stupid squeaky voice I’ve heard. I know the book describes her voice as like a ‘young girl’, that is meant to highlight her deceptive soft outside with her iron core. It does not mean make her sound like minny mouse. And Sigrud is clearly meant to be Scandinavian. I imagine him with with an Icelandic or Norwegian accent. Instead the reader makes him sound like a New York mob boss. The pacing of the book is all wrong too. Just terrible terrible reading. Maybe Buffy David didn’t get paid very much and she didn’t want to invest the time to actually read the book properly before reading it out loud. Or maybe she’s not a very good choice for this book. Let her stick to bad romance novels instead. Instead of listening to the book, if you have the option, I recommend you read the book. The book is brilliant.
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- Simie
- 04-04-21
Something original in the fantasy world
The story was different than your usual fantasy stuff. some call it a spy thriller or steampunk? not so sure! I loved the authors world building and strong interesting characters are there, although some a little superficial. It was a good mix of life and death with some great twists and turns. The only thing that let it down in which I have a 4 instead of 5 score, was some of the narration a bit wooden, but you get used to it and overall the narrator wasn't too bad.
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- Daniël Oosthuizen
- 01-12-17
Slow starter, big finish
I almost gave up on this book due to the slow start, but I'm glad I didn't.