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The burning city
704 pages
A gritty, fire-scorched fantasy where survival means navigating mean magical streets and the capricious wrath of a volatile god.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like walking through a powder keg waiting for a spark. It plunges you into a volatile, enchanted metropolis that mirrors the grit of modern urban decay, where magic is a harsh reality and a capricious fire god holds the populace hostage. The mood is oppressive yet thrilling, soaked in the constant, fiery threat of sudden mass destruction. The narrative moves at a brisk, urgent pace, tracing a desperate struggle for survival and the daring dream of escape from blighted, mean streets. It is a gritty, adventurous experience that will delight fans of classic fantasy who crave dangerous magic, perilous worldbuilding, and determined protagonists forged in the crucible of a hostile environment.
- Mood
- volatile
- fiery
- oppressive
- dangerous
- Tone
- gritty
- perilous
- adventurous
- urgent
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- surviving a hostile environment · the capriciousness of gods · seeking a better life · urban decay and magic · unlikely alliances
- The writing
- Gritty and action-oriented, blending classic fantasy worldbuilding with the harsh realities of urban survival.
- The arc
- From struggling for survival in a volatile, god-ruled slum to daring to hope for escape and freedom.
- Who it's for
- Readers who love classic, gritty fantasy worlds where magic is dangerous, gods are cruel, and heroes are forged in the streets.
Content notes
- fire and arson
- mass destruction
- parental death
- violence
About the book
"Set in the world of Niven's The Magic Goes Away, The Burning City transports readers to an enchanted ancient city that often bears a provocative resemblance to our own modern society. Here Yagen-Atep, the volatile and voracious god of fire, holds sway, alternately protecting and destroying the city's denizens. In Tep's Town, nothing can burn indoors and no fire can start by accident - except when the Burning comes upon the city.
Then the people, possessed by Yagen-Atep, set their own town ablaze in a riotous orgy of destruction that often comes without warning." "Whandall Placehold has lived with the Burning all his life. Fighting his way to adulthood in the mean-but-magical streets of the city's most blighted neighborhoods, Whandall alone dreams of escaping the god's wrath to find a new and better life. But his best hope for freedom may lie with Morth of Atlantis, the enigmatic sorcerer who killed his father."--BOOK JACKET.
Description from Open Library.
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