In a world where magic and gods used to roam the land, how does a world move forward when these divinities, and their miracles, no longer exist; or do they? The Divine Cities trilogy by Robert Jackson Bennett dives into this vast world, with each book told from a different character’s viewpoint, and each at a different point of time.
Book 1 – City of Stairs
The first book City of Stairs follows Shara Thivani and her bodyguard Sigrud as they arrive in the city of Bulikov to investigate the murder / disappearance of one of their scholars dispatched to Bulikov. What they instead find is a city in chaos with local factions all vying for power, a history all but erased, and presence of miracles as a stark reminder of an age and power that once existed there. It doesn’t help when one such faction is attempting to revive a god, one that could spell the end of the current status quo and a jump back to more uncertian and chaotic times. City of Stairs was a solid start to this trilogy. The book felt a bit slow to begin with but once shit hit the fan this book reads like a thriller that one can’t put down.
Book 2 – City of Blades
The second entry in the series is the City of Blades, and this time we follow General Turyin Mulaghesh, one of the people who helped Shara in the first book. Events in this book happen a few years (5?) after the events of the first book. Shara has been promoted to Prime Minister. We see General Mulaghesh has left her job in the hopes of retiring annd living peacefully, only for that dream to come crashing down when she is sent by Shara to the city of Voortyashtan, once the stronghold of the god of war and death, to look into the disappearance of another investigator, as her one last job. In a similar vein to the first book, General Mulaghesh finds that the gods may not all be as dead as everyone assumed them to be. While this book is slightly similar to the first, it is a lot more action-packed with fewer slow patches. Of course the appearance of a certain character always helps increase the entertainment value of these books. This book made me smile, cry, and is one hell of a follow-up to the first book.
Book 3 – City of Miracles
The final entry of the series is the City of Miracles, and this time we follow Sigrud je Harkvaldsson, the only other main person to have appeared in all three books other than General Mulagesh and Shara. This book started off very Jason Bourne-esque. Sigrud is brought out of forced exile, after events of the second book, when he learns that Shara was assasinated, and he is on a war path to find the killers. It doesn’t help that Shara was the only one who could have exonerated him and brought him back in from exile. This book has everything from action, espionage, gods, and of course, more gods. Oh, and Sigrud being Sigrud of course. This book was a very fitting end to this series, and a good tribute to one of the best characters to have come out of it.
It isn’t often that all 3 books in a trilogy would be this good. This series is now among my top fantasy reads of all time. Definitely recommend them.
Rating: 4/5 all round.
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