City of Bones

It seems that every Amazon fantasy recommendation I get these days involves a coming-of-age story of young boy destined to fight an ancient evil. This book is a refreshing change of pace. It creates a very intriguing, post-Apocalyptic world where life is harsh unless you are one of the privileged few. Within that world, there are some very interesting characters, some from a privileged background and the main characters from the lower segments of society - Khat belongs to a mutant/engineered race called Kris, who arent even accepted as having souls, by most of society. So from a worldbuilding point of view, this creates a really, really fresh background for the story. The story itself is told quite differently as well - unlike a "omg, we must do X, Y, Z or the Dark Lord will take over the world" type of quest, the characters - and the reader - muddle along without knowing what's at stake: that is only revealed towards the end. The scale of this story is much smaller than "save the world"... it is Khat's struggle to save himself from whatever machinations he's gotten into. So yeah, in that context, the grand denouement isnt as taut or climactic as in other stories, but i dont see that as a fault: that is very much in keeping with the scale of the book. And yes, between the original world setting and an equally original story that flows with ease and ample development, this is a book that was very hard to put down. I was hooked by page 3. I rarely give books 5-stars but this is definitely a 5-star read for fantasy buffs, IMO.

I like Martha Wells’ novels and “City of Bones” includes a lot of the reasons why. She’s adept at describing fight scenes--not too long, not too short, just enough detail to make them exciting, precise tactics and moves. Her imagination combines the familiar (plants, animals, personalities) with the unusual (tech, magic, critters) in interesting, unusual ways. This time, it’s a post-volcanapocalyptic Earth (?) where vertical cities (in physical levels and human castes) cling to the edges of a poisonous lava desert teeming with venomous predators (human and animal) on the prowl for unwary travelers as life-sucking “ghosts” haunt the air and alleyways where legitimate and larcenous relic hunters ferret out bits and pieces of the shattered past under the gaze of magically endowed enforcers … so far, so good, if well within the standard fantasy boundaries. Our primary protagonist Khat seems to fit in those boundaries quite well, too--the lone-wolf, tough-guy, bad-attitude, rebel-with-a-cause, pretty-boy mutant with a sarcastic attitude, excellent knife skills, and light fingers. Until it turns out that he’s also an intellectually curious and genuinely dedicated scholar of the past, to the point that even during high-stress situations he’s noticing the details of an ancient fresco or shards of an antique machine, risking his life to preserve an ancient history tome. Ms. Wells is unique in my experience in how well she captures and values the pursuit and love of learning, creating scholar characters that feel real and rich. She’s also one of the few who include companions and friends who are sincerely attached to (and sometimes sincerely annoyed and amused by) the loner-hero they help and put up with despite his emotional constipation. “City of Bones” is a stand-alone story, and while the world, history, society, and characters were intriguing but roughly sketched enough to make me want more details (hence the one-star-off rating), it’s a great ride and a fun read.

I was introduced to this book by my partner, as it is her favorite. I am so glad I took up her suggestion. This story is intense. It was hard for me to pick just one 'mood descriptor' from the review list - hopeful, dark, nostalgic, light-hearted, suspenseful, thoughtful, this book is all of those things. The characters are complex, interesting, compelling, and likable (or hate-able, if we're talking about a bad guy - of which there are very few 'true' ones). Everyone has their reasons. The fantasy race of krismen are well thought out and different enough from 'just a humanoid' to be very interesting. This will keep you on the edge of your seat and is nearly impossible to put down. An excellent story in the fantasy genre, I would recommend this to just about anyone old enough to read a book that alludes to sex. Of note, there is another book called City Of Bones by Cassandra Clare. That is NOT AT ALL THE SAME BOOK and be careful when purchasing!

A very original fantasy novel that pushes the line between genre fiction and denser literature. I absolutely loved this book. I thought the setting was fantastic, and original. Wells did a great job describing it and making it something I could see, feel, smell, and even taste. Think post-Apocalyptic desert with giant poisonous creatures and beautiful kangaroo people. The characters were fun, multi-dimensional, and seemed, well, like real people. But, unlike many heroes and heroines, people I would actually like to meet (the good guys and not the bad guys, of course). As an adventure story, it did have a touch of Indiana Jones--including the fast pace, archaeologist/treasure hunter characters, and hints of irreverent humor in the face of action and adventure that made those movies so fun. However, I'm not saying that City of Bones was a knock off in any way, shape, or form. Wells definitely stretched her imagination to create these characters and the plot is entirely something else, and something (in my opinion) that's an absolute rip roaring good time. My only complaint, and what kept me from giving this book 5 stars, was honestly the ending. The plot concluded, but--emotionally--I didn't feel enough closure concerning the relationships between the characters. It almost felt like the set-up for a sequel, but (alas) Ms. Wells's webpage states that there never was and are no current plans for any such thing. Note to Ms. Wells: If you do ever write a sequel, and give me more closure, I am perfectly willing to upgrade this to 5++.

When asked, I've always said I prefer science fiction to fantasy because of the possibility, however remote, that some part of the story might be true. Or become true. Some day. Yet if I'm honest with myself, I have to admit that I do love sci-fan as well. To me, sci-fan is pragmatic fantasy in which the real and the unreal blend seamlessly to create impossible worlds that we nevertheless accept as possible. Dune, by Frank Herbert is probably the best known example of sci-fan, closely followed by Tad Williams' Otherland. And then there's Robin Hobb's Farseer saga. It's more fantasy than science, and yet the life-cycle of the dragons is no more unbelievable than the metamorphosis of caterpillars into butterflies. Well now I have a new sci-fan author to add to my pantheon - Martha Wells. In The City of Bones, Wells tells the story of a young Krismen called Khat. He's part of a species that was biologically engineered to survive in the Wastes after the land burned and the seas boiled away. But there are human survivors of the destruction as well, and the two species exist in an uneasy alliance against the deadly creatures of the Wastes. Khat lives in Charisat, a human city, making a precarious living as a relic trader. Relic traders are like a combination of archeologist/palentologist/anthropologist, with a bit of a conman/thief added in, and relics are fragments from the lost world of the Ancients. That would have been more than enough to grab my attention, but Wells weaves in history, politics, conspiracy, intrigue and a bit of classic who-dunnit to make the story an absolute page-turner. I loved it. If you like sci-fan too then I strongly recommend The City of Bones.

This is a fine book with interesting history and concepts that never really came together for me. I kept reading to know how it turned out, but it felt much longer than it actually was (I was eyeing the Kindle percent completion the whole time). Even as the book neared its conclusion, the author stopped to describe aspects of the setting or society, which broke any narrative tension that had built. The main characters did not really develop - Khat was the outsider who got beat up for being different but was deadly in his own right, Sagai was the poor learned man with a good heart and a family, and Elen was the self-doubting rich girl with unreliable powers. What romance there was felt shoe-horned in, and the way the main characters interacted with new characters didn't always make sense. As other reviewers have noted, it felt like a sequel was being set up only to conclude on an odd note. My least favorite aspect was definitely the Kindle edition, which had numerous typos, spacing errors, and seemed to be missing some breaks within the chapter.

I read many fantasy books but this one still impressed me as original. Technically it belongs to post-apocalyptic genre and describes a world devastated by events that happened thousand years ago. The world building itself is excellent. The desert with its predatory creatures, the cities with their pyramidal social and architectural structures, artifacts left behind by long gone civilization and (of course) magic as well as good plot and fast action make this book a very good fantasy read. The twinkles of humor make reading even more enjoyable. But what makes this story unique is the character of Khat. I cannot spoil your reading by letting you know what makes Khat so unique so I will just say that he is worth reading about. I almost longed for a sequel. Bottom line: highly recommended for fantasy fans who like to read about exotic worlds and likable protagonist.

there's a lot to like about this novel. it's got a really great setting, a fully-realized city with a wide range of characters populating it. a unique and interesting magic system. some really great characters and even the minor characters are well done. and the plot keeps increasing the tension and suspense as it goes. i rarely say this kind of thing, but the book was kind of hard to put down. i love me some science fantasy and this novel was just excellent in that regard. but it's not quite perfect. some of the world-building elements are rather contrived and don't seem to make any sense except how they advance the plot. i'm convinced the part about kris men having a "pouch" was put into the novel solely to get the author out of a plot hole. the part about warder's going mad if they use too much magic, while a fascinating idea, was never really explained either and seemed to only be in the book to make the character of constans seem more mysterious. too many plot elements just get abandoned near the end of the book, like the whole thing with the character lushan never really gets resolved. but the biggest problem, for me anyway, was that the big revelation scene when khat and arad read the book and learn the truth about the "inhabitants of the west" simply made no sense at all to me. i think the reader was supposed to be shocked along with the characters, but i didn't even understand what they were talking about. as a result, the finale of the book seems kind of anticlimactic because i never really understood what was happening. but the writing is solid, the characters are well written and believable, and overall i thought the book was really great, it just had a few things that bothered me enough to give it four stars instead of five.

This complex fantasy is unlike anything that's written by Martha Wells these days. We, the fanatic admirers of Murderbot, ART et.al tend to get very confused arriving here to meet settings and characters that she had created long-long ago. But the writing remains true. The characters remain solid (and prickly— a trait that had been smoothly transferred to Murderbot, it seems). And the plot is adequately labyrinthine, with large dollops of action. Very good, clean, well-written fantasy. Recommended.

One of my favourite books of all time is "Golden Witchbreed" by Mary Gentle, which I highly recommend. On reading "City of Bones," I had that same delight resurface on finishing it. I will definitely read it again. It's very different from the Murderbot series (another favourite) and will definitely read more by Martha Wells

Extremely well written story with numerous twists. This managed to keep my interest going all the way through and was a pleasure to read.

Murderbot was my introduction to Martha Wells’ writing. It took a second or third reading to appreciate the breadth of her talent. She is a master storyteller. So now I am deliberately reading everything she has written. City of Bones is an earlier work, but the revised edition is as good as anything of hers I’ve read. I recommend it without reservation.

J'ai découvert Martha Wells récemment, je suis en train de lire tous ses livres. Celui-ci est passionnant, aussi bien que la série des Raksura, ce n'est pas peu dire. Seul regret, j'aurais aimé qu'il y ait d'autres aventures avec ces personnages, et je ne crois pas qu'il y en ait ....