City of Stairs

By: Robert Jackson Bennett

Narrated by: Alma Cuervo

An atmospheric and intrigue-filled novel of dead gods, buried histories, and a mysterious, protean city- - from one of America's most acclaimed young fantasy writers. The city of Bulikov once wielded the powers of the gods to conquer the world, enslaving and brutalizing millions - until its divine protectors were killed. Now Bulikov has become just another colonial outpost of the world's new geopolitical power, but the surreal landscape of the city itself - first shaped, now shattered, by the thousands of miracles its guardians once worked upon it - stands as a constant, haunting reminder of its former supremacy. Into this broken city steps Shara Thivani. Officially, the unassuming young woman is just another junior diplomat sent by Bulikov's oppressors. Unofficially, she is one of her country's most accomplished spies, dispatched to catch a murderer. But as Shara pursues the killer, she starts to suspect that the beings who ruled this terrible place may not be as dead as they seem - and that Bulikov's cruel reign may not yet be over.

©2014 Robert Jackson Bennett (P)2014 Recorded Books

Complicated and mesmerizing

This book turned me into a Robert Jackson Bennett fan. It's a great story, well translated into an audiobook - Alma Cuervo's voice captures the Shara Thivani so perfectly. I won't try to explain the plot; suffice to say that City of Stairs is a complicated story of politics, inequality, subjugation, religion, gods and goddesses, love and death and sex; with beautifully rendered, unpredictable characters. I might listen to it again if only to fall in love with Shara Thivani all over again. Can't wait for the next installment!

Really enyoayable

Took some getting used to some of the narrators pauses, but by the end I count her reading as one of my favorites.

Occupation after de-divination

Robert Jackson Bennett’s City of Stairs is a fantasy tale that begins as a murder investigation and evolves to an insurrection that is intent on bringing back vanquished divinities. The intelligence / diplomat who is sent to investigate the murder of an historian (whose actual job was to rewrite the region’s history) stumbles upon a plot to resurrect presumed dead divinities to exact revenge on their conquerors. She must do battle not only with the insurrectionists, but supposedly allies as well as her own superiors.

Bennett weaves a fully fleshed out world and in detail accurately portrayed the relationship between conquerors and the conquest. At the same time, there are a number of interpersonal relationships that create tension and drive the plot forward. The divinities do tend toward vanity and narcissism.

The narration is good with reasonable character distinction. Pacing is smooth and aligned with the plot.

A fantasy that in so many ways merges two world

Industrialization of a world that was until-recently built and ruled by Gods and their miracles. When the Saypuri colonies rebelled and killed the Continent's Gods, much of the capital's buildings -- created by the Gods -- vanished and the inhabitants lost much of their infrastructure. As they adjust to concepts of engineering, rather than being gifted all their needs by the Gods, people are torn between embracing the new or wanting to restore the old ways (how it was under the Gods). Tensions are high as Saypur outlaws any mention or recognition of the Gods, and restricts all knowledge of the Continent's history.

When a Saypuri professor sent to study the Divinities and the Continental history is murdered, a Saypuri spy named Shara arrives to the City of Stairs to investigate. Shara soon uncovers many mysteries and plots that go far beyond Dr. Pangyui's murder.

This is a world where magic carpets and cars coexist, and while the magic of the Gods' miracles fades, it still exists, hidden. The world is incredibly interesting, but this book also has some great characters (esp. the main three), and hits some very well-disguised cultural and political themes.

Narration is weird at times -- the narrator gave a character a Bostonian accent for one scene in the final act, but nowhere else -- but overall it is pretty good. The inconsistencies stand out, but are not frequent enough to distract from the story.

A mystery until it takes a crazy right turn

A mystery until it takes a crazy right turn and it only gets better and better. Strong female lead along with fully filled out characters, robust and full of life! Love it! The reader Alma is great too. One of the best female narrators I've heard.

The author loves language, the reader just as much

Would you consider the audio edition of City of Stairs to be better than the print version?

Absolutely! This fabulous reader loves reading this writer. Totally deserves the "performance" characterization

What other book might you compare City of Stairs to and why?

Shadow Country's writing/reading combo is also splendid. Both are unmatched, furst class experiences.

Which character – as performed by Alma Cuervo – was your favorite?

Just one? and I can't spell the names anyway. Shara?

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Sigred and monster Oola's valiant struggle to the death

Unique take on fantasy

A great murder mystery that unfolds in layers. While it has a slow start it evolves into something wonderful. Great characters. Slight editing mishaps, otherwise the performance is wonderful. Highly recommend for anyone who enjoys fantasy and mystery.

Great book. Excited for more.

The world and story in this book was great, but where it really shined was the characters. All of them were expertly written.

Excellent!! Original, well told story.

An exciting plot with some mind being twists. I really enjoyed the prose and narration. The characters were very likeable and kept me interested in the conclusion of this volume

Bad editing

The story was interesting enough, even if the names/story lines can get confusing. The narration is decent but whoever did the editing/sound mixing really let the narrator down. Awkward pauses, words on top of each other, and not doing retakes if the narrator stumbled on a word.