City of Last Chances (The Tyrant Philosophers, #1)

City of Last Chances (The Tyrant Philosophers, #1)

Adrian Tchaikovsky

Enjoyment: Quality: Characters: Plot:

Arthur C. Clarke winner and Sunday Times bestseller Adrian Tchaikovsky's triumphant return to fantasy with a darkly inventive portrait of a city under occupation and on the verge of revolution. There has always been a darkness to Ilmar, but never more so than now. The city chafes under the heavy hand of the Palleseen occupation, the choke-hold of its criminal underworld, the boot of its factory owners, the weight of its wretched poor and the burden of its ancient curse. What will be the spark that lights the conflagration? Despite the city's refugees, wanderers, murderers, madmen, fanatics and thieves, the catalyst, as always, will be the Anchorwood – that dark grove of trees, that primeval remnant, that portal, when the moon is full, to strange and distant shores. Ilmar, some say, is the worst place in the world and the gateway to a thousand worse places. Ilmar, City of Long Shadows. City of Bad Decisions. City of Last Chances.


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  • advictoriam
    Mar 09, 2025
    Enjoyment: Quality: Characters: Plot:

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  • APear
    Mar 23, 2025
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  • chantaal
    Jan 20, 2025
    Enjoyment: Quality: Characters: Plot:

    DNF @ 24%. This is a grand epic of a fantasy novel with many characters moving through a world that is undeniably thoroughly thought out. But I found myself caring less and less as I went on, and while I was told and saw so much about every character we follow, I had no real idea who they were, nor did I feel a single thing for any single person.

    As I read more Tchaikovsky, I'm finding that he's a big Ideas person and his characters exist to flesh out that Idea and World. I don't always vibe with it, but when I do ([b:Elder Race|50663055|Elder Race|Adrian Tchaikovsky|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1614008015l/50663055._SY75_.jpg|75680379]) it really works for me. This didn't work, unfortunately.

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