Sarah's Library

28/11 - Thank goodness this wasn't my first Bennett book! If it had been I might have been put off by all the strange, unpronounceable names (with these kinds of names I tend to skim over them, not even attempt to pronounce them in my head), and my confusion (mostly because I'm geographically challenged, most other readers wouldn't have this same problem) over the imaginariness of Bulikov. Until I googled it a minute ago I wasn't sure if it was a real place or not (it's got a familiar-sounding eastern-Europeany name, so sue me). As I said this isn't my first Bennett book, I read American Elsewhere a few weeks ago and really enjoyed it and I also 'DNF but will read again' his first book Mr Shivers some years ago. Once I finish City of Stairs I will definitely go back to Mr Shivers.  To be continued...

SPOILERS FROM NOW ON!!

1/12 - Am I dreadfully disturbed because I found Sigrud's destruction of Cheyschek and his fellow terrorists (or whatever they are) absurdly funny? Especially the part where Sigrud avoids being smooshed against the side of a building by a moving vehicle, but one unconscious passenger isn't so lucky and gets his head knocked right off?

"...not as painful as what happens to the unconscious man dangling out of the broken window of the car: there is a wet smack and something goes tumbling across the stony streets."

Is my mind irreversibly damaged by watching Die Hard and Terminator 2 when I was 12, or do other people find that image of the "wet smack" laugh out loud hilarious? I also loved it when Sigrud behaved like a child deprived of his favourite toy when Shara told him he couldn't kill the last 'terrorist' because they needed at least one left alive for questioning. I wouldn't worry Sigrud, Shara'll probably let you be head torturer during the interrogation.

Brent Weeks, author of the Lightbringer trilogy is quoted on the front cover as saying "...and oh my God, Sigrud. You guys are going to love Sigrud..." and he was spot on. I do love Sigrud, he reminds me of John Reese in Person of Interest (new season starts tonight *happy dance*), with less talking and more gore (John's managed to go a whole four years without having to rip anyone's throat out with his teeth - more hilarity from Sigrud). If you're a bad guy and you run into John he's most likely to shoot you in the kneecaps and leave you for the police, if you run into Sigrud he's most likely to crush your head with his bare hands and pop your eyeballs with his thumbs. In either situation I would recommend NOT being the bad guy. To be continued...

2/12 - Now, what possible reason could Aunt Vinya have for behaving like she's about to have Shara assassinated in order to stop her from finding out the truth about the continued existence of Divinities? I don't think someone's 'bought' her no matter how much money 'they' might have. To me, her strange little smiles and hesitations before answering seem like they'd be more likely to be coming from someone with their own evil agenda, not someone else's. Maybe she's lying about not wanting to create something that would have more power than her (as Prime Minister, she has no supernatural powers [AFAIK]). Maybe she thinks she's (or Efrem has) worked out how to bring back a Divinity that she can control and make do her bidding. Maybe she really wants to bring everyone on the Continent completely under her control, the control of Saypur's government. No more resistance movements, no more dissenters, just a whole Continent of workers ready to do the people of Saypur's menial tasks (perfect revenge for the previously enslaved people of Saypur).

Bennett's description of what Shara and Sigrud met in the building by the bell tower is as indecipherable as Lovecraft's description of his Cthulhu. Just like after reading At the Mountains of Madness I feel the need to Google Jukov's Knucklemen in order to understand what they look like. I can sort of imagine the individual parts that are described - the bill made of knuckles, the long and many jointed limbs, etc. - but my brain can't put them all together to form one body. Bennett is too good at imagining the unimaginable. To be continued...

4/12 - Stridulously, that's a word I've never heard. According to various online dictionaries it is defined as 'making a harsh, shrill, or grating noise', which I suppose I can imagine the squid/prawn/jellyfish sea monster thing making.

Did anyone else get an inkling that there might be an evil twin/dead brother who's not dead after all thing going on with Vohannes? I've just passed Sigrud's fight with the sea monster, Shara's subsequent 'experience' with Vo in her bed and her reveal as the Kaj's descendant. During the fight with the sea monster Shara sees 'Vo' watching them and frowning and wearing a brown shirt and pants, then when she later asks 'Vo' (not sure which is the 'real' Vo) why he changed clothes he tells her he's been wearing the white fur coat all day. Also he seemed surprisingly unbothered by his bad hip while he was rolling around in bed with Shara. So, maybe it wasn't Vo (the one Shara knew back at university) who outed her to the media, but his long-lost but not dead older brother who looks strangely like Vo and has some kind of evil agenda that involves the Divinities and their pets, which Shara and Sigrud are getting in the way of. To be continued...

5/12 - Ah ha! Told ya, told ya, told ya!! The evil twin/dead brother who's not really dead after all ploy gets them every time, but not me I'm too suspicious for that (in fact I'm likely to assume there's a plot even when there isn't). And not bringing anyone along with her to meet 'Vo' out of sympathy or misguided loyalty? That's a rookie mistake that no spy-type like what Shara is supposed to be should fall for. Now Mulaghesh is going to storm 'Vo's' castle and he'll either be dead - replaced by 'evil not-dead brother' - or have no idea about any of it or where Shara might be (and therefore extending the length of time Shara is held hostage, and possibly tortured, by evil 'Vo'). To be continued...

7/12 - At the heart of the story, this is almost a murder mystery/detective story just set in a strange and fantastic world full of magic and corrupt governmental types. I really wish this wasn't a standalone. I want to read more about Shara and Sigrud. I think there could be a sequel showing Shara going into the upper echelons of the Saypuri government and cleaning it up. Maybe...? I would really enjoy reading that.