From previous outings, I knew there would be many rich layers to peel back as I descended through the novel. Yet, a writer of such pedigree commands some loyalty. To be honest had I not known this was a book by Adrian Tchaikovsky, I probably would have stopped reading.

I must confess I almost gave up on City of Last Chances. Life is busy in December and reading needs to be effortless. Of its protagonists, some want rebellion, some want money, others want fame, whilst some yearn for a quiet life. What develops is a multilayered story of an oppressed city regaining its identity. Each person telling the story has a stake in the game had something to do, either directly or incidentally, with the theft of the ward. Somebody is going to pay.Ĭity of Last Chances is a patchwork novel told from many different points of view. The stealing of the ward condemned Sage-Archivist Ochelby to a grisly death. When a high-ranking member of the Palaseen occupying government enters the forest, only to discover that his ward has been stolen, a powder-keg of trouble is set ablaze. The city has a forest, through which you can travel to other lands, but that will kill you if you don’t have the right wards of protection. Elsewhere, demons carry out feats of engineering forced to work thanks to infernal legal pacts. Magic, of a sort, exists and there’s a no-go area of the city filled with wraith-like creatures that send normal humans mad. Towering bureaucracies, that crush the local populace be demanding unswerving fealty to a homogenizing and oppressive set of laws.īeing a fantasy city, Ilmar has a number of more unusual local customs and practices that these laws are designed to stamp out. They feel very much like the Empire in Star Wars (particularly as displayed in Andor). The Palaseen have been conquering the world and in their wake, they set about eroding local customs and traditions.

I couldn’t wait to dive in! What Is City of Last Chances? His latest book, City of Last Chances, is not quite as big as some of the work he produces, and would also be the first Tchaikovksy fantasy I have read. A new tome, the size of a house brick, seems to turn up every few months.

He’s one of the most consistently praised SFF authors working in the UK at the moment. A new book by Adrian Tchaikovsky is always to be welcomed.

Adrian tchaikovsky city of last chances