City of Stairs by Robert J Bennett Book Review

City of Stairs 

(The Divine Cities #1)

By Robert J Bennett

Published Year : 2014

Page Count : 510 pages 

Medium Used: Kindle PW 

Genre : Science Fiction, Fantasy, Magic, Divinity, Gods, Adventure, Alternative Reality, Multiverse,2024-read. 

Rating : 3.25/5 😃😃😉

So the author has tried to mix too many things into the plot - like sea monsters, parallel universe travel, political intrigues, ships that fly in air through magic, divinities/gods and elements that want to fight and get rid of them. This turned out to be a convincing  - if not a compelling - read. Yes, despite all these different elements, the story is entertaining and edifying. The last 30 pages are pure divinity/theological gold - what could have brought the Gods in the story into existence, made them do the things they have done, why did they suddenly disappear and surrender to mere human foes.

 I thought the world building is good - but it is an unenjoyable, drab and to-pieces-destroyed world that I desperately wanted to escape, to 'literally' catch some sunshine and cheer. The characters are well developed. Sometimes I felt the script doesn't have credibility but then reminded myself that this is fiction - and fantasy fiction on top of that. Shara is the main character.  She is the wiz kid that has enormous, enviable memory and drive crazy obsession into learning of the Gods that once ruled the world. Some of her actions are highly questionable. How she arrives at her conclusions is a mystery. She unentangles all the loops towards the end and makes this story a bit, a very tiny bit realistic. Yes, this world could be possible. It is feasible to have existed in the past. 

There were six divinities and they chose to rule and protect the land of Continent through miracles and magic. This land has stopped growing technology and science. They have made the other lands - like Saypur - their colonies and controlled them through rule of  brutal hegemony. A man Kaj arises from the Saypur and through intense experiments develops a material that the Gods or their progeny have no protection against. He kills four of the Gods and the others escape. When they vanish, all magic is gone from the Continent and this leaves it in rumbles. Lacking any kind of scientific knowledge, when a phase of plague happens, hundreds of thousands die. Saypur takes control of the Continent and prevents development there. They forbid the citizens from practicing or learning of Godly miracles. When a Saypuri professor, Ephrem gets killed while doing research on Continent, Shara and her Dreyling assistant Sigrud come on the scene. Together - she with her immense knowledge and he with his brute strength and bravado - they put the pieces of the puzzle together. As Shara learns the truth of her own life and parents, she makes some world altering decisions. She pulls down the fabric of reality - literally - and brings a semblance of peace to the world.