City of Bones

Martha Wells

I need to pay attention more. I thought I was reading book one of a series, but instead this is a standalone novel. And a really good one. As I was reading, I really enjoyed the world that Wells creates. A post magical disaster world where cities rise up out of a wasteland that is inhabitable only by monsters and creatures. The central city of the story is an 8-tiered structure with tiers explicitly defining class and wealth. In this world, Khat is a relics dealer, and a krisman - some sort of non-human species created to survive in the waste. He gets mixed up with Elen, a warder - the last remaining wielders of power - in a quest for some relics that may save the world -- or destroy it. In the end, Wells wraps up the story and the world so tightly that I am glad not to be pulled into another volume. Well done Martha.

4 stars (out of 4)