Review: City of Miracles by Robert Jackson Bennett

Title: City of Miracles
Author: Robert Jackson Bennett
Publisher/Publication Date: Broadway Books; May 2, 2017
Genre: Fantasy
Source/Format: Blogging for Books; Paperback

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Synopsis from Goodreads...

Revenge. It's something Sigrud je Harkvaldsson is very, very good at. Maybe the only thing...

So when he learns that his oldest friend and ally, former Prime Minister Shara Komayd, has been assassinated, he knows exactly what to do and that no mortal force can stop him from meting out the suffering Shara's killers deserve. Yet as Sigrud pursues his quarry with his customary terrifying efficiency, he begins to fear that this battle is an unwinnable one. Because discovering the truth behind Shara's death will require him to take up arms in a secret, decades-long war, face down an angry young god, and unravel the last mysteries of Bulikov, the city of miracles itself. And perhaps most daunting of all finally face the truth about his own cursed existence...

My Thoughts:

When dealing with Divinities you never know what might (and mostly will) go wrong...

City of Miracles by Robert Jackson Bennett is undoubtedly one of my most anticipated book releases of 2017. My sentiment about the second book in the series—City of Blades—is similar to my conclusion about City of Miracles: It was well worth the wait, because, oh man, this story was fantastic. City of Miracles was a bittersweet yet fitting end to this series.

After the sudden, unexpected death of Shara Komayd—who was one of my favorite characters—Sigurd is left with one goal in mind. However, when the Divine are involved, you never know what might happen. The actual plot of City of Miracles was awesome. Every time I thought I would take a break and set this book aside, I got to a good part. I basically stayed up well past midnight finishing it. There were so many twists, so many revelations that not only was this book exciting, it was packed full of action.

City of Miracles picks up years after the last book, and a lot of things have changed. In the last book, the progression of technology replacing divine miracles was being shown in its early stages. But change is slow and sometimes painful, and people want to cling to what they know. That is one of the things I truly liked about this series: its approach to progress, and the way these things gradually took place. City of Miracles also marked the return to Bulikov, the city surrounded by mysterious walls filled with stairs that went nowhere. It wasn’t the same as before, but again, that’s progress.

Sigrud je Harkvaldsson has had a role each time something inexplicable happened, but City of Miracles was where his story was front and center. There was always an air of mystery to him, and like so many other things about this series, City of Miracles answers those lingering questions. And yeah, I cried a little at the end, but in my defense emotions were running high in almost every scene.

I’m a little sad that this series is over. However, I can’t say that I’m sorry because City of Miracles was a good note to end on. Truly, it was an experience.

Rating 5/5

This copy of the book was provided by Blogging for Books (publisher) for this review, thank you!

About the author...

Robert Jackson Bennett is a two-time award winner of the Shirley Jackson Award for Best Novel, an Edgar Award winner for Best Paperback Original, and is also the 2010 recipient of the Sydney J Bounds Award for Best Newcomer, and a Philip K Dick Award Citation of Excellence. His fifth novel, City of Stairs, is in stores now. He lives in Austin with his wife and son. He can be found on Twitter at @robertjbennett...