Adrian Tchaikovsky is one of my favourite authors of whom not every book I love. In my opinion evvery one of his books is different and you never know what to expect. For me personally, I love Guns Of The Dawn and not much liked Children of Time but I know it could be different for everyone.

This time he surprised me too. City of Last Chances is an unique book, connecting vrious characters with one constant which is the city. I found the book interesting in construction but not easy to follow sometimes. Sometimes the book has just too many vievpoints and with a complex plot, it makes it only harder to know what's going on.

I think that City if last chances is a good book for fantasy lovers, who are looking for something with an unique prose and style of writing. The plot is not easy, but if you read carefully, you can see, it is wise and original. And I would recommend it to everyone who wants something fresh in a fantasy genre.

Overall is was a good book.
It took me a long time to get into it.
I felt like it was a bit too complicated for me both in the way the characters were introduced and the way they story slowly grew to make them meet.
It’s all probably because it didn’t completely catch my mind but at the end it was a good book with really good cultural references!

The world building in this is out of this world (literally!), it is exquisite and elegant. The nuances have been explored and the intricacy is mind blowing. I cannot stress how wonderful it is, the story itself, is is fascinating and wickedly real at points.

**thank you netgalley for the digital arc!**

this book took me quite a while to finish and i sat with my thoughts about it for a while after as well. while i felt the writing was good, i thought it did feel a bit convoluted at times & therefore i had some trouble following the story. maybe it’s a result of me not being used to this type of book & probably a matter of personal taste.

i did however find the world building quite interesting and that made me keep reading. the fact that we jumped from perspective to perspective a lot managed to take me out of the story sometimes, but some of the perspectives were page turners as well, so i’m a bit befuddled.

personally this book probably wasn’t for me, but i’m certain it’s the perfect book for a lot of people out there!

Unfortunately this was a rare DNF for me. I can’t really put my finger on why. I made it about 40% but there’s too much world building here it reads more like a dungeon masters guide.

Did I request an arc of this book solely because of the cover? Yup, I sure did! It's gorgeous and I don't feel bad about it at all because I ended up absolutely LOVING this book sooooooo much.

City of Last Chances is a sprawling steampunk, fantasy where 1984 meets Les Misérables. It's dark and gritty and I loved every single moment of it. The novel's narrative is woven through the eyes of a host of different characters, Watching the story play out through a myriad of perspectives (some characters we come back to again and again) while others we only get to enjoy for a moment) kept me interested and wanting to keep turning to the next page.

At the heart of this story is the city of Ilmar: a haunting and captivating place that is connected to a much wider and very dark place. I finished reading this book in one sitting and give it 5 stars without any hesitation. Will be adding more Tchaikovsky to my TBR list ASAP.

Highly recommend City of Last Chances for anyone who is looking for a totally immersive escape from reality for a few hours. Beautiful cover. Stunning story. Just lovely.

I DNF’d this book – I usually enjoy Tchaikovsky’s writing but this was too dense – the factions were impenetrable and even after reading around 15% of the book I didn’t know who anyone was or what was happening. I understand this is part of a larger series and it’s always difficult to jump in as a new reader but there was no character/event to hook me into the story. There were some interesting elements to the story, based on what I read, but it wasn’t clear how all the characters tied together. Overall, I’ve given this 2 stars as the part I read was well written and I think if I had more knowledge of the setting I may have been able to get more out of the book.

An intricately plotted world with POV characters that offer a welcome range of understandings of the events as they unfold. I can't stress enough what a rich experience this book offers -- the description and sense of history offer an immersive reading experience.

Just mazing! Very epic, wonderful writing and plot. Great characters. There isn't a single thing I didn't like in this book!

This author is new to me but I have to say, this was a fabulous book and I loved every second. A brilliant mix of fantasy and sci fi.

🌃 City of Last Chances by Adrian Tchaikovsky 🌃

Wow! He’s done it again. It really amazes me how Adrian Tchaikovsky can write so well - so effortlessly - in such a short space of time. I read in an interview that most of his first drafts hardly need edited and that he produces an entire novel in 6 months to a year!

His newest novel, City of Last Chances is incredibly intricate and well researched. Honestly, for me - even though I love fantasy, including Tolkien, Raymond Feist etc - it was a bit too heavy and I struggled to keep up.

BUT, a lover of heavy fantasy will absolutely enjoy this. I wish I had more time to truly enjoy this epitome - to wander through the cleverly woven plots and subplots - but alas, time is my enemy.

So make sure you give this one a go - because Adrian Tchaikovsky is truly a master of fantasy!

A great entry back into fantasy from a master of the craft. Mixing the best parts of both his fantasy and sci-fi novels, Tchaikovsky stands out as a voice to not be reckoned with.

An interesting political fantasy about an occupied city on the cusp of rebellion. Like usual, Tchaikovsky employs excellent and unique world-building and a varied cast of characters that gives the reader a lot of different perspectives from which to view the conflicts throughout the story. There's a good mix of action and intrigue, and the fantasy elements add a extra dash of mystery that keep you guessing about what's going to happen next.

That said, I did have some trouble connecting with the characters. There were so many POVs that I didn't get spend very time with each character before the story jumped to a different one to keep the plot moving. And especially at the beginning of the book, each character's chapters include a little too much backstory dumped into the present narrative, which slowed the pace a bit too much.

Overall, I enjoyed this book, but it's not my favorite offering from Tchaikovsky.

I always enjoy reading Adrian Tchaikovsky's books and was so happy that he wrote another fantasy novel. This had what I was hoping for from previous books by Mr. Tchaikovsky's. I was invested in the world and the characters that lived in this. It was really well done and I'm so glad I was able to read this.

"Vidsya sighed and took off her signet ring, reciting lineages and virtue against poisoning. There was a folded fan, too, and probably that had its own storied past. Langrice was watching Fleance, though. He was in deep."