City of Strife
When I was trying to find books with queer representation, more specifically aromantic characters, City of Strife by Claudie Arseneault, a French-Canadian author, popped up on my radar.
Arseneault on her own is someone who’s been pushing for more queer fantasy novels, specifically in Solarpunk, a genre where the world is built around solar energy. She’s also fond of political fantasies with many character point of views and interworking plots.
City of Strife is definitely a political fantasy.
Fun fact about this story: all the protagonists are queer in some way, shape, or form. It usually isn’t mentioned in words, but instead shown throughout the character interactions and some self-reflection.
In City of Strife, there are about three or four main points (that’s excluding all the smaller ones), all of which interweave a handful of characters in the fictional city of Isandor. The main conflict, in my opinion, is the civil conflict brewing between two major factions in the city. The first is the Myrian Empire, a ruling body from a land far away. The man stationed in Isandor, Avenazar, is a cruel, sadistic, man who disregards the rules of the city and treats his people (and basically everyone he meets) like trash. But he’s a very powerful magic wielder, and almost everyone in the city is terrified of him.
The other interested party is the Dathirii Family, a noble elven family with great political influence in the city. Since the arrival of the Myrian Empire, Lord Diel Dathirii has wanted them out. And after interfering with Avenazar’s cruel (and very public) punishment of his apprentice, Lord Dathirii declares he’s had enough and it’s time the Myrian Empire leave Isandor.
That’s the main overall conflict all the characters get involved with in some way. But this story also follows Arathiel, a human who returned to Isandor after about 130 years, long after he should’ve been dead. Three friends who would do anything for one another. One owns a small tavern that shelters homeless and poor people, and the other is a wanted assassin. There are Nevian and Varden, who want to find their own independents away from beneath Avenazar’s thumb. Other members of the Dathirii family, who are helping Lord Diel by either gathering information or trying to make alliances, also have their own smaller adventures throughout.
It’s really interesting to see how Arseneault can write a story about a city from the point of view of people with the only thing in common being where they reside, and still have all these characters somehow influence what another group may or may not do. It’s really fascinating.
Usually, I don’t like books with too many character perspectives (mostly because I get attached to one person’s story and then I don’t care nearly as much about the others), but all the different stories were compelling enough on their own. It was like being told four or five different stories, all of which had cameos of your favourite characters pop up once in a while. Keeping track of all the names and who is who can be a bit challenging at some points, but I think it’s worth it.
City of Strife is the first book of the City of Spires Trilogy. The second book is already out and it’s titled City of Betrayal.
