City of Bones

by Martha Wells

Before Martha Wells captured the hearts of MILLIONS with her Murderbot series, there was Khat, Sagai, and Elen, and a city risen out of death and decay…

The city of Charisat, a tiered monolith of the Ancients’ design, sits on the edge of the vast desert known as the Waste. Khat, a member of a humanoid race created by the Ancients to survive in the Waste, and Sagai, his human partner, are relic dealers working in the bottom tiers of society, trying to stay one step ahead of the Trade Inspectors.

When Khat is hired by the all-powerful Warders to find relics believed to be part of one of the Ancients' arcane engines, he, and his party, begin unravelling the mysteries of an age-old technology.

This they expected.

They soon find themselves as the last line of defense between the suffering masses of Charisat and a fanatical cult, bent on unleashing an evil upon the city with an undying thirst for bone.

That, they did not expect.

This updated and revised edition is the author’s preferred text.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction, Audiobook, Post Apocalyptic, Dystopia, Adventure

411 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 1, 1995

About the author

Martha Wells has been an SF/F writer since her first fantasy novel was published in 1993, and her work includes The Books of the Raksura series, the Ile-Rien series, The Murderbot Diaries series, and other fantasy novels, most recently Witch King (Tordotcom, 2023). She has also written media tie-in fiction for Star Wars, Stargate: Atlantis, and Magic: the Gathering, as well as short fiction, YA novels, and non-fiction. She has won Nebula Awards, Hugo Awards, Locus Awards, and a Dragon Award, and her work has appeared on the Philip K. Dick Award ballot, the British Science Fiction Association Award ballot, the USA Today Bestseller List, the Sunday Times Bestseller List, and the New York Times Bestseller List. She is a member of the Texas Literary Hall of Fame, and her books have been published in twenty-five languages.

She is also a consulting producer on The Murderbot Diaries series for Apple TV+.

Reviews

[carol. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Watch out for Martha Wells–I get the feeling she is playing with a different Dungeons and Dragons set than the rest of the world. Rarely has someone in fantasy so consistently impressed me with inventiveness. In City of Bones, she does it again.**

City of Bones is set in the city of Charisat, one of the few major cities remaining after an apocalypse has nearly destroyed humanity. Cities are surrounded by a hostile, desert Waste, and survivors rely on the roads of the Ancients to travel from one city to another. In Charisat, Khat, a krisman, and Sagai, a foreign scholar, are bargaining with a relic trader when they are approached by the entourage of a heavily robed but obviously wealthy individual. The group wants guidance to a nearby Ancient Remnant. Of course, Khat has skills as a local expert in Ancient artifacts–but he is all too aware that a kris, he is also expendable. However, there is a debt he’d like to clear and both the guide money and the wealthy patronage could buy him a way out. When the caravan is attacked by pirates in the Waste outside the city, it sets off a chain of complex events that result in Khat working with the mystery person to ‘collect’ two more relics from inside the city of Charisat. The anonymous aristocrat is revealed early on, so I hesitate to say more at the risk of spoilers, but bone prophecies, thievery, the underground market, the academy, ghost spirits–so many elements make this intriguing.

****************************

2018 update: Yep, still good. I tend to wonder when I read a book and love it, what all is playing into it on the first read? Time? Distraction? You get the picture. This remains extremely good, satisfying, as I recently noted on another review. This is despite a lackluster interest in fantasy in general lately. I think because Wells is so damn smart. Highly competent writing, enough description to answer some questions (which only leads to more) and then follows with a solid plot. This is one of her earliest books, published in 1995. Despite that, it is by no means a sophomore slump, and remains one of my favorites.

Notes from this read: the protagonist, Khat, is quite a bit like the sardonic noble-thief in The Death of the Necromancer. I don't mind. He's a great hero. Two, fight scenes seemed a little weak. Three, it deserves concentration. While the pace initially seems slow, it's because she won't hold your hand later when the plotting escalates. Second read still gave me book-hangover. Fourth, if she ever comes back to this world, I'm there in a flash.

**Wells' release of a 2023 updated version means I have to rework my 2018 review, as GR has inconveniently lumped the two editions together (sigh).

I was extremely interested to discover what choices might be made, decades after it was first published. I'm happy to report that I believe the changes worked very well. In a personal nod to my long-term memory, I think I noticed quite a few of those changes, but that's because this has long been one of my go-to stand-alone fantasy novels. I'll note that it is very tailored to the type of fantasy and sci-fi I grew up with; very much what I think of as 'head voice,' and one-person perspective (okay, she sneaks in another, but not often). If you like the fast pace of Murderbot, or a dialogue-based book or multiple narratives, this might not work. Then again, give it a try. She just might help you develop that long, deep attention span because it's hard to pull away.

Many, many thanks to NetGalley and Tor for an advance reader copy of the 2023 edition.

[Mayim de Vries · Rating 5 out of 5]

I struggle to understand why isn't Martha Wells venerated. She should be. She outshines all the Gwynnes and McClellans, Clares and Maases, and other fantasy whatnots like a supernova.

Yes. I am going to ram this book down your throats.

It is fantasy at its best: I don’t really think that calling City of Bones a post-apocalyptic book gives it justice. The setting is far too complex to be explained by a simple end of the world. It is also not really dystopian, even though the world is far from just and pretty. Wonderful world building is the first thing you notice as you read through the first chapter. It is a world struggling to come to terms with a geological disaster of epic proportions consisting of the city-states scattered across the Waste. In the past, the Waste rose up destroying the seas, forming lakes of fire, spewing gas that choked everyone who had not burn in the initial eruption and eventually formed a deadly tiered world where only krismen could live with scattered Remnants of the ancients, silent witnesses of an era gone by.

The story envelops you with the heat of the Waste and the tumult of the city life: from geography to culture to economy to history - Wells has all the details under masterful control. In the desert, you will learn the plants, and hunting habits of the predators. In the city, you will recognise the architecture and character of each tier and acquire knowledge on customs and traditions from privacy to citizenship issues. And yet, you will not find info dumps, the world grows on you and around you as you follow the main characters on their quest.

The main protagonist, Khat, finds himself in an unwilling alliance with the powerful forces in Charisat, the most important of all cities, in an adventurous chase after relics of the Ancients. In his quest he will have to deal with warders, mad warders, patricians, scholars, traders and all sorts of nefarious representatives of the societal underbelly to learn that while nibbling at the mysteries of the Ancients is all fun, finding the answers and acquiring the knowledge might be dangerous if not downright lethal.

Khat is a “combination of intellectual curiosity and courage that makes him dangerous and puts him in constant jeopardy.” Smart, bruised by life, and sarcastic, Khat is neither your usual lofty, idealistic hero nor a malformed antihero; a mixture of both perhaps.

“What magic does is to open the mind to the world, and sometimes the world isn't what we think it is.”

You can tell where N.K. Jemisin took her inspiration for the Broken Earth trilogy from (read her review of the City of Bones here). In the City of Bones you will find a humanoid race (distilled, not decanted), a perfected and more potent than human beings but denied humanity with everything that comes with it. They are called krismen (desert people) and are the creation of the Ancient Mages, who wanted a people who could survive what the world was in the process of becoming. Thus, kris are born to withstand all the dangers of the desert and its predators, with the ability to sense the direction of true north on a landscape, several biological adjustments (like a pouch for babies) and certain immunity for magic. This last feature led the ordinary people (and especially powerful Warders who wield magic) to believe that kris have no souls. In reality, during the confrontation with impeding doom, the reason for ostracizing turns out to be a saving grace (even if it remains unacknowledged).

You will also find a society working as mercilessly and efficiently as a clockwork orange. Charisat is a city in the Waste built of the rising tiers with wealth an power accumulated on top and poverty and subjugation on the bottom. In the polity scavenging the bones of lost civilisation and making sense of the dregs left behind, injustice is streamlined, oppression is justified - both theses are carefully explored (and also resonate later in Jemisin’s own writings). Finally, the motif of magic that comes at a cost (“farther we reach to understand, the greater the risk of damage to the soul”) is present here too.

“Why is a clear conscience necessary?" Sagai asked, not helpfully. "All it takes is a confused sense of duty and a disregard for personal survival.”

The world Wells created is not as grimdark (it can be funny even if sometimes on the sarcastic side), and suffused with misery as Jemisin’s, but not less complex in texture and characters, in the whole beauty and marvel of a society that reeks with otherness. Intricate world building is seconded by a complex, twisting plot of power play, mystery, and intrigue mixed with bit of paranormal and sprinkled with steampunk ambiance and spiced by an unorthodox romance subplot. The plot bursts with life of superb cast; next to the main character you will find a strong leading female, a scholarly figure of Sagai with the background of family, friendship, and bonds far more important that bloodlines and (oh, my favourite!) Aristai Constans a mad warder, a villain to fall for ("It was a sure sign your situation was desperate when you were relieved to see Aristai Constans.") or an idol to worship (take your pick).

City of Bones is designed and paced to blow your mind, break your heart and set your nerves on edge; a book that eschews beaten track of usual arcs and pathways and convenient endings. All of the above is delivered in an elegant, mellifluous prose, a real treat. While this has been my first Martha Wells (Athena thank you for advertising her! And also, Carol. the very fountain of worthy reads), it will not be the last.

City of Bones was smart, sweet, funny, scary, and heartbreaking in all the right proportions.

Go grab a copy and dig in. You will love it.

[Nataliya · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Why is a clear conscience necessary?” Sagai asked, not helpfully. “All it takes is a confused sense of duty and a disregard for personal survival.”

When is a book a really slow burn? Well, perhaps when it takes me a month and a half to finish it because it just lacks that sheer readability that makes you stay up for half of the night, compulsively turning pages - like that much later creation by Martha Wells more than two decades later, Murderbot Diaries. But City of Bones despite its intricate worldbuilding, great story, lovely characters, sardonic banter and well written prose just felt longer than its 400 pages, and for some reason allowed me to read it slowly and leisurely, without a burning need to pick it back up despite never feeling bored at all.

And yet despite the lack of compulsive readability and a *very* slow start it ended up being very very good and very satisfying. You just need a bit of patience with it.

It’s a postapocalyptic desert fantasy with a quest for ancient relics, capers and heists, save-the-world eventual stakes — with a protagonist who, like Murderbot decades later, is a disliked and expendable “other” (in this case, a bioengineered humanoid from a race made to withstand the harsh conditions of the post-apocalyptic Waste) with a well-developed sense of realism (“The luck was nice, but it left him uneasy, knowing the more he had of it now, the more likely it was to fail spectacularly at some later point”) and a somewhat less-developed self-preservation sense.

“Then I’ll be honest,” Khat answered, reaching into the door hole to pop the latch. “I’m always honest.”
Sagai snorted. “No, you think you’re always honest, and that is not the same thing at all.”

It’s a world that used to be ruled by the ancient powerful mages until some sort of catastrophe a millennium prior turned the seas into the poisonous rocky multi-level Waste, and a few Fringe cities managed to hang on in the new harsh desert world, with the few surviving old technologies of the Ancients existing as relics and remnants with little knowledge as to their purpose. One of those cities is Charisat, a tiered city (think wedding cake style with each tier a place for a different caste) where the closer you get to the bottom tiers, the more abject poverty and water hunger there is. It’s a caste society based on wealth and privilege, acutely xenophobic and adapted to cramped dry and dusty surroundings.

“It was a commonly held belief of the upper tiers that servants, noncitizens, and other nonpersons did not have the right to or desire for privacy that the Patricians guarded so jealously. It was part of the reason Gandin and the other male Warders let their veils slip in front of Khat without embarrassment. Since he wasn't a person, it hardly mattered if he saw them unveiled.”

And it’s a pretty complex world, with hints of quite a few interesting threads that can be developed further - it’s one of the few times when I wish for a series instead of a standalone! Even the hint of a romance remains just that - barely a hint, yielding to the wonderfully described ties of friendship and trust that are forged out of adversity and shared goals. The setting quickly acquires depth and manages to stand out from the traditional fantasy elements, likely due to Wells keen anthropologically-tuned eye. And she succeeds in making you appreciate the world built on the remnants of another one, so much easier and no longer attainable — but yet still home to its inhabitants, as harsh and unfriendly as it is:

“Khat cleared his throat and said, "Well, was it worth saving?"
Sevan turned, his face shadowed by the sun's glare, and said, "It has its own beauty, in a strange fashion. Perhaps it was worth it."

Rounding up to 4 stars as despite the time it took to get through it, it was worth it.

It reminded me that I don’t have to burn through a book in a day or not want to put it down for it to still be good.

(And for not being able to put it down, there’s always Murderbot.)

[N.K. Jemisin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book after reading Ms. Wells' more recent Books of the Raksura, and I think that made for an odd reading experience: I couldn't help seeing it as essentially proto-Raksura material. That's not a bad thing, since I loved the Raksura books, and this one has the same kind of clever-yet-hapless, fish-out-of-water protagonist; the same utterly alien yet believable worldbuilding; the same breathtaking sense of beauty and almost primordial danger in every landscape.

I loved loved loved the fact that this was firmly postapocalyptic fantasy; there aren't enough of those out there. At varying points the story started to feel more science fictional, but it continually stayed clear in my head that what caused the Waste was magic, otherworldly, and so when the story turned distinctly Lovecraftian it didn't feel at all out of place. The "Inhabitants of the West" are truly terrifying, and I loved the congruity between this and some of Wells' other stories, which I'm beginning to see fit nicely into a grand mythos.

I found the earlier chapters a bit confusing, though, because there's some head-hopping; it's unclear at first who's saying/doing what at some points. Also unclear at first is who the protagonists are; for awhile I thought it was Sagai. I chalked this up to Wells being a less experienced writer at the time she did this, because there were no problems of this sort in the Raksura books (or in the other Wells book I've read, Wheel of the Infinite). It was never difficult to read, just not as smooth a ride as the Raksuras.

So I'd recommend this one in particular for people who enjoy the Raksura books, and more generally for people who like postapocalyptic fantasy!

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

A slow burn. Good, but a slow start. There are a lot of similarities with another book that I recently read: the high-cast scholar seeking ancient wisdom is the female lead, a harsh and dangerous terrain, a brave and adventurous low-cast male lead, and loads of plotting and intrigue. Of course, Wells came first.

[H (trying to keep up with GR friends) Balikov · Rating 4 out of 5]

I want to tell you that I have discovered a great new writer of speculative fiction, Martha Wells. However, my GR friend, Carol, would probably loose upon me a storm of well-chosen epithets for doing so. And quite rightly for at least these reasons:
1. Wells has been recognized for her fine writing for about 25 years; and,
2. Carol was responsible for getting me to read City of Bones. You may have read her review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... It’s been out there for over 5 years!

Wells very carefully builds a world that in some ways resembles Earth, but could be another world inhabited by humans and now mostly a desert with accessibility to water determining much of its economy. There was a more advanced civilization that used to be there but now all that remains are remnants and artifacts. Our hero/anti-hero is Khat, but more about him later. He and his partner, Sagai, work in the richest city remaining, Charisat. They are successful enough to survive and that is important because, if you aren’t, you either die a quick death, or are exiled, a slower death.

All I will say is that these two are hired to find some artifacts for a Charisat V.I.P. Before the quest is over, Khat finds his future is tied to a “Warder” named Elen and they both may be on a path to release something as significant as Pandora’s Box was in that Greek myth.

There is a lot to like in this book and it starts with the care that Wells puts into Charisat. It has its ruling class and patricians, but it also has an academy and some humans that retain a certain range of skills that verge on the magical. She does particularly well in describing the life of the lower classes. The city’s hierarchy is reflected in its construction with various tiers allocated to the social classes and the Elector occupying the highest. I wished that Wells or the publisher had taken time to provide some maps of this fascinating place.

I did promise to come back to Khat. While the other characters are human, he is Krisman (a bioengineered human whose race was designed for the desert environment most of this world has become). The Kris have some novel skills and anatomical features, but in the eyes of most humans Khat is very low on the social scale. His human partner, because he is not of Charisat, is not much higher.

So, yes, I am late to the party with my enthusiasm. However, I think that this book would appeal to both those who like fantasy and those who like sci-fi. This book can stand on its own.

[Phrynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an early work by the author which has been revised and updated. It has the hallmarks of her later work and it made fascinating reading.

The City of Bones is Charisat, a city built on many levels where the highest class live at the top and the poorest at the bottom. Khat, the main character, is a krisman, genetically engineered to survive in the desert post apocalypse. There appear to be no other kris living in the city but Khat has friends who stand for his family. He is self educated and loves his work as a trader of relics.

This trade brings him in contact with Elen, a Warden from the top tier. Their relationship is a joy to read, full of snarky dialogue and an underlying attraction despite their huge differences in status. Kudos to the author for what she does with them at the end. Expect no cliches from Martha Wells even in her early books apparently.

Excellent world building, lots of great characters, some magic and some ghostly creatures all make for a very entertaining book. Well worth five stars.

[Nat K · Rating 3 out of 5]

Who knew that pirates and Trade Inspectors exist in the desert world of the future? The Remnant, the Waste, the Enclave. Krismen, Warders and Patricians. Imperial law. Ancient mages. Silent Markets. Scholars. Fringe Cities. The Heir. The Last Sea. Fortune tellers. Oracles. Relics. Relic dealers. Relic hunters. What is the strange place I had come to?

In my mind I saw some kind of Mad Max, post apocalyptic, dystopian place With lashings of overindulgent wealth for those lucky enough to live in the right area.

The setting is Charisat, a multi-tiered city where people live according to their social class. The tiers reflecting the wealth and status of their inhabitants. Residents rarely due venture out of their designated boundary. The descriptions of a society where your caste has so much bearing on your life and how you can live it are interesting. It's similar to many places now... the fear and distrust of others who aren't the same.

Khat is a Krismen. A humanlike tribe that has been bred to survive the harshness of the desert conditions. He is a relic dealer (both legal & illegal), selling rare artifacts from an earlier time of magic, that are worth a fortune, both monetarily and to scholastically. Some even contain great power. Khat has an uncanny ability and a fearlessness to move fairly seamlessly between the tiers. He has been chosen to find an extremely rare relic of priceless value.

My favourite parts were reading about the various markets and the relics which were bought & sold there. I imagined it to be like some sort of dusty, hot, Moroccan market. All burnt oranges and bright red colours.

There is a bad baddie or two. One mad from magic, the other from power. There is a kickass female, Elen, who joins Khat on this adventure. There's even a hint of romance (though just a hint, mind).

I enjoyed the underlying humour and sarcasm in this story. Khat is an interesting character. Quite the (kris) man of mystery. I think I may have a bit if a Khat crush.

This book is a slow burn. It took a while for me to take to the setting and characters, then bam! I was in. Immersed in this weird & wonderful world.

Most definitely this took me outside of my usual genre comfort zone. But new year, new outlook, right. 3.5🌟 I was pleasantly surprised to have enjoyed it so much.

*** Shout out to my new GR buddy Mr. Windup Bird who is a sci-fi aficionado and who suggested this title. Make sure you read his review & also check out his 'Skull dreams' list of books-to-read. It contains many weird & wonderful titles, most of which I'm totally unfamiliar with. But many sure do look interesting... https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... ***

[Mimi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still a fantastic read the second time around. Don't know how it's possible, but I think I love it more this time around.

This book hits all of my fantasy requirements:
- desert setting (plus, it's also post-apocalyptic)
- unique city (it's a multi-level tower)
- intricate socioeconomic system
- intricate caste system (lots of minute but interesting details)
- political intrigue
- a cast of outcast characters (that you can't help but get attached to)
- lots of dry, self-deprecating humor
- which makes the interactions between the characters hilarious
- an ancient, archaeological mystery

The book goes one step further by topping the whole thing off with a high-stakes scavenger hunt that takes the characters through the city and out into the desert, but that's not all, it ends with an unexpected but worthwhile ending. Very well done overall.

The writing is very detailed without being bogged down by too many unnecessary scenes or exposition, a signature style of Martha Wells. You get a clear picture of the city and many of its tiers, but you don't get bogged down by pages and pages of descriptions or backstory. All the attention to details may sound like a lot to wade through before you get to good part of the plot, but that's not it at all. The writing is a breeze and very easy to read. It sweeps you up and takes you right into the heart of the desert without any drudgery.

I really liked this book the first time I read it because of its distinctive take on the desert fantasy setting, and the ending turned "really like" into love. It was precisely the right note this story needed to push it from just fantasy into something more, something memorable. Although that is kind of ironic for me to say because, over the years, I have forgotten a lot of the story, but that ending still stayed with me. It's still as clear in my mind as the day I first read it. And in reading it again, I'm able to really appreciate all the work that went into this book.

* * * * *

Rereading with Beth via the audiobook.

Read by Kyle McCarley. You may know him from his fantastic reading of The Goblin Emperor.

* * * * *

Cross-posted at https://covers2covers.wordpress.com/2...

First review moved to https://covers2covers.wordpress.com/2...

[TAP · Rating 4 out of 5]

What magic does is open the mind to the world, and sometimes the world isn't what we think it is.

Welcome to the Waste.

The world burned away and only stone and heat remain. Mysteries await the intrepid and the curious. Relics of the Ancients can be found, but they offer few answers as to the how-did-this-happen.

A conspiracy is churning. Answers are sought by more than one side. And our tricksome antihero Khat is the one caught up in the storm.

City of Bones is a unique fantasy experience. The setting is particularly interesting. Well worth a read for fantasy fans.

I enjoyed the worldbuilding and the characters. But I would have loved to see more of the mysterious world, especially with all the teases. I suppose it’s a good thing when an author leaves you wanting more.

[Rachel (TheShadesofOrange) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars
Video: https://youtu.be/eLlHLaTmHd0

This is a good fantasy novel. I liked this one more than The Witch King, but I am learning that I prefer this authors science fiction where she seems to take more chances. Despite some very cool worldbuilding ideas, this felt like a safe novel that leaned intotropes I have read so before.

I would recommend this one primarily to fantasy readers who can't get enough of the genre. This one is good, but not as special as I hoped it would be.

Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

[Algernon · Rating 5 out of 5]

[9/10]

The man drops the bones into the glowing coals in the iron bowl, and they yellow, then blacken as the heat takes them, and thin veins of smoke rise into the still air of the time-darkened room

Charisat, a tiered city raised from the bones of the earth at the edge of the Waste. Eight cities thrown one on top of the other like a wedding cake for Titans, with the poorest citizens living in abject misery at the bottom and the patricians enjoying an easy life at the top. The pure crystalline waters of the Emperor’s gardens become foul waste as they trickle down to the lower levels (an involuntary metaphor for the infamous trickle down economics theory).

Water is more important than bones in the city of Charisat – the poor have to pay for every drop of it, while the rich show off their wealth in opulent waste. Bones meantime are used for magic incantations – oracular glimpses at the future. Human bones are the best ingredient in this necromancy, and if you are a krisman like the hero of the story, you are likely to be hunted down because your sort of bones are considered the most relevant for dark magicks.

Khat is such a krisman, an exile from his wasteland tribe who survives by his specially engineered immune system and by his dirty street fighting skills. Khat and his partner Sakai, a scholar from another city on the fringes of the Waste, edge out a living on one of the lower levels of Charisat, reserved for manual workers and non-citizens. Basically, the two are treasure hunters, dealing in recovered artefacts from the time before the continent became the Waste. A flourishing civilization led by powerful mages was destroyed like mythical Atlantis in a flood of volcanic activity and scorching storms, transforming the once lush landscape into a nightmare maze of tortured rock, poisonous vegetation and predatory monsters. The lack of water and the presence of pirates along the few passable routes through the Waste make the visit to the Waste a deadly proposition for anybody not born among the krismen.

Yet a trip to the Waste, to one of the few ancient towers still standing, in search of more lost relics, is exactly the job Khat is offered by a mysterious figure that came down from the upper tiers of Charisat. Predictably, the mission goes pear-shaped soon after Khat, his employer and their bodyguards set out. The chase is on – filled with knife fights, secret puzzles, ghostly apparitions and powerful conspiracies , while a ticking clock marks the imminent arrival of a new apocalypse.

>>><<<>>><<<

I went back to this earlier stand-alone novel by Martha Wells after a good run with her Murderbot science-fiction series, wanting another confirmation that her popularity is not a fluke. Seriously, I wonder what took me so long to get hooked on her style of story-telling? Wells is much better that the legion of Tolkien and Arthurian fanfiction peddlers from the 80’s and 90’s, mostly because she cuts her own path through the field of speculative fiction. City of Bones shares with Dune only the desert setting, the rest is a fresh world full of pleasant surprises, both in the way the plot is constructed and in the relations between characters. I got some vibes of Raiders of the Lost Ark from the fast pacing and the onslaught of dangers sent against Khat and his friends, the lost treasures hunting and the flashes of dark humour used to confront impossible odds.(maybe also a little of Lois McMaster Bujold) I particularly liked the way the romance part of the story, between Khat and his secret employer , was treated – focusing on hard earned friendship and trust instead of animal attraction. Even the magic part of the plot feels fresh and original, used not for combat skills but for world-building and risky incantations.

This may not be a perfect story, or as trend setting as ‘Dune’ and ‘Foundation’, but it was a ton of fun and a page turner. I believe I have given 5 stars in the past to less accomplished storytellers, so I will use the rating system subjectively, in order to draw attention to this often underrated author. I plan to read more of Martha Wells fantasy books published before the Murderbot became popular.

[Ms. Smartarse · Rating 3 out of 5]

In a post-apocalyptic world, mostly covered by wasteland, humanity can only survive within large cities. In an attempt to recover some of the old civilisation, the rich rely on research of the ancient artefacts.

Khat is a human-like creature, part of a race developed by the (extinct) ancient mages to survive in the wastelands. At odds with his original family, he now works as a low-level relic dealer in the city of Charisat. Experience has taught him to keep his dealings secret and his head low, as nothing good ever came from mixing with the upper class. Until of course news of his talents reaches said upper class, and he gets basically strong-armed into accepting a job.



When it comes to world building, Martha Wells once again managed to build a very interesting society. I was truly fascinated by how masterfully she manages to depict multiple settings by relying mainly on social segregation. I love the dichotomy between the insane amount of education of the upper class and their naive world view as an inevitable result of their "privileged" lifestyle.

Truth be told, I very much wanted to like this book, so I ended up doubly disappointed by its many downsides. I spent about 70% trying to make sense of the confusing politics, 20% bored by some scholarly exposition, leaving only the remaining 10% to enjoy. If you thought Witch King felt confusing and incomplete... wait to see the end of this one.



The character development was... sometimes good, sometimes weird and cryptic, while other times more like an after thought. The friendship was great, the political machinations intriguing, but the romance rather stilted. I was also a bit weirded out by the way sex was handled, i.e. mostly fade to black, except for that one scene where Khat needs to hide an artefact on short notice. I'll let you guess where he stashed it.

Score: 3.4/5 stars

I chose City of Bones specifically because it is a stand-alone story that would hopefully not end things on a cliff-hanger. Plot-wise, I got what I wanted, but when it came to character development, I rather wish that the romantic aspects had been skipped. Not because they didn't make sense in the context, but more due to the author's reluctance to give them sufficient screen time.

I will definitely continue to check out the author's other works, keeping in mind that her earlier works' would benefit from a bit more polishing.

[Darcey · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 STARS

It took ages for me to get through this book, and that's why it's down an extra 1/2 a star, but the last half of the book was fascinating and kept me hooked. As my first (finished) Martha Wells book I was pretty skeptical because I DNF The Element of Fire, but this was much better (in my opinion) and I couldn't help but enjoy it.

City of Bones is about two people who are determined to find 2 magical artifacts, and though they are very different people they become friends throughout the book. Khat is a low-down Kris who's main passion is relics, Elen is an important Warder who's determined to do the best job that she can for her master. Together, with the help from a few other characters, these two manage to almost destroy and save the world within the space of a few days.

The characters in this book were fulfilling and well done with interesting back stories and exciting personalities, mixed in with fun humour. There was a little bit of slow romance in this book, but it was barely there and it was definitely not what completed the relationship between Elen and Khat. I recommend City of Bones for fantasy/adventure loving people who enjoy little to no romance and fascinating characters.

[Peter Tillman · Rating 4 out of 5]

My 2003 notes:
CITY OF BONES is set in a tiered, heirarchic fantasy-city in the desert, here a desert of ruin from a long-ago, nearly world-destroying war. There are enough superscience remnants to make this a science-fantasy. The male lead is a classic outsider-warrior. The female lead is an insider who's been misled by her mentor, and who has Hidden Powers. They make a good team, save the world, and (mostly) avoid cliches en route -- particularly in the ending. Above-average book, fast-paced and fun. 3.6 stars

Here's a good review, from my friend Christina Schulman:
http://www.epiphyte.net/SF/city-of-bo...
"City of Bones is original, vivid, and fun. The characters are complex, the dialogue is amusing, and the plot has sufficient switchbacks to make it unpredictable. The Waste isn't your average hostile desert, either; it's a creviced terrain seething with venomous many-legged creepy-crawlies and venomous two-legged pirates."

I'm planning to read the Sept. 2023 updated and revised edition when it becomes available: https://publishing.tor.com/cityofbone...

[Brownbetty · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book that made me gleeful to read. Why? It's urban fantasy in an imagined casbah on a desolate world. It gives me a protagonist who's smart enough that when he's stupid, he'd really stupid. It teased me with the possibility of an mpreg (and you're going to have to trust me on this one) that made me think "neat!" rather than "ew." It was a mystery and and a romp at once, and half the mystery was the entire nature of their world. There were no helpless maidens, the villain was never certain, and danger menaced on all sides. Also, people commented several times on the prettiness of the male protagonist, which made me happy.

Martha Wells always uses her books to look at how societies regulate interactions between men and women, and although a minor theme, this is here too. (rough paraphrase: "If I'd stayed, I'd be someone's second husband and looking after six kids.") Her B.A. in anthropology is an asset to her writing: the society and economy of the city is layered and complex. (I like that sort of thing, okay?) Xenophobia is a recurring theme, and never simplified. Recommended.

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finally finished this. Between work and stress reading my newsfeed it took a while. Very enjoyable, although the beginning was a little slow. Terrific world building. I really loved Khat and Sagai, the relationship between the two and Khat’s relationship with Sagai’s family. Hopefully the next time I read this there won’t be a horrifying pandemic playing out at the same time.

July 15, 2022

Listened to the audiobook this time. Still really enjoyable although the narration wasn’t as enchanting as the narration for the Locked Tomb books (or the Rivers of London books, for that matter). Of course the horrible pandemic is still playing out. Our hospital has lost 30% of the RNs in the surgical program. Those of us left are tired. Anyhow this was a great distraction!

[Leo · Rating 4 out of 5]

After I've read the Murderbot books that have come out I have been wanting to delve into her back catalog and I was not disappointed in any means. While it wasn't as great as the first books I've read by her I still very much enjoyed the audiobook of this.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic, unique but harsh world, likeable, multi-layered characters, solid plot and intriguing mystery. What’s not to like?

Sagai folded his arms. “Khat. You read three languages. You’ve been to most of the Fringe Cities. You have the Trade Articles of Charisat memorized, and you’ve forgotten more about the Ancients than half the supposed relic scholars in the Academia will ever know. Don’t try to tell me that you didn’t understand what you were doing.”

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Am I finally getting over my irrational hatred of all books, movies, and video games with a desert setting? This book may be a step in that direction.

List of Deserts I Hate:
* Gerudo Desert
* Koopahari Desert
* Tatooine
* desert from Prince of Persia: Sands of Time
* Erg Chebbi as depicted in Sex and the City 2: Bitches in the Sand
* desert from Journey
* all other deserts

List of Deserts I Like:
* this one maybe

As much as I dislike the million GoodReads reviews that insist "OMG the world-building was so good", I have to say that indeed, the world-building here was good. OMG. Within the first couple of chapters, the society of this fictional city-state felt fully-realized. (Though I needed the cover to get a real sense of it's physical layout.)

It was pretty actiony and a little bit silly with an extreme number of street tussles and the main character getting clocked in the face a bit too frequently, but I appreciated that these characters interacted in a believable way. There were complex politics and threads of trust at work, and when two opposite-gender main characters can get through a whole novel without falling in love or even really becoming friends, I regain a little faith in my genre fiction.

Do not read the description on the back of the book. It missed the mark so badly that I thought it may have been a printing error.

It's not a perfect book, but it's one of those really strong selections that nobody's heard of since it was released. (This came out in 1995.) If you need something that's not another goddamn fucking 10-book series to entertain you over a long weekend, look for this at your local Amazon.com.

[Connor · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Video Review:
https://youtu.be/aob7Cuxd2dQ

[Zach · Rating 5 out of 5]

Abandoned ruins and lost civilizations are a dime a dozen in fantasy novels, but it's rare to find a genuinely post-apocalyptic secondary-world work like this one. A thousand years ago, a magically-advanced civilization was wiped out when the oceans boiled away, leaving behind a hellish landscape (called, of course, the Waste) and survivors eking out a hard existence in the Fringe Cities. Enough time has passed that society is undergoing (scientific) modernization, with the introduction of air guns and steamwagons and the like (including money that is literally commodified labor!), but magic continues to lag behind the abilities of the ancients. Anything left from their time, most of which is broken detritus, is deeply fetishized, and our protagonist Khat is a relics dealer who makes his living excavating and dealing these artifacts. He's also a member of a genetically-engineered race of mutants called the krismen (ie crysknife?), quite possibly the only one residing in the tiered imperial city Charisat. Events are set in motion when he meets Elen, one of the few women working as a Warder (magic cop) in the city, who needs his help tracking down some stolen artifacts that just might amount to more than broken detritus. The fact that both are outsiders allows Wells to explore xenophobia, sexism, and othering.

There are a lot of noir/hardboiled crime fiction elements here. Khat is also a thief and a fence, a lower-class cynic with a heart of gold who finds himself caught between organized crime and corrupt law enforcement. Elen, the deuteragonist, is the upper class dame/femme fatale, there's a crime boss Khat owes, the plot follows the twists and turns of mystery convention, etc. This form is a welcome change from the overly-expansive standard epic fantasy. It's a tightly-focused work, very rarely straying from Khat's viewpoint, and all taking place within the city and the immediate environs. This is a book that knows exactly what it wants to be, and accomplishes it handily, with basically nothing in the way of wasted space.

If you look around at reviews for this one a lot of people are very upset that there wasn't a sequel, and I'd be lying if I pretended not to be interested in one. That said, the story is completely wrapped up here, as long as you accept the fact that, much like real life, sometimes not everything ends satisfactorily. Being left wanting more is vastly preferable to being beaten into the ground by multiple volumes of meandering bloat, I'd say.

[Caro the Helmet Lady · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was like a bit slow (just in the beginning!) but rather pleasant journey and I liked it a lot, if not in terms of "amazing", then at least in terms of "quite awesome".
Also, I liked the main character, Khat, he reminded me of the Grumpy Cat a lot, and if you want to know why - go read the book so later we can argue. :P

On the serious side "City of Bones" might be classified as a traditional quest fantasy novel - a team of protagonists is looking for certain artifacts and while doing so uncovers a mystery, a plot and a possible apocalypse of their world. They steal stuff, they run for their lives and they fight a lot, also do some magic. One might say it isn't that original, we've heard it all for a hundred times already. Well, maybe not so original, but it's so well done and it keeps you turning pages!

And what is really gripping and damn well done too is a picture of the world that Wells built in her novel. The way she worked on the details of its reality and history, magic and city of Charisat itself just for one standalone piece of a novel makes me respecting her talent and makes me wanting to read more of her works. I'll confess - first it looked a bit too Dune-ish to me, but later the feeling was gone - this story is an original one and quite different from Dune. And of course it's not SF, although that might be arguable, for there were some elements as high technologies or genetic modifications that are not traditionally classified as fantasy tools.

So if you look for a clever fantasy novel with a desert flavour - go grab "City of Bones".

[Lost Planet Airman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shotgun review -- busy busy waiting for doctor.

Good plot, successes and failurs of the characters were occasionally predictable but mostly surprising yet still sensible.

Great world building! It took a while to determine if I was reading post-apocalyptic sci-fi, a Wheel of Time cross-over between science and magic, or a post apocalyptic fantasy. (It was the last.)

Great characters; lots of charm. I felt a Hope/Crosby vibe, with Dorothy Lamour's part played by Lara Croft.

Good theme against racism disguised as mutantism(?)

[Athena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Damn. That was GOOD!

I've been mainlining Martha Wells' writing since GR-friends pointed me toward her splendid Raksura series of novels & short stories: City of Bones is quite different from that but is every bit as good.

Wells writes strongly place-driven novels with well-realized characters; she's nearly created her own genre of 'soft', anthropological science fiction mixed with fantasy elements. Her world-building is extraordinarily intricate, in the case of Bones I practically felt the sandy grit of post-apocalyptic Charisat grinding into my skin.

She starts with an almost-cliche to Americans: the clever thief and his stoic sidekick friend, the idealistic young noblewoman, the casbah-esque Arabian Nights setting. These quickly develop into people and a place with real depth. I particularly appreciated the love of knowledge that is a cornerstone of the book, the characters' hunger for ancient knowledge, how they and their world are haunted by destroyed learning and technology: in Bones we see a world painstakingly trying to reassemble the charred jigsaw pieces of past greatness while it has in fact moved well beyond what once was. In the same way Khat, the main character, is haunted by a past that he has willingly or not outgrown, but has yet to embrace his own path.

This is a very strange world, filled with otherness but it is at heart as human as the Earth: all the people of Charisat are people still, and neither they nor we can ever go home again.

[Nicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know what to think of this book. It's my first Martha Wells book, and I'm promised some of her others are even better: this one is beautiful in its attention to detail, its careful worldbuilding. I enjoyed a lot that this is fantasy and post-apocalyptic work at the same time: we're talking magic here, not science, not even science that looks like magic. This is what I've hungered for -- a one-shot fantasy story that isn't focused on romance or anything other than solid characters and a solid plot.

There's a lot of really fascinating aspects to this world. There's some interesting gender stuff going on with the main character, Khat. He's part of an engineered race who are like humans but have various modifications to better suit the conditions of their post-apocalyptic world. One example being their ability to tell where north is by instinct. Another being the fact that both men and women can bear young in pouches. Then there's the fact that the kris -- Khat's people -- are sought after by some high class women because they can't interbreed with humans: it's not high class men taking advantage of poor women, but the other way round (in effect). And the high class women all have very short hair, while high class men wear veils. One of the main characters, Elen, has a powerful role to begin with and becomes more powerful in her society as the story goes on; the ruler's heir is a woman.

At the same time, there's some possessiveness around women and an expectation that they'll stay home and have children, so it's not quite turned completely around.

Khat is a great character: tough, smart, but not infallible and not all-knowing. I can believe in the people around him, the bonds he has to others -- I love the awkwardness with Elen at the end, and the comfortableness he always has with Sagai because Sagai understands Khat isn't going to confide everything in him. I liked that the "bad" characters aren't completely one-sided (except the Inhabitants and perhaps the Heir), and though I saw it coming, I liked what became of "mad" Constans.

I love the details of the world, the fact that water is a commodity -- which isn't a hugely original idea, but which fits so well here and isn't used as some kind of dystopic problem, but just as a background to the story, a part of the system of commerce and trade.

I really enjoyed the fact that this is sort of a fantastical Indiana Jones with aristocratic scheming moving the pieces, too. The details of the relics, the academic discussions around them... That's my world, really, at least on the literature side of things, and it's lovely to have a hero for whom that is a big draw.

There's a lot of genuine sense of wonder and beauty, here, and the author steers away from a too-convenient ending. People die, friendships are stillborn, and the world ticks on as before with the person who made that possible barely rewarded. Very enjoyable, and I'm looking forward to reading more of Wells' stuff.

[Justine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another excellent and supremely competent piece of work from Martha Wells.

If you've read Wells previously, the thematic elements will feel familiar, but are situated in a new and wholly original world.

The main character, Khat, is thematically similar to Moon (The Cloud Roads), and to a lesser extent Murderbot (All Systems Red), but also very different. All three provide archetypals of "the other"; their position as outsider pivotal to the story and in their interactions with and defining other characters.

All of which is to say, here you will find rich and complex characters for whom identity is always an issue in play as the story unfolds. The story itself has elements of mystery, discovery, and heist; it feels solid, both buttressed and interleaved by a wonderful matrix of worldbuilding and characters.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

At 3% I was questioning if I had chosen the wrong book to read. You know, good books can be bad if you're not in the right frame of mind, bad books can seem good if your in a different headspace.... I felt by 4% that maybe it was the wrong book, or I was in the wrong place and I was considering stopping and looking for something else.

Next thing I knew I was at 15% and I realized that I was completely sucked into this story. By 30% I realized I was enjoying this book so much that I was going to feel a tremendous sense of emptiness when I got to the end.

I tried to slow down, but the story was too good to stay away from it, and now here we are. The book is over and I have this emptiness... Knowing it's over.... I would reread it, but I never get as much out of something a second time around unless it's been twenty years and my own perspective has changed.

No, I will never enjoy this book again as much as I did the first time. Like a first kiss.

Such is life.

I will have a devil of a time trying to find something this fun to read next.

[Gabi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tending towards 3.5 stars.

The story is a solid Fantasy adventure with terrific worldbuilding and plot ideas.
I guess it would have made much more impression on me hadn't I read the author's Raksura series before. Both worlds show the same brilliance in imagining the setup and the development of unique species. Yet I couldn't fend off the feeling of too much familiarity of the atmosphere and the story dynamic.

Would I start anew I would definitely read this one first and then the Raksura series to give "City of Bones" a fair chance.

So, I'd say it is a good book especially for readers who haven't read the other series first.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Khat is a krismen, a human variant genetically engineered centuries ago to be able to survive in the post-apocalyptic desert wastes of the world. He left the krismen enclave, under some duress, to make his way as a relic hunter in the human-inhabited city-state of Charisat. One day, he is approached by a Warder, a magical soldier under the Elector (essentially an emperor), to assist them in seeking out relics that power an ancient machine out in the desert Waste. Khat doesn't have a lot of choice in the matter, being in serious debt to one of Charisat's crime bosses.

What follows is a tangled tale of adventure and double-crosses that eventually leads to a climactic battle against world-threatening foes: some from this world, and some from another...

The setting of this book is so great! The Waste, the steampunk-like magical technology, the Remnant out in the desert, the relics, the varied neighborhoods and individual buildings in Charisat were all remarkably vivid. Explanations and details are interleaved gracefully throughout the story so the reader isn't overwhelmed by the dreaded "wall o' text." I could feel the dust that covered everything, the glamour of the Elector's palace on the top tier of Charisat, the grotty squalor of the lower tiers, and the dangers of the Waste, including desert pirates and venomous critters.

The amazing scene-setting is accompanied by an endearing cast of central characters. Elen, the young Warder who has more potential than she, or her mentor Riaden, realizes; Khat's housemate and relic-hunting partner Sagai, as solid a friend as anyone could ever ask for; the intimidating Constans, and the Elector's Heir, each of whom may have a more-than-businesslike interest in Khat; Arad-edelk, the grouchy and dedicated scholar who assists the relic hunters on their quest from his post at the Academia.

And, of course, Khat himself. He's a character who expresses strength not through his dominance of situations and others around him--aren't characters like that boring, anyhow?--but through stubborn resilience. He's battered and captured and imprisoned and gets ill and almost dies in the course of his quest, but he always goes down fighting and never gives up. As a krismen, unable to be a full citizen of Charisat, he lives at the whims of the state*, and even worse, krismen bones are known to be the best medium to burn when a seer is foretelling the future. He somehow inspires people to save him, so that's good...

* I didn't notice how grimly topical this was twenty years ago, but I sure do now.

The middle of City of Bones sagged for me as the world-jeopardizing threat was set up. It was fitting, and directly connected to the history of the world, and, eventually, to Khat's place in it, but as it was going along I found myself more and more willing to set the book aside. I'm hard-pressed to think of what sort of plot I'd want in its place, to be honest, so it's just a personal thing. The big story was both self-contained and opened up possibilities that could have been explored later, had this book become a series.

Unfortunately, it didn't. The last part of the book was lovely, and I grew sadder and sadder as the end drew near, knowing that this was the last I'd see of these characters. Elen really came in to her own in the last chapter, and while I didn't find her that interesting for most of the book, it was evident that she'd been held back, and there was a lot of potential for her that the reader will now have to imagine for themselves. Khat and Sagai head on to new adventures in a new city on a note that was unexpectedly bittersweet.

Another excellent buddy read with Mimi! This was a wonderful re-introduction to Wells' novels, and I'm looking forward to more.