City of Last Chances

The Tyrant Philosophers #1

by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Arthur C. Clarke winner and Sunday Times bestseller Adrian Tchaikovsky's triumphant return to fantasy with a darkly inventive portrait of a city under occupation and on the verge of revolution.

There has always been a darkness to Ilmar, but never more so than now. The city chafes under the heavy hand of the Palleseen occupation, the choke-hold of its criminal underworld, the boot of its factory owners, the weight of its wretched poor and the burden of its ancient curse.
What will be the spark that lights the conflagration?
Despite the city's refugees, wanderers, murderers, madmen, fanatics and thieves, the catalyst, as always, will be the Anchorwood – that dark grove of trees, that primeval remnant, that portal, when the moon is full, to strange and distant shores.

Ilmar, some say, is the worst place in the world and the gateway to a thousand worse places.

Ilmar,
City of Long Shadows.
City of Bad Decisions.
City of Last Chances.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Audiobook, Science Fiction, Dystopia, Epic Fantasy, High Fantasy

500 pages, Hardcover

First published December 8, 2022

About the author

ADRIAN TCHAIKOVSKY was born in Lincolnshire and studied zoology and psychology at Reading, before practising law in Leeds. He is a keen live role-player and occasional amateur actor and is trained in stage-fighting. His literary influences include Gene Wolfe, Mervyn Peake, China Miéville, Mary Gently, Steven Erikson, Naomi Novak, Scott Lynch and Alan Campbell.

Reviews

[Nataliya · Rating 4 out of 5]

For some reason it often takes me much longer to love Adrian Tchaikovsky’s fantasy offerings even though I tend to have love-at-first-sight affairs with his science fiction.

It took me a little while to wrap my head and heart around the happenings in this one. It’s odd and weird and a bit warped, and full of strange and often unlikable characters inhabiting a strange and decidedly unpleasant city that is teetering on the verge of major unrest, waiting for a tiny spark - a McGuffin, really - to set off a chain of disasters. There’s magic - it’s fantasy after all - but really it’s more of a veneer for the social divisions and bureaucratic oppression musings, and the city and tone at times reminded me of China Miéville minus the overuse of thesaurus. The city of Ilmar may be not as strange and beautifully ugly as Miéville’s New Crobuzon, but it’s decidedly unpleasant in a oddly fascinating way.

“We can’t bring perfection to the world without the threat of force. We can’t rely on the threat of force unless they know we will follow up on it.”

It’s not a place to see through any kind of rosy shades. It touches on colonialism and oppression, exploitation and subjugation, naive youthful fervor and cynical calculated greed. It won’t give you the well-deserved feel-good moments of triumph of the good and comeuppance for the bad, or the bright future following some glorious Revolution. Tchaikovsky seems more of a realist than an optimist here, although there is a bit of dark humor at times.

But don’t expect your usual heroes and heroics. Those don’t pay off. It’s a place for those who work for self-interest, and all we can hope is that at some point it may align with what may be the lesser of evils. And don’t expect hand-holding and exposition - you are in the middle of it all, and Tchaikovsky expects you to figure it all out, and with a bit of an effort you certainly can, and enjoy it, too.

The greyish characters often shown in intentionally unflattering light, the ever-shifting POVs, the web of narrative threads and the lack of feel-good vibes in a weird oppressive city do make this book a tough cookie to enjoy at first, but the further and further I got in this story the more I found myself taken in by the narrative and that seeming ease with which Tchaikovsky weaves all these narrative strands together. This one to me is one of his better fantasy works, and I hope he keeps churning out books at his remarkable pace for many more years.

4 stars.

——————

Thanks to NetGalley and Head of Zeus for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

——————

Also posted on my blog.

[James Tivendale · Rating 3 out of 5]

The City of Last Chances is Ilmar and it's currently under Palleseen occupation, which the majority of the city's inhabitants are unimpressed with. To assist with keeping the city in order the Palleseen use many organisations such as The School of Correct Speech and The School of Correct Conduct. Individuals and groups that have opposing attitudes or who act in a manner that doesn't align with the guidance presented by the occupiers are dealt with promptly. Equally unnerving is the Anchorwood on the city's outskirts, which contains magics, indwellers, monstrous beings, and portals to distant places.

We witness happenings that relate to the criminal underworld, academia, workers and demons, refugees and outsiders, forgotten gods, and magical artefacts from a wide range of perspectives. Ilmar is the novel's main character though, and this includes distinct and atmospheric areas such as The Reproach, The Hammer Districts, and The Anchorage. I found The Reproach to be a haunting and intensely interesting part of the city and I adored my time reading about that area and its inhabitants most of all.

Approximately every 8-10 chapters, there is a Mosaic chapter, which I would describe as a city-eyed view of happenings: summarising what is taking place throughout many areas of the city at the given time. As City of Last Chances progresses, we're updated regarding the potential revolution that is stirring underneath the surface: who will light the fuse, will the Palleseen military be prepared, what will the consequences be and what part will the supernatural elements of the city play?

The characters presented, their dialogues, interactions, and motives are close to perfection for a grimdark audience. Personally, my favourite characters here were Blackmane, a pawnbroker who deals in magical items, Lemya, a wide-eyed student, Ruslav, a thug who becomes surprisingly infatuated with a painting, Ivarn Ostravar, a senior lecturer, and Yasnic, a priest and the only believer of an old god. Although the above stood out to me, many great moments belonged to other, fine creations. Tchaikovsky presents some impressive and memorable set pieces that are peppered throughout the book. The finest involves a group hanging and when I witnessed it, my initial thoughts were "That that's an excellent future Netflix cliffhanger right there!"

As alluded to above, I found City of Last Chances to be an ambitious epic fantasy read that contains many quality elements and memorable characters. Unfortunately, certain sections of the novel didn't quite work for me and at times I had to force myself to plod through the 500 pages. Tchaikovsky's presentation of the city throughout is admirable and detailed, yet after about the halfway point, even as events were heating up, I found that I didn't care about certain chapters or characters at all. It's possible that I was drifting away from certain events or members of the dramatis personae because the city itself was more important than them in the grand scheme of things. I purchased (and enjoyed) the audiobook during these harder chapters when I found myself disinterested, to help keep me focused and push forwards to the excellent scenes and exchanges that I knew would come. Having completed the novel, I'm content as the highs outweigh the lows, the ending is satisfying and this standalone epic fantasy all wraps up in a rewarding manner.

I'm rating City of Last Chances 6/10 as it features moments of Tchaikovsky's brilliance but was hard work in places too. That being said, it was a unique reading experience that I would recommend mostly because I'd be interested to see what other people think of this intriguing book. I’d especially recommend City of Last Chances to readers who enjoyed the sweeping scale, industry, revolution and political turmoil of Joe Abercrombie’s Age of Madness.

I received a review copy of City of Last Chances in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Adrian Tchaikovsky and Head of Zeus.

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really good book as long as you take a few things in mind before you read it. For one, it is an epic fantasy -- full of a long list of characters and a setting that is vast even if it mainly takes place in a single city. For another, its magic, while quite present, takes a back seat to the totalitarian regime, rebellion, and a bit of worldbuilding mystery.

That being said, I followed the tale with some decent interest and appreciated the layered approach to the city's ongoing history.

Did always fall in love with the characters? No. But a few were consistently great.

I suppose my main concern or complaint is a purely personal one. I have always fallen absolutely in love with Adrian Tchaikovsky's SF and tend to find something a bit off about his Fantasy. I can't quite put my finger on it but it's still true. The places where I want exploration were shunted off track and while I DID like the social commentary on poverty and fascism and even the importance of language to frame the issues properly, I found myself wanting a different kind of book that has nothing to do with the quality of his writing.

I'm entirely certain that other people will get a lot more out of this novel than I did.

[carol.]

Stuck at 21%. It's not that it isn't interesting, but I'm not enjoying the pace. It feels like one of those 'city as a character' books that we get to know through the eyes of different members of the populace, usually those that trade in vices. We aren't getting the view of the woman who runs an orphanage, that's for sure! It actually reminds me a bit of Valente's Palimpsest, minus the sex and the gorgeous language. There's the witch woman, the merchant that sells illegal goods, the naive college student, a con man, and I've already forgot the others. What's the plot? I have no idea. I think I'll throw this one back.

[s.penkevich [hiatus-will return-miss you all]]

LOOK AT THIS COVER! Like, just stare lovingly at it, because it is cool and seems like a place I would not want to be but would indeed like to look at. I'm stupidly excited for this because A. I'm fairly stupid and B. anything Tchaikovsky touches is gold and C. I want to shamelessly self-promote the library's ONLINE AUTHOR EVENT that, while it already happened, you can still watch HERE and listen to him discuss how he researches, writes, and loves spiders.

[Nick Borrelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Original review posted on my blog Out of This World SFF:
https://outofthisworldrev.blogspot.co...

I was super excited to read this book after reading that amazing synopsis, I mean this sounded like a book that would be right up my alley. Portals to different worlds, a tyrannical regime and occupying force, a dark and magical setting, all of the things that I really enjoy in a fantasy read to be honest. And to top it off, one of my favorite authors as the writer of the story? Yes, you could say I was pretty excited to sit down with this book.

And for about the first 50 pages or so my excitement was truly rewarded as the book sets up all of the main conflict and the mystery of the Anchorwood quite tantalizingly. And Tchaikovsky's elegant prose carried the narrative beautifully as it always does. It was just after this point though that I began to have a difficult time concentrating on all of the different storylines as the chapters begin to jump back and forth across a number of different characters. I found myself wanting to read more but becoming slightly frustrated at having to continually refer to the glossary to see who the people were in each chapter and which of the numerous factions they belonged to.

And yet I couldn't deny that the story also had me sucked in because I wanted to find out what was behind the mystery of the Anchorwood and the lore/history of the enigmatic city of Ilmar. The Palleseen were also a very intriguing enemy force that believes every facet of society from magic, to arts, to education, and to language, must be controlled and overseen by different schools that are maintained by the government. It actually reminded me a lot of the fascist and totalitarian regimes that we've seen in our own history, and so this was a fascinating aspect to the story that I'm sure Tchaikovsky did on purpose.

With all of this going for the book I was truly hoping that my difficulty focusing on the cast of characters would get better and that eventually everything would click and I would hit my stride. Ultimately though it continued throughout and there were more times than not when I felt my concentration wandering to the point where I just put the book down fairly often.

The ending was pretty satisfying but again, this one just didn't grab my attention the way so many of Tchaikovsky's books have done in the past and subsequently it hampered my enjoyment a little and I have to give this book a lesser star rating as a result. However, please don't be put off by my experience, it may just be a case of the wrong timing for this kind of book. Others may really latch on to the intrigue, deception, and deep world-building. In the end, this was a good but just short of great read for me for many of the reasons I mentioned.

[Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin]

DNF - I seemed to like his sci-fi better

Mel 🖤🐶🐾🐺

[Lukasz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Adrian Tchaikovsky is one of my favorite authors; I'll read anything he writes. And when a book comes with such a stunning cover, I can't help but drool over it. The publisher was kind enough to accept my request for an ARC, and I started reading it immediately after downloading my copy.

Unfortunately, the City of Last Chances didn’t captivate me. It’s a sophisticated novel with many characters, a dense writing style, and complex intrigue. I found it difficult to immerse myself in the story or sympathize with its numerous protagonists. Things do fall into place at the end, but I had to force myself to read the book. And that's never a good sign.

I’m not sure what else to say. It’s an interesting book, unlike most fantasy being published these days. It's ambitious and intelligent. On the other hand, it’s also dense and difficult to get into, and I’m not sure if the effort to get through it is fully justified (deeply subjective).

In the end, I think fans of challenging and complex narratives should definitely try it. Fans of lighter reads with quick hooks may feel overwhelmed by the complexity of the material.

Arc through NetGalley.

[K.J. Charles]

I absolutely love Tchaikovsky's work and I tend more to fantasy than SF, plus 'uprising against colonisers' so I was really looking forward to this one, but... ugh. I just never managed to click with it. Not sure why: the world is interesting and the world building deftly handled, as is the large cast. Possibly there just wasn't anyone to root for. The best lack all conviction, and the rest of them are just selfish shits, and I just couldn't engage emotionally. DNF at 77%. I suspect it's a case of 'it's not you it's me': readers with more tolerance for bleak and unlikeable will probably roll around joyfully. (I still don't get it though because he frequently writes profoundly flawed characters and I normally love them. Hey ho, sometimes it just doesn't click and that's all there is.)

[Dannii Elle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picture a city under occupation and on the verge of revolution. Imagine the streets teeming with discontent and bubbling with anger. Delve into each shadowed alcove and underground lair to discern who will light the first match and set fire to the masses, urging them to overrule the Palleseen regime.

This book was one I had ridiculously high hopes for and may have had my expectations too highly placed. I remained impressed by the rich world that was developed and intrigued by the criminal workings, elite rule, and struggling masses within it. I did, however, feel a little distanced from many of the principal characters, for some reason, bonding more with their many plights than with their individual personalities. This did not ruin my overall enjoyment but I merely found it to be unlike the book I had predicted I would read.

No-one can doubt the sheer brilliance of this creation, however. It is a dark and lush tale, bubbling over with emotion and where each page is marked by some tragedy or is home to anger and resentment. I loved seeing how the individuals, from all walks of life, made this city their home and sought to transform it into something other than what is currently is.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the author, Adrian Tchaikovsky, and the publisher, Head of Zeus, for this opportunity.

[aria ✧ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Before that, the locals used to call it the City of Last Chances, after all those who came seeking an escape they never quite managed to find. Because the Anchorwood keeps its secrets, and always has done. The Wood, which gave the place its first name, long before someone set stone and stone and named it Ilmar. The Wood, the hole in the world, the Indwellers, the last house and its long succession of keepers. The Port to Nowhere.

‘City of Last Chances’ is the first entry in the Tyrant Philosophers series. Having read his Shadows of the Apt and Terrible World: Revolutions books, I knew Tchaikovsky would be an auto-buy author. With beautiful writing, nuanced characters, creative worldbuilding and epic plots, what’s not to love, but this? I didn’t expect to love this as much as I did.

The Palleseen have achieved perfection. They have perfect laws, perfect language, perfect education and having brought perfection to their own islands, they understood that their achievements could not stand so long as a tide of foreign chaos lapped against their shores. They had a duty. A crusade. They could perfect the world and improve the lives of all. Thus the Palleseen Sway– their term for the grand outreach effort. To perfect the world, one must first understand it and what better way to understand it than to visit these barbarian places and forcefully spread their perfection to the ungrateful natives. Despite their perfection, there is one flaw, the imperfect people. Perfection would be honest, just and kind citizens yet the Palleseen are corrupt, greedy and cruel. They are in awe of the Divine City’s real perfection, are trying to get an opportunity to perfect Loruthi and have perfected Allor and Telmark. It is in Telmark’s city of Ilmar that our story begins.

There has always been a darkness in Ilmar. You cannot live with those neighbours without taking something of the dark between the trees into you. The Palleseen brought their unimaginative cruelties and the vices and misdeeds of their individual leaders. The Old Duke and his predecessors had their long catalogue of venality. Before them, the Varatsins and their antecedents, who had embraced the dark by wedding it. Every bright lantern anyone turned on Ilmar only strengthened its shadows. Pull back, one last time. Some few strands remain uncut. Tie them off, one by one.

Ilmar is chafing under all the different factors at play. The Palleseen are perfect in their imperfection, the workers’ organisations are always ready to march for a better life, the criminal gangs are shaking money from anyone they can and the students at Gownhall are always shouting about needed change. The much-needed resistance against Palleseen occupation is splintered into different factions: Herons are of the river-folk, Vultures are of the street gangs, Shrikes are ready murderers and Ravens are of the Maric noble families. Each faction has their aspirations and none are willing to work with the other. None of these even measure up to the ancient curse that unknowingly burdens the city.

Something has to give.

With all this tension, something has to start the fire, the spark has to be one of these groups. And yet, with the city's refugees, wanderers, murderers, madmen, fanatics and thieves, the catalyst is the Anchorwood – that dark grove of trees, that primeval remnant, that portal, when the moon is full, to strange and distant shores. Home to the Indwellers. For when Sage-Archivist Ochelby of the School of Correct Erudition, second most powerful man in the Ilmari Perfecture’s hierarchy is killed when sent as Ambassador to the Anchorwood, someone has to answer.

We will be ashamed of what we did here, one day. And at least, if that came true, it would mean things had got better. A better tomorrow bought with a succession of compromised todays.

Adrian Tchaikovsky outdid himself. Funnily enough, this was my book club pick for February this year but I just wasn’t in the mood to read it. I read three chapters then stopped, only to read the rest of the book in the last two days. Amazing. I’m in awe of how Tchaikovsky had me sympathizing with one character/group then immediately making me dislike them in the next chapter. I’m in awe of how he represented revolutions and the way a lot of them promise tomorrow, only when tomorrow becomes today, the uprising stays tomorrow. I’m in awe of how he showed the oppressed becoming the oppressor. I’m just in awe.

This book changed POVs every single chapter with an omniscient third pov narrator and it worked perfectly for the story Tchaikovksy wanted to tell. Yasnic was a continuous favourite and I can’t wait to see more from him. I can’t wait to see more from the other characters, actually. I also can’t wait to see what more worldbuilding Tchaikovsky has for us (The Reproach was one of the scariest things I’ve ever read). I definitely can’t wait to read more of Ilmar. Oh, Ilmar…

City of Long Shadows.
City of Bad Decisions.
City of Last Chances.

Ilmar, City of Last Chances, City of Bad Decisions, the Port to Nowhere. The last escape from any trouble you might happen to be in, gateway to a thousand worse places. Once, there was a forest. One day, there will be the forest once more. Until then, Ilmar.

[Gabrielle (Reading Rampage) · Rating 4 out of 5]

More like 4 and a half.

I had never read anything by Adrian Tchaikovsky, despite seeing his name very often on Goodreads and various lists of sci-fi and fantasy authors to watch. I’m not sure why, but when I saw “The City of Last Chances”, I grabbed it. Sure, the cover art is gorgeous, but this is a “science fantasy” (to me, that means a novel where the magical system is basically a replacement for technology, as opposed to high fantasy, where the magic is a central element) novel set in a city-state occupied by a foreign power, where a resistance is brewing, cultural and class conflict fans the flame of rebellion and weird creatures and artifact exist in the city’s periphery, just to make things weird and scary. Honestly, that all sounded too cool to pass up!

After a game of chance set in an inn bordering the ominous woods surrounding the city of Ilmar, an extremely precious artefact is lost/stolen, a high-ranking member of the occupying system of the Palleseen dies horribly – and everyone around that gambling table will feel the ramifications of those events in their lives, because this object and the death linked to it are much more significant than any of them would have guessed.

I loved the world-building of this city, but I expected that: I read a review that compared it to New Crobuzon in the China Mieville novels and that obviously got my attention, as that fictional city haunts my dreams. The concept of the Reproach is fantastic! I also loved the multiple characters and their perspective on the events and their unfolding. Event never happen to just one person, and this multiple POV approach made the story rich and nuanced. From the idealist student, priest going through a crisis, mercenaries and factory works, you get a rich picture of a city on the brink of civil unrest.

I really appreciate that Tchaikovsky uses this setting as a commentary on class war, civil oppression and racism – without really ever getting didactic about it. His sense of pacing keeps the story going without getting bogged down by too much expositions, which is both great, because it kept me reading frantically, but it also makes it easy to get confused with the strange world at first: all the new names and concepts can feel a bit overwhelming until one finds their stride. But it’s absolutely worth the effort and the patience: Tchaikovsky may not give you a guide book to Ilmar, but it becomes clear that he knows every nook and cranny of the city very quickly. I also really appreciate that this is a stand-alone: I love a good series as much as the next gal, but I have been burnt by those before, especially by authors I wasn’t familiar with, and I loved being able to dip my toes in without having to commit to reading 10 books to find out what’s going on.

Very recommended to fans of urban fantasy!

[Jovana (NovelOnMyMind)]

10% update: So... Not exactly what I was hoping for. Honestly, I'm thinking about DNFing. What do you guys think?

30% update: It did get a bit better. Not great but enough for me to continue.

50% update: Yeah, sorry. I really tryed, but I just can't get into it. I'll DNF for now.

[S. ≽^•⩊•^≼ I'm not here yet · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just finished, it was still chaotic, without any main characters, heroes, or orderly POVs also not many characters were left behind. I like Yasnic and Ruslav and hope to see them in soon-to-read second book.

I'm currently reading about 20 percent through it. The story is chaotic and has quite characters. It's good that had a cast of them and I categorized them differently below, may use:

Hoyst – hangman
Yasnic – priest
Kosha – priest, Yasnic’s master, dead
Nihilostes – priestess of the divine scorpionfly
Orvost, the Divine Bull – divine entity
Zenotheus, Scorpionfly God of Chaos – divine entity

Gownhall – the Ilmari university
Maestra Gowdi – Gownhall master
Maestro Ivarn Ostravar – Gownhall master
Maestro Vorkovin – Gownhall master
Maestro Porvilleau – Allorwen Gownhall master
Emlar – student
Lemya – student
Hervenya – student

Allorwen – from the nation of Allor
Blackmane – Allorwen pawnbroker
Aullaime – Allorwen conjurer with the Siblingries
Dorae – Allorwen antiques dealer
Tobriant – Allorwen furniture maker
Mother Guame – Allorwen brothel-keeper
Mother Ellaime – Allorwen landlady

Loruthi – from the nation of Lor
Johanger Tulmueric – Loruthi merchant

Divinati – from the nation of the Divinates
Jem – Divinati bartender at the Anchorage
(Langrice – keeper of the Anchorage
Hellgram – bouncer at the Anchorage, foreigner)

Armigers – the aristocratic families of Ilmar
Ravens – resistance faction of the Armiger families
Sachemel Sirovar – former head of the family, dead
Shantrov Sirovar – Armiger and student
Vidsya Sirovar – Armiger and Raven (the Bitter Sisters?)

Vultures – resistance faction of the Ilmar streets
Carelia – one half of the Bitter Sisters, Vulture leader
Evene – the other half of the Bitter Sisters, Vulture leader
Benno – Vulture thug
Cheryn – Vulture thug
Ergice – Vulture thug
Ruslav – Vulture thug
Herons – resistance faction of the riverfolk
Fleance – Heron gambler

FACTIONS OF THE PALLESEEN OCCUPATION
Temporary Commission of Ends and Means – the ruling body of Pallesand
Palleseen Sway – the occupied territories as a whole
Perfecture – an individual occupied territory

School of Correct Erudition (Archivists) – responsible for learning and magic
Archivist Gadders – Correct Erudition
Companion-Archivist Nasely �� Correct Erudition
Sage-Archivist Ochelby – Correct Erudition
Archivist Riechy – Correct Erudition

School of Correct Appreciation (Invigilators) – responsible for art and the judiciary
Sage-Invigilator Culvern – Perfector of Ilmar, Correct Appreciation
Fellow-Invigilator Temsel – Correct Appreciation

School of Correct Exchange (Brokers) – responsible for trade
Fellow-Broker Nisbet – Correct Exchange

School of Correct Conduct (Monitors) – responsible for military and enforcement
Fellow-Monitor Brockelsby – Correct Conduct
Companion-Monitor Estern – Correct Conduct
Statlos Shrievsby – officer, Correct Conduct

School of Correct Speech (Inquirers) – responsible for religion, language and espionage
Fellow-Inquirer Hegelsy – Correct Speech

[Gyalten Lekden · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was totally bowled over by this dense, incredibly layered, thought-provoking wild ride!

The story has a huge sprawling cast, and every chapter is from a different character’s perspective. Some characters get a few chapters, but many others only get one. As someone generally invested in character, I was worried this would leave me with mere shells or outlines of characters, and I was entirely wrong. Every character, including some minor characters that only appear in a handful of scenes, are given these robust, genuine, very real and weighty-feeling lives. We get to see so many characters not only from their own perspective but also from the perspectives of others that really complicated and lived-in lives are conjured as a result, it is really spectacular to read.

I thought the world-building was incredible. For the most part we only get extensive details about the one city our story is set in, although numerous foreign lands are referenced, and we get to learn something about them through the characters living in our city who hail from other places. So, I can appreciate if some find the world-building to be narrow, as so much is focused just on this one city, but I think he manages to give glimpses of such a bigger world that everything feels expansive and thought out, even if we don’t get the chance to visit those places. And it would be a disservice to suggest that the world-building of “just this one city” is small, because the numerous divisions within the city, the social and historical power structures and communities, are immense. There are so many interconnected worlds within this city, helping and backstabbing each other in equal measure. It feels like a beautifully controlled chaos that was always fun to get lost in it.

The writing is superb, with a dark, razor-sharp humor underlining every sentence. The prose is never purple or florid, but there is a cheeky, knowing quality to it. The word choice and phrases often just jump out as poetic and perfect, even without any heavy-handed lyricalness. This in part comes from the fact that every chapter is preceded by a paragraph of an omniscient narrator setting the scene, maybe giving some personal or historical background information to the character or events about to play out. In addition, there are “mosaic” chapters sprinkled throughout, which are chapters that flit from character to character, all using this omniscient narrator to guide us. This really shapes the tone of the story, and it makes the close-third person narratives of the individual characters feel like they have a larger frame of reference. In addition to just being fun to read, the plotting is tight and twisty and manipulative and I loved it. Tchaikovsky does a great job at moving players across the board in unexpected ways, and when there are so many different factions acting independently you never know what is going to happen next. I was never bored and felt a constant energy, a strong momentum throughout.

Oh, and did I mention this is a fantasy novel? Sure, the setting is similar to any city in the midst of an industrial revolution, no electricity or cars or paved roads but quickly moving there. But, also, there are random divinities roaming the streets, often unseen. There are sorcerers who are able to contract with demons for small magical abilities. Magical powers are decanted into what are essentially batteries that are used to power various technologies, including firearms. The factories are filled with machines powered by enslaved demon labor. There is a magical forest that appears in the center of a grove of trees most nights and disappears come dawn, a portal to other worlds, but one itself filled with strange and unknowable creatures. You could be forgiven for forgetting this is a fantasy, there is so much else going on, because Tchaikovsky uses these fantastical elements sparingly but as critically important parts of the world and the story. There is no learning curve, no exposition dumps, just gradual introduction to supernatural elements in such a way as to make them feel normal, integral accents to an already colorful landscape.

So, yeah, I really enjoyed this. Characters, story, plotting, writing, and ideas, all excellent. Did I mention ideas? It had so many ideas. About the frailty of authoritarian power, and the necessary contradictions military dictatorships will need to bend themselves around to preserve their Orwellian Peace. About the importance of solidarity, across racial and social lines, and how any motley crew also needs genuine affection and companionship if it hopes to avoid being as fragile as the power structures it is trying to overthrow. About how faith might be a lonely thing, a burden, but also revelatory and something that lets the world make sense. There are ideas upon ideas upon ideas here, with no preaching or didactic lesson plans. Instead, very real characters doing the best they can in incredibly difficult circumstances.

[Faith · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoy this author’s science fiction, but I struggle with his fantasy novels. This one was too much work for me. Each chapter was in the pov of a different character, which is ok in itself, but for me they were not coalescing into a coherent plot. I gave up. I also have a copy of book 2; but the thought of another 600 pages of this makes me want to cry. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher, but I actually bought the audio book.

[Fiona Knight · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Palleseen Sway - their term for the grand outreach effort that had conquered Allor and Telmark and other lands besides - was always expressed as a great service to the world. A world bitterly at odds with itself, beset by superstition and ignorance, divided in countless ways: language, currency, laws, understanding. The Temporary Commission of Ends and Means, having brought perfection to their own islands, understood that their achievements could not stand so long as a tide of foreign chaos lapped against their shores. They had a duty. A crusade. They could perfect the world and improve the lives of all.

Ilmar has been known by many names, but most know it now as the City of Last Chances – and Adrian Tchaikovsky has woven it a tale of that and so much more.

Since its occupation by the Pellenese – a force determined to fit the world into their vision of perfection – Ilmar has found itself holding an uneasy peace. Already a city on edge, with entire neighborhoods lost to curses, given over to refugees or allocated to demon-assisted industry, the addition of an occupying force has done nothing to make that peace easier to keep. When a murder happens in the mysterious forest that serves as a portal to better places, tensions threaten to boil over – and the reader will have a ringside seat to every moment.

Adrian Tchaikovsky is one of those staples on the science-fiction and fantasy scene, having won almost as many awards as he’s written books. And he’s putting all that skill to excellent work with City of Last Chances – building a world that felt so immersive that it’s genuinely taking me some time to pull myself back out of it, now that I’ve finished. The storytelling is the most immediate thing you’ll notice – each chapter follows a different character, with some breaks labelled Mosaics that give the reader a moment to see the overall state of the different stories being followed. It may feel daunting at first, falling straight into this huge world and needing to track different characters, but trust in the process – you end up with such a comprehensive view of a complicated story, and it never felt like work to follow it.

What you do get though, is to know a city and a set of characters that all feel – despite the fantastic setting – entirely human, and very real. The author describes in one chapter a set of paintings – small canvases, but epic scenes, with a knight dwarfed by darkness and yet resolute in his determination to face it down. His own words captured the feeling of this book best for me. I really loved it, thought it was executed so cleverly, and will be thinking about it for a long time yet.

This review originally appeared at mysteryandsuspense.com

[Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are in the market for a superbly written, complex and intricately woven standalone fantasy, with a large cast of stand-out characters, world-building that is metered out at a brilliant pace and a plot that will keep you effortlessly intrigued throughout, then this will be one to read.

Thank you to the publisher, Head Of Zeus, for sending me a proof.
City of Last Chances releases on the 8th December.

*This will be a spoiler-free review.*

City of Last Chances is my seventh Tchaikovsky book, and my first experience with his fantasy works, having not yet gotten around to reading his Shadows Of The Apt series, or the Echoes of the Fall trilogy.
This book however, has cemented - in my mind, Adrian Tchaikovsky as one of the finest writers of SFF active today.

This whole story takes place in a city called Ilmar, otherwise known as the “City of Last Chances”. Ilmar is in the process of being colonised and occupied by a invading peoples known as the Palleseen.
The city and it’s people are walking the line between total assimilation into the “Palleseen Sway” and all-out riots-in-the-streets revolution.

‘He asked: “What must I do?” In his ears, the drum had gone from pavane to martial rattle.
It told him. So simple. The undoing of all things was so wretchedly simple.’

The people in question, the characters and perspectives, are what this book leans on most heavily. The cast is fantastic, and the way Tchaikovsky paints the picture of the city by weaving these characters and their experiences together is an absolute work of art.
The structure does a great job of introducing you to a character before you read a chapter from their perspective - this gives you a foundation to work off based on the opinion and biases of the character interaction you met them through. It’s really quite delicately done and it was a pleasure to see who’s perspective we were going to get next, as well as what we would learn from them about current events or the world outside of Ilmar.

Some of my favourite characters were…
- Yasnic; a beggar priest of a dying religion. He is the last believer in a God that appears only to the faithful. The God in question is a withered little gnome of a deity that is constantly demanding alms of his only remaining priest.
- Ruslav; a street thug of moderate renown. His character undergoes multiple huge changes over the course of the story, and despite his straight forward set up, he became one of the most unique and nuanced characters of the book.
- Langrice; the owner of a inn called the Anchorage, which doubles as a gambling den, a safehouse and a neutral zone within the city. She knows many people and keeps many secrets.
- Lemya; a student at the college, young and eager for revolution. She puts herself at the centre of many of the large events of the story, desperate to make change and to be the spark that inspires the resistance to hit back against the Pals.
- Blackmane; a foreign sorcerer and black market pawnbroker of magical artefacts. The Pals really have it in for this guy.
- Carelia and Evene; the duo known as the Bitter Sisters. They lead one of the largest criminal organisations in Ilmar; the Vultures. Every scene they were in was full of menace and tension.
- Hoyst; the Palleseen hangman. A secondary character, one we only see a couple of times, but one of the best in my opinion. He sells to those that are deemed criminals a personalised noose, and shaves them to their preference before they swing.

“The hemp,” [he] growled. “The roughest hog-bristle hemp you have. But I will have the shave. Let my corpse show the rope burn.”

These are just a few of the dozens of top quality characters this book boasts. Seeing their perspectives overlap and intertwine was so much fun, and it made the city really feel whole and alive.

There are two superbly unique regions of the city that really help emphasise the story’s themes of colonisation and cultural decay, that being the Anchorwood and the Reproach.
The Anchorwood is a grove of trees at the heart of the Ilmar that pre-dates the city itself. This grove of trees is, at the right time, a magical door to a distant (and still relatively unknown) land that can only be reached with the help of protective magical artefacts and a native guide from the mysterious world on other side.
The Reproach is a part of the city that used to house the rich and the wealthy, but has since succumbed to a curse of some kind. Now anyone that enters it unprepared, stays there for too long or gets caught by those that occupy it permanently, will be taken in by this curse and will be unable, or sometimes unwilling to leave.
Treasure hunters and ruin divers often take high-risk, high-reward jobs to loot or steal from the abandoned houses in the Reproach’s outer most regions.
These two areas had me fascinated the entire time, and complemented the rest of the city and the story taking place within it so so well.

"He jolted into action, running after them, desperate to pick up their trail, feeling the claws of a century of decay and merriment snagging at his heels."

To those that know Adrian's work a little better - yes, there are bugs and insects scattered intermittently throughout the story. I would be worried if there wasn't at this point.

I know many of my friends here on Goodreads have Adrian Tchaikosky as a must-read author, and that makes me so happy.
If you have yet to try his works, City of Last Chances showcases his abilities incredibly well. From his prose and his wit to the sheer creativity of his worlds and characters, there is so much to marvel at here and I enjoyed it immensely.

“A terrible beauty, his heart whispered to him. And he knew he wanted to go there. To walk the dreadful roads. To stare from the eye-socket windows of those crumbling edifices. To ride the white horse and do battle with monsters.”

Thank you again to the publisher for sending me a lovely limited edition proof.
As previously mentioned, this book releases on the 8th December, and I will certainly be picking up a hardback for display on my shelves.

________

Thank you for reading my review!

[River · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25/5

City of Last Chances boasts an incredible cast of characters scattered across the intriguing city of Ilmar. We jump from character to character as the churnings of a revolution start sparking forth and the city grows restless. And whilst I can see this style of storytelling not being for everyone, it was completely my kind of book!
I loved its unique style and loved discovering each piece of this world slowly—in bits and pieces, in starts and stops—with every new character. I adored that we were able to experience so many different mindsets and ideals as we danced with each of them in turn.

It's an incredible and fascinating world that Tchaikovsky has created here; there's an occupational force that suffocates the city, relentless in their pursuit for 'perfection'; there are demons chained in wards, bound and contracted to work for the factories; there's a seething underworld of crime, talons dug deep into the lives of the citizens; and there stands an otherworldly wood on the outskirts of the city, full of ravenous creatures and other, far older things.
And the characters of this captivating city are full of just as much depth and intrigue, my favourite of them being Yasnic, the last priest of a long-forgotten god. Every single character added so much to the story.

I thought every ounce of commentary on class was done brilliantly, and everything else this book covered in its vast and sprawling narrative was done very well. I don't want to divulge too much here as it's best to go into it not knowing much about what is to come, but I did want to sing its praises for this reason, too.
The intelligent use of this story's specific, head-hopping writing style is part of the genius construction of the narrative. Through it, we are able to navigate such wildly different people and see all sides of each faction of this conflicted city.

I also adored the skilled use of an omniscient perspective that increased the mystical feeling of this world even more. It was extremely well-written, I was so caught up in the allure and unearthly spell of it all. I never wanted to stop reading it. I'm very glad there are sequels!
This is my first Tchaikovsky book so I'm delighted that I still have all the rest of his works to read. This book alone held so many interesting and unique ideas, and I can't wait to see what other worlds he's dreamed up!

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

3.5 Stars
Video Review: https://youtu.be/OqKPLv-OPAc

I have really enjoyed this author's science fiction so I have been interested in reading more of his fantasy work.

This novel demonstrates the author's technical writer abilities. The worldbuilding is clearly well thought out in its detail. The narrative perspectives fit well together. Yet, on an emotional level, I did not find myself particularly invested in this one.

As I discussed in other works, this author writes intricate depictions of individuals but does it in a way where I never feel close to the characters. I've given so much information about them but I don't feel an attachment which makes it easier for me to be engrossed in a story.

That being said, I would still cautiously recommend this one to readers looking for a fresh fantasy story. Despite the popularity of this author, this one flew under my radar.

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

[Zoe Artemis Spencer Reid · Rating 5 out of 5]

The influence of Steven Erikson was apparent here from the complex world building and vast list of dramatis personae, Tchaikovsky though used a very detached style of POV, which understandably can be off-putting for some readers. Nevertheless, I was in love in with a handful of the characters, and detected the potential of an epic series, if it was expanded the Malazan Book of the Fallen style.

[Jordan LaMagna-Meneghetti · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5

[Pranav Prabhu · Rating 4 out of 5]

City of Last Chances is a magnificent tale of life and revolution in the darkly magical City of Ilmar, told through fragmentary perspectives of its diverse residents and a seemingly omniscient view of concurrent, related events in the City. Tchaikovsky’s writing is clear and concise while painting an evocative atmosphere of grit, dread, and wonder — one of the book’s primary strengths.

Ilmar, recently come under oppressive Pel rule, is seething and bubbling with frustration and discontent, ripe for a righteous revolution that everyone says will come tomorrow but never does. The story is told through a large and varied cast: Yasnic, the priest of a nigh-extinct religion, conversing with his whiny God. Leyma, the naive student fired up by tales of passion and freedom. Ruslav, the burly soldier wandering through life. Blackmane, an Allorwen pawnbroker, and Ivarn, a professor and custodian of Maric history, among many others. These characters are from all walks of life, trying to eke out a living with the cards handed to them, and their involvement in events that take over the City makes up much of the novel. Initially, this was quite challenging to get into — every chapter seemed to be from a different perspective unrelated to anything that came before, so it was difficult to latch onto something, but as the story progressed and the various characters and situations began to connect and interact, it transformed into a wholly captivating tale.

A major reason for this has to be the worldbuilding that Tchaikovsky always excels at. The City of Ilmar, City of Last Chances, is a melting pot of cultures and unique settings — the Allorwen with their specialization in demonic contracts, the Divinati mages, the masked and mysterious Indwellers, and the various local factions of Ravens, Vultures, and Shrikes. The Anchorwood, a normal grove for most of the month, serves as a dangerous pathway to countless other worlds during the full moon, and the Reproach is a dilapidated neighbourhood under a curse of grotesque bliss and horrific memories. The scenes where certain characters attempt to traverse the Reproach are easily among my favourite parts of this book.

The plot is not structured traditionally, due to the fragmentary nature of the story, although events follow a linear chronology. It is more about what is happening in various parts of the City that build up and influence each other to add to this overarching mosaic chronicling the inevitable explosion into revolution. This is kicked off by the death of an important Pel official who tried to traverse the Anchorwood and the theft of a specially crafted charm during a gambling game involving an eclectic assortment of characters in a nearby tavern.

Tchaikovsky explores themes of oppression and revolution through characters at various levels of social hierarchy on multiple sides of the conflict. The impulsive passion and heart of youth in their idealized yet privileged shouts for freedom they have only a vague notion of, the cynical resignation of older figures who only talk of uprising but make do with unfair compromise, self-styled rebels who try to profit from the fighting. Caught up in all this are the people at the bottom of the pyramid who suffer either way, factory workers and demon slaves. There is even a perspective from a lowly demon from the Underworld, among my favourite chapters.

Up till the very end, I had no idea how this was all going to wrap up, but when I had completed the last chapter, I felt very satisfied. The unpredictable nature of the City and the vast array of characters meant that there were so many directions the story could have taken, but Tchaikovsky balanced endings for all fittingly, bringing disparate elements into relevance and throwing some unexpected surprises in for good measure.

This was a very compelling novel — well-paced with an intriguing world, interesting cast of characters, and an excellent thematically driven plot without compromising on action and excitement. However, there was still the initial challenge that I had to get used to, of getting sufficiently invested in all the characters while the plot direction initially remained opaque and fragmentary, so I won’t say I unanimously adored the book. However, it was an extremely compelling tale that would definitely rank higher on a reread, or looking back in time on what Tchaikovsky has crafted here.
8.5/10

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

City of Last Chances marks a definite departure from Tchaikovsky's other fantasy series, moving from the heroic/steampunk Apt series, and the heroic Echoes of the Fall into grimdark territory. Accordingly, City of Last Chances brings forth as main characters an eclectic mix of antiheroes and rogues across a wide range of economic and political strata that animate the occupied city at the heart of this grim tale.

The city of Ilmar came into existences due to a portal in the woods that links to other worlds; now known as the Anchorage. People and things come and go into the woods, which 'opens' during certain moon phases among other things. At first, a mere hut sat on the fringe of the portal; now an Inn takes it place, but still staffed by a keeper (here one Langrice) who maintains the lore of the place, and interacts with its guardians. Ilmar assumed the titular title as it has become a place where you can escape the world and hope for something better, although 'rumor' has it that the worlds on the other side of the portal may be even worse.

Tchaikovsky begins the novel with a series of chapters introducing the main characters, and there are many, in a 'hand off' fashion similar to Parker's The Two of Swords, Volume One, where the featured character meets another at the end and then shifts to his/her POV for the next. Lovely. The Tyrant Philosophers of Pel conquered Ilmar three years ago, deposing the ruling Duke and then set out to 'rationalize' Ilmar society. All magical items become reduced to their essence, which then is used like the charge in a battery to operate a variety of Pel devices; all standardized of course. Most religions are outlawed, new calendars and measurements become mandatory, along with a wide range of proscribed activity.

Most of the population 'resist' the occupation, but for widely different reasons. The old aristocracy want a 'free' Ilmar under their thumb, organized crime elements use 'resistance' as a slogan to extort money (protection, etc.) from local businesses, idealistic students at the university in town for naïve and abstract philosophical reasons; the list continues. What unites all of these factions concerns the greed and personal advancement of each (except for the students, who are treated as simply fools). The ruling Pelleseen also have their own agenda, or I should say, agendas, as each 'finger' of the Pelleseen 'hand' rival one another in their desire to move up the chain, ideally to return to Pel and become members of the ruling committee.

While Tchaikovsky populates the world with deeply cynical characters, the city itself is a masterpiece. Besides the aforementioned portal of The Anchorage, we have the 'hammer district', where laborers work akin to 19th century English proletariat with machines powered by demons. The Mirror Allor, populated largely by immigrants, operates brothels featuring demons and succubae. The slums have organized crime deep down in their roots and life is cheap.

Overall, City of Last Chances constitutes more of an introduction to the world rather than a plot driven saga; I can see why some readers may be turned off by this however. Yes, this is the introduction to a trilogy, but it feels rather incomplete as is. Nonetheless, I really liked it, and am looking forward to the rest of the trilogy. 4 last chances!

[Brooke (~!Books are my Favorite!!~)]

I could not get into this at all. And I tried. I kept searching for a thread in I couldn't find it. Nothing came together for me. And with a title and cover like that, I mean philosophers who are tyrants? please sign me up. I am at a loss as to why I couldn't find my way in. So I am leaving this unrated in my grief.

[Nils | nilsreviewsit · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story is set in the city of Ilmar which has been colonised by the Palleseen, a race who believe their way of life is the correct one. They have outlawed the old religions and placed new laws to bring every citizen under one rule, but behind the scenes a revolution is brewing. Then there is the Anchorwood, a place that holds portals to other worlds but also inhabits monsters to stop you getting out.

This book has a lot of characters, and I mean a lot. Each chapter is told from a different perspective and each citizen of Ilmar help to build upon a larger story which all cleverly comes together by the end. Whilst I absolutely loved the premise of this and the fact that Tchaikovsky uses a tapestry form of narrative, I unfortunately struggled with the characters. I found many of them unmemorable and the few which I did find fascinating didn’t appear often enough for me to really learn significantly more about them. I’m the kind of reader who generally does love a large cast of characters, but I need them to hold depth and have distinct enough voices for me to be able to recognise who they are.

Overall the worldbuilding in this book is exactly what I’d expect from Tchaikovsky, weird, filled with unique monsters and riddled with philosophical ideas. Those aspects I did thoroughly enjoy.

So whilst this isn’t my favourite by this author I’d still recommend giving it a try.

[ivanareadsalot]

Thank you very much Edelweiss for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Unfortunately, after reading 30% of this title, I won't be able to finish this. I did enjoy Blackmane and Mother Guame and the monsters, but this work feels out of reach for me, and a lot of the characters I just did not care about, except for the above mentioned. I am very intrigued by their particular talents and abilities, but this work takes some energy to navigate and I'm simply just not feeling it. There's a sense that hanging on for the payoff may turn out to be a futile endeavour. I may or may not pick this up again in the future. So, not entirely a city of last chances then :)

[Chloe Frizzle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book reads like a collection of interconnected short stories. Each chapter, we are jumping POV to a different denizen of the city with fingers in different pies. As the book continues, the stories become more interconnected and we get repeats of the same characters.

(Yes, I know that what I'm describing is just a multi-POV novel. However, it really does feel like each chapter is a short story, and I think that's the correct expectation to have. If you're expecting a novel, you're probably going to be disappointed. If you're expecting a collecting of highly interconnected short stories, you might just have a great time.)
I would expect fans of Malazan to have a blast with this book.

City of Last Chances is a portrait of a magical and political city. It's a melting pot of cultures, including freshly-arrived invaders. There are districts under different curses, and bars that have portals to other realms in the back. It's a story about impossible quests, cultural identity, duty, and faith.

This book made me laugh several times. It's delightfully witty.

In the beginning, I really struggled with this book. The disconnect between each chapter/short story made it impossible for me to engage with the plot. However, I then made a decision that changed it all around. I chose a character, and searched the ebook for chapters featuring that character. I read those chapters, following a somewhat cohesive plotline that circled that character. And then I chose another character, until I had crossed all of the chapters off the list. If you're not loving the book, I would recommend trying out this reading order.

Here's some of my suggested characters to follow. Just start with whomever you're most intrigued by.
HELLGRAM (Jem's Reasons for Leaving, The Hospitality of the Varatsins, Ruslav in the Teeth, Breaking Things, Hellgram's War, Unity and Division, Resurrections).
YASNIC (Yasnic's Relationship With God, Nihilostes Loses A Convert, Conservations About God, Price of Rope, Drinking Alone, The Apostate, Port to Nowhere, Another Round).
RUSLAV (Ruslav in Love Again, Ruslav's Master's Voice, Jem's Reasons for Leaving, Hospitality of the Varatsins, Ruslav in the Teeth, Nihilostes Loses A Convert, Chains, Price of Rope, Wings, The Bitter Sisters, The Dousing, Resurrections, Another Round).

A video review including this book will appear on my channel in the coming weeks, at https://youtube.com/chloefrizzle

Thanks to Netgalley and Head of Zeus for a copy of this book to review. All opinions are my own.

[The Captain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ahoy there mateys! I enjoyed this novel even if I have no idea what the point of it was.  The story takes place in a city called Ilmar otherwise known as The City of Last Chances.  It is a city in turmoil.  Foreign occupiers with the goal of "Perfection" are in control everywhere except the Anchorwood.  This wood has a door that opens up to other dimensions? I am not sure how or why it works.  There are resistance factions in Ilmar but none work together.

Frankly, in trying to explain this, it really seems impossible to.  The characters and city itself are bizarre and unlikeable.  The reader is kinda tossed in over their head and trying to stay afloat.  There doesn't seem to be a single character who isn't flawed or self-absorbed.  The magic is a minor aspect in all the politicking.  Yet I couldn't stop reading and wanted to know what happened next.  Turns out the ending does not really explain anything.  I was flummoxed but rather ended up being overall content with me reading journey.  Yasnic was me favourite character followed by Hellsgram.

I would read more set in this world.  Even if it confuses me, it is not boring.  Arrr!

[Bee · Rating 5 out of 5]

And he's done it again. Tchaikovsky is a wonderful story teller, and s superb and subtle world builder. He weaves a gentle humour thorugh a twisting tale of oppression, and resistance, and the lives that get trodden underfoot when Perfection needs to be spread evenly over all of the world.

The Pal are such a wonderfully twisted in their greed to make everything like them. And everyone pays the price.

The motley hoard of characters from every slice of live are all equally flawed and deeply motivated by their own dark past.

There were so many little gems in this book. So many excellent characters, so many wonderful throw away lines. It feels like he particularly enjoyed writing this one.

I am already well into the second instalment of this truly excellent series.