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City of Sorcerers
When the neighboring city-state raises an army for an unprovoked attack on Wintertown, three women originally from different eras step up to defend their adopted homeland.
Izabel, a 22nd-century gamer, leads the defence, with the aid of her newly-recovered digital assistant. But this war is not a game and the AI has an agenda of its own.
Lady Timi, a merchant from medieval Europe, heads into the enemy capital to gather intelligence and find out what and who is really behind the attack.
And Rachel, a Cabbalist from the 2nd century, seeks aid from the most dangerous and unreliable of allies in the distant and semi-mythical City of Sorcerers.
Each of them will face challenges they never imagined and threats they never expected as the Spawn of Cthulhu emerge once more to threaten not just Wintertown by the world.
Izabel, a 22nd-century gamer, leads the defence, with the aid of her newly-recovered digital assistant. But this war is not a game and the AI has an agenda of its own.
Lady Timi, a merchant from medieval Europe, heads into the enemy capital to gather intelligence and find out what and who is really behind the attack.
And Rachel, a Cabbalist from the 2nd century, seeks aid from the most dangerous and unreliable of allies in the distant and semi-mythical City of Sorcerers.
Each of them will face challenges they never imagined and threats they never expected as the Spawn of Cthulhu emerge once more to threaten not just Wintertown by the world.
567 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 28, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 17, 2022
CITY OF SORCERERS is the second book in the AGE OF MONSTERS series by David Hambling. I'm a huge fan of his Harry Stubbs Cthulhu Mythos occult detective series but was surprised that he decided to go for Bronze Age sword and sorcery here. Jessica, a girl from the 1920s, ended up in the ancient days with several other time lost young women as they are forced to deal with creatures of Cthulhu that want to keep them as breeding stock. Thankfully, they manage to deal a devastating blow to the Spawn and founded a city free of slavery.
Unfortunately, the city of Wintertown has found itself under a much more mundane threat than Cthulhu's ilk. The nearby town of Stone is raising an army to invade them and they have neither an army to repulse them or the coin to hire one. It is a distressingly mundane problem that no amount of uptime knowledge will solve since engineering rifles or gunpowder isn't exactly an option.
The book doesn't have nearly as much Jessica as the first volume but, instead, focuses on developing most of the other female cast members. I happened to enjoy this as it gave a lot more perspective on the downtime characters as well as their reactions to the strange world they're having to build a life in since there's no real way to ever get back home.
There's some really good action, character development, and world-building for this work. Cthulhu is reall the only character here and Lovecraft purists may find him acting more like Sauron than a truly indifferent alien being but that's hardly new in spin-offs. I also appreciated how David Hambling incorporated time travel into his story too as you can see how it is used by the bad guys without making the whole story dissolve into nonsense paradoxes.
Really, one of my favorite elements is the attempts by the heroines to figure out ways to negotiate their way out of the problem only to slam into complicated systems of taboos as well as cultural ideas deeply embedded into the locals brains. It's not a case of "uptimer good, downtimer stupid primitive." I also liked the Lord Commander as the primary villain as he is genuinely terrifying, which is a rare thing about a fantasy baddie.
I really think if you liked the first book, you'll like the sequel and I'm anxious to read the next installment.
Unfortunately, the city of Wintertown has found itself under a much more mundane threat than Cthulhu's ilk. The nearby town of Stone is raising an army to invade them and they have neither an army to repulse them or the coin to hire one. It is a distressingly mundane problem that no amount of uptime knowledge will solve since engineering rifles or gunpowder isn't exactly an option.
The book doesn't have nearly as much Jessica as the first volume but, instead, focuses on developing most of the other female cast members. I happened to enjoy this as it gave a lot more perspective on the downtime characters as well as their reactions to the strange world they're having to build a life in since there's no real way to ever get back home.
There's some really good action, character development, and world-building for this work. Cthulhu is reall the only character here and Lovecraft purists may find him acting more like Sauron than a truly indifferent alien being but that's hardly new in spin-offs. I also appreciated how David Hambling incorporated time travel into his story too as you can see how it is used by the bad guys without making the whole story dissolve into nonsense paradoxes.
Really, one of my favorite elements is the attempts by the heroines to figure out ways to negotiate their way out of the problem only to slam into complicated systems of taboos as well as cultural ideas deeply embedded into the locals brains. It's not a case of "uptimer good, downtimer stupid primitive." I also liked the Lord Commander as the primary villain as he is genuinely terrifying, which is a rare thing about a fantasy baddie.
I really think if you liked the first book, you'll like the sequel and I'm anxious to read the next installment.
May 9, 2022
This took a lot of writing and went through more drafts than any other piece of fiction I have ever written. The result is highly-crafted but still lively, and works on multiple levels making it altogether a satisfying read.
January 25, 2024
Superb dark fantasy with early 20th Century vibes
Very much in the H Rider Haggard, A E Merritt late 19th and early 20th century fantasy style but with more modern sensibilities and strong Lovecraftian horrors. Highly recommend this series
Very much in the H Rider Haggard, A E Merritt late 19th and early 20th century fantasy style but with more modern sensibilities and strong Lovecraftian horrors. Highly recommend this series
July 6, 2022
A fantastic follow up to War of the God Queen. The bulk of this book deals with the fallout and rebuilding of communities after the first book.
The first half is a bit slower but sets up the second half very well, focusing on world building.
The second half shows an antagonist really making himself known and is absolutely impossible to put down for the remainder of the book.
I really love the world that Hambling built. It feels like a good blend of Lovecraft and Conan but with strong female protagonists and great character development not usually seen in this genre. I absolutely cannot wait until book 3!
The first half is a bit slower but sets up the second half very well, focusing on world building.
The second half shows an antagonist really making himself known and is absolutely impossible to put down for the remainder of the book.
I really love the world that Hambling built. It feels like a good blend of Lovecraft and Conan but with strong female protagonists and great character development not usually seen in this genre. I absolutely cannot wait until book 3!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews