A deeply creative world-building novel that builds a city protected by magic in a world that’s clearly set against it.

It’s a novel in a style that doesn’t explain its premises but lets the reader infer what’s happening from the details of the small-scale presentation. In this it’s not always entirely successful, and even by the end there are a lot of loose ends – which I suppose set the stage for the sequel.

3/5. Finished Monday 13 January, 2025.

(Originally published on Goodreads.)