Monday, March 29, 2010

"City of Night" by Michelle West

City of Night is the second novel written by Michelle West in The House War series, which is shaping up to be a four book series. I say shaping up, as West's Sun Sword series was originally planned as a duology but ended up taking six publications to complete. Once again, I am reading an author for the first time, and very quickly became trapped by the world she has created around her Essalieyan Empire.

As described on the inner front jacket, West opened our eyes to this fantasy universe in 1995 with her duology Sacred Hunt. From what I can gather, The House War series is the story behind one of the main characters in The Sun Sword series, Jewel Markess.

In City of Night, Jewel (or Jay) to her friends is the head of a 'Den' of 10 youths in the Essalieyan's capital city Averalaan. This den, which struggles within the holdings of Averalaan-- and the hidden city below its streets--to eek out a survival is thrust into the house wars of the ruling powers of Essalieyan.

West does an artful job of building the path between the urchins of Jay's den to their eventual introduction into the upper echelons of Averalaan. As this is accomplished, the universe she has created is revealed in extremely rich detail. This is not only accomplished in the physical realm, but also in the exquisite detail she puts into developing her characters and the complex social structure of the societies they interact with.

As I began to read this novel, I did not have the benefit of being previously introduced to the various characters and beings of the Essalieyan realm. For me, the story began slowly as I tried to understand who the characters were and how they fit into the overall scheme of things. While doing this though, I came to appreciate the Tolkeinesque detail that was being poured into this book. I enjoyed learning about Averalaan, and exploring the niceties and defining behaviours of the various classes making up this city. By the end though, I was reading at a fevered pitch and could not wait to see where Jewel and the survivors of her Den would end up. After all, children are disppearing from the holdings of Averalaan, and Mages of the Order of Knowledge are all entangled in the battle with a nearly unstoppable foe.

West has captured my interest with her writing with the same sort of snare that J.R.R. Tolkein and Robert Jordan and will perhaps be one of the next Greats of fantasy fiction!
Eager to read? Penguin Canada is offering one lucky Canadian Northern Mama reader a copy of City of Night by Michelle West!
To Enter:
  • Be a Northern Mama Follower {Google} OR a Northern Mama Facebook Fan {Required}

Extra Entries:

  • Subscribe via email
  • Grab my Button
  • Follow on Twitter @Northernmama35 and tweet about this giveaway {1x daily}
  • Blog about this giveaway with a link back here {please leave the link to your post}

Giveaway open to Canadian residents only {sorry publisher's request}. Giveaway closes April 14th, 2010, midnight EST. Read Giveaway Rules for details.

TOM

41 comments:

  1. I follow you on Twitter (@missy_wpg) and I tweeted: http://twitter.com/Missy_wpg/status/11336694643

    ReplyDelete
  2. I follow on Google.
    jentam777 AT gmail DOT com

    ReplyDelete
  3. I subscribe via email.
    jentam777 AT gmail DOT com

    ReplyDelete
  4. I follow on Google friends,Would love to read this book!
    rally_thade17@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  5. I subscribe to your email
    rally_thade17@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  6. I am a fan on Facebook Tannie's Chatter

    tanandjosh@telus.net

    ReplyDelete
  7. I subscribe through e-mail

    tanandjosh@telus.net

    ReplyDelete
  8. I follow you - @tannieschatter

    I Tweeted:

    http://twitter.com/tannieschatter/status/11369780081

    tanandjosh@telus.net

    ReplyDelete
  9. tweet http://twitter.com/Missy_wpg/status/11385056961

    ReplyDelete
  10. Daily Tweet

    http://twitter.com/tannieschatter/status/11426984665

    tanandjosh@telus.net

    ReplyDelete
  11. tweet http://twitter.com/Missy_wpg/status/11442894332

    ReplyDelete
  12. Daily Tweet

    http://twitter.com/tannieschatter/status/11488244777

    tanandjosh@telus.net

    ReplyDelete
  13. tweet http://twitter.com/Missy_wpg/status/11498120406

    ReplyDelete
  14. tweet http://twitter.com/Missy_wpg/status/11545013659

    ReplyDelete
  15. tweet http://twitter.com/Missy_wpg/status/11603437233

    ReplyDelete
  16. Daily Tweet

    http://twitter.com/tannieschatter/status/11653277098

    tanandjosh@telus.net

    ReplyDelete
  17. tweet http://twitter.com/Missy_wpg/status/11653716645

    ReplyDelete
  18. Daily Tweet

    http://twitter.com/tannieschatter/status/11702144269

    tanandjosh@telus.net

    ReplyDelete
  19. tweet http://twitter.com/Missy_wpg/status/11702492819

    ReplyDelete
  20. Daily Tweet

    http://twitter.com/tannieschatter/status/11758741444

    tanandjosh@telus.net

    ReplyDelete
  21. tweet http://twitter.com/Missy_wpg/status/11765695342

    ReplyDelete
  22. Follower of your blog
    angelsspot(at)hotmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  23. Daily Tweet

    http://twitter.com/tannieschatter/status/11809559868

    tanandjosh@telus.net

    ReplyDelete
  24. tweet http://twitter.com/Missy_wpg/status/11832383598

    ReplyDelete
  25. Daily Tweet

    http://twitter.com/tannieschatter/status/11884991973

    tanandjosh@telus.net

    ReplyDelete
  26. tweet http://twitter.com/Missy_wpg/status/11894733440

    ReplyDelete
  27. tweet http://twitter.com/Missy_wpg/status/11949928915

    ReplyDelete
  28. tweet http://twitter.com/Missy_wpg/status/12004888950

    ReplyDelete
  29. tweet http://twitter.com/Missy_wpg/status/12058837942

    ReplyDelete
  30. Daily Tweet

    http://twitter.com/tannieschatter/status/12072954009

    tanandjosh@telus.net

    ReplyDelete
  31. Daily Tweet

    http://twitter.com/tannieschatter/status/12108757983

    tanandjosh@telus.net

    ReplyDelete
  32. tweet http://twitter.com/Missy_wpg/status/12109780939

    ReplyDelete
  33. Daily Tweet

    http://twitter.com/tannieschatter/status/12164964792

    tanandjosh@telus.net

    ReplyDelete
  34. tweet http://twitter.com/Missy_wpg/status/12165900588

    ReplyDelete