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A review by adamsw216
City of Songs by Anthony Ryan
4.0
Continuing their quest to unite The Seven Swords, Guyime, Seeker, Lexius and their companions travel to Atheria, the City of Songs. There, the nobility wear ornate masks that cover their faces and the group quickly discover that the individual they came seeking an audience with is dead. In order to continue on their quest, they must solve the mystery of his murder.
This book takes on a slightly different tone from the previous books. Author Anthony Ryan slips into the world of murder/mystery fairly well. The set up is well-done, and the integration of magical elements wasn't overtly used to obfuscate the solution. There also a clever way used to give us a glimpse into Guyime's past without the need of a flashback. My only complaint is that the final reveal was slightly confusing and not everything was explicitly laid out at once. We were given scenes that seemed to deliberately side-step the usual "ah-ha" moment, and then the details were filled in later in more casual circumstances. This might have avoided some clichés, but it was perhaps not as satisfying as it could have been.
In any case, I am still glad that Ryan is trying new things with the series and I am looking forward to continuing on this quest.
This book takes on a slightly different tone from the previous books. Author Anthony Ryan slips into the world of murder/mystery fairly well. The set up is well-done, and the integration of magical elements wasn't overtly used to obfuscate the solution. There also a clever way used to give us a glimpse into Guyime's past without the need of a flashback. My only complaint is that the final reveal was slightly confusing and not everything was explicitly laid out at once. We were given scenes that seemed to deliberately side-step the usual "ah-ha" moment, and then the details were filled in later in more casual circumstances. This might have avoided some clichés, but it was perhaps not as satisfying as it could have been.
In any case, I am still glad that Ryan is trying new things with the series and I am looking forward to continuing on this quest.