City of Stairs

This is the type of fantasy that is a little intense from the start, it excelerates into complex and confusing world building that had me re-reading paragraphs to understand if it's talking about a person or a place. The type of book that made me want an index at the beginning with a map. Although it begins with a disorienting narrative, once you get past the confusing but essential world building elements the story starts to really unfold and it is gripping!

This is a book that is lightly following the murder of a man in a land where gods were alive. Real gods that had complete control over reality. Performing miracles and warping truth with their powers. The gods however in this book have been killed and all religous devotion and affiliation has been banned. Our main character has been sent to investigate the murder of a state official who was researching and documenting the forbidden history of these gods. He died under mysterious conditions and under a rising coup of religious devotion. I can't really give more detail than that because this is a mystery and I don't even remember what is spoiler tbh.

One of the main reasons that I love fantasy and sci fi so much is that it cannot help but be a reflection of the world that we live in. Good sci fi takes our world and turns it into an almost familiar world which we feel is so distant but in reality is much closer to what we experience day to day. City of Stairs does an amazing exploration of how the god, religion, and its followers are dangerously intertwined. While some of the gods that have been killed are clearly represented as controling, demanding, cruel gods there are also examples of more peaceful and benevolent dieties. The book explores a thesis on what does it mean to follow a god and what happens when you know for certain your god no longer lives. What does it mean to have faith in something that you know is no longer listening? What happens to love and devotion when it dissapears?

There is LGBTQ representation which is cleverly juxtaposed with gods that are sexually represive. The people that are attempting to follow the ways of the former gods try to imitate what was once a norm. This is such clear direct connection to modern day Christianity and the LGBTQ population. Much of the modern rhetoric that christians follow is based on the story of a story that they heard from someone. The religion that's in this world follows the same pattern. A group of bigots that feel justified because interpration and history have erased any sense of truth for their morality.

Kudos to the author for not having a romantic story line for the female lead. Personal opinion that sometimes makes the story focus on a man for too long. I was spared the description of his 'muscles' 'dark eyes' 'quiet strenght' and got some bad ass action scenes that kept me completely engaged with the storyline.I enjoyed the magical elements. They felt highly illogical and infinite possibilities but complex for no reason. Things could happen in a moments notice but there was balance among the chaos somehow. I could see this style of magic getting old ... But for the story it really worked.

The ending was kinda lackluster. It acts like its revealing a lot but the clues have been so clearly laid out that its just a yawn. Expect telenovela drama that you saw coming 5 chapters before but I wasn't mad because the journey to the end was a delight.

Overall, I would recommend this book to someone who loves a female lead in a fantasy series. Someone who isn't afraid to get a little complex and is interested in a discussion on theology and the human condidition.