I love Martha Wells, and you see the beginning of her masterful character work here. Also, her world-building in this one is very entertaining. Yet, this is missing the Wells' voice that shines so much in her more recent works.

Thank you to Tor Publishing for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Worldbuilding was top notch, loved the supporting characters...felt like the main character was a bit dry ( Khat). This was classic fantasy but with a twist that I felt was really well done. Might not spend a lot of time thinking about it later, but will def read more of Wells' fantasy.

It seems unfair to say that City of Bones just didn't live up to the Murderbot Diaries because honestly what could? I will admit that it was a lot better than Witch King which was a relief.

The worldbuilding and character development here is incredible. You really need to pay attention in the beginning when it feels a bit slow because it pays off if you stick with it. And it certainly doesn't stay slow for long.

City of Bones proves that Wells has known what she is doing for far longer than Murderbot has existed. Her writing is intricate and purposeful and worth a read.

I'm very grateful to have received a copy of The City of Bones by Martha Wells upon its re-release via NetGalley, in exchange for this honest review.

The City of Bones was nothing like I expected - nothing like an ordinary fantasy book, with no real tropes and a lot of very interesting worldbuilding. Having read Martha Wells' Murderbot books, and then also Witch King (her newer fantasy book, also with very extensive worldbuilding), I thought maybe this would be somehow less inventive because it was from over 20 years ago, but I was very wrong.

The City of Bones follows the relic dealer Khat and his friend and colleague Sagai, on their adventures. It feels like Indiana Jones for a little bit before you realise that there's a lot of sci-fi/fantasy worldbuilding that leads to racism and complicated caste systems in this world, and it's all in service of a very big plot that feels like it could have spanned multiple books. There's an interesting female character from the higher echelons of society, and several mysterious characters whose intentions you never quite know. Magic is a bit unclear but the mystical nature of everything keeps you reasonably intrigued.

My only issue with this book was that I spent a lot of it pretty confused on account of the worldbuilding, and I made the mistake of reading it at a time in my life when I didn't have much time or patience for reading. I think if I had the chance to start it again, I would have become significantly more immersed.

Martha Wells deserves many points for the complexity and intriguing nature of her worldbuilding in this book and others, and I'd definitely recommend this one!

I loved Wells' Murderbot series and was interested to read her take on a fantasy story. Her writing is dense, but great. It's not the easiest to get into but once it kicks in, she's so creative. I will recommend this to only the most hardcore fantasy readers.

In the city of Charisat, along the desert known as The Waste, there is a massive temple built by the Ancients. A human named Sagai and Khat, of a humanoid race created by the Ancients to survive in the Waste, work together as relics dealers. They are hired to find some special relics believed to be part of the Ancient's technology which might be used to advance the current society (the Ancients were clearly much more technologically advanced that current society).

But their discoveries open a metaphorical Pandora's Box. There are those who wish to unleash the technology without study or training, which could destroy the entire civilization and Sagai and Khat may be the only ones able to keep the relics safe from the fanatics.

I hope I'm not alone in this, but there are authors whose name I recognize and who I know I've read, but I can never remember what I generally think of their work. Martha Wells is one of those authors for me. And as I look back at past reviews I can see why I can't remember what I think of Wells' work ... it is generally unremarkable or very average to me. Her work reaches and speaks to a lot of people, but I'm not one of them.

There's a lot of world-building and character building in the early (and mid) stages of this book. A lot. This book is very slow to get moving. It's not a particularly active story in the first place (the description sounds much more active than it is) but it's very slow moving. We get to know Khat, Sagai, the Ancients, the current world and the caste system in place. Cool. And we see how our characters navigate this world. Um, okay. And then we learn that there might be something going to happen. Yawn. And then things happen.

What this does, for me, is have me question, where does one draw the line between world-building and storytelling? Some authors are able to integrate the two quite seamlessly, sometimes the separation makes for a clever weaving of the two. But I mostly found this to be a bit of a bit of a challenge that didn't have a high enough pay-off to make the challenge worth my time.

I see that this is an older book (1995?) that has been rereleased with Wells' 'preferred' text but I still find Wells' writing to be very middle of the road for me, and hopefully I can do better about remembering that.

Looking for a good book? City of Bones is an older novel by Martha Wells but with the author's preferred text. It's slow going with not much happening until 2/3 of the way through, but if you like books of character and world-building, this may be just right for you.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book!

Unfortunately, this is a DNF for me. I tried multiple times to get into this book and it never grabbed me. I love the Witch King by Martha Wells, so I'm surprised I couldn't get into this.

Thank you NetGalley for giving me an arc in exchange of my honest review.

I love Martha Well y’all she really has a way for great storytelling and lovable characters.
I honestly loved Khat, Elen and Senai they were very different but I loved how they complimented each other in a way. I think the concept of the city with different tiers it was really well done and I really wish there were most stories in this world. I also wish we had gotten to learn more about the builder. He was such a minor but important character at the same time and I’m just interested in him. I love how in a way this read like a classical fantasy story with a quest and small subplots.
I was shipping certain characters so hard lol that it was sad at the end I didn’t get what I wanted but it’s okay because that would have been just a bonus. The story itself was really good and didn’t need romance.

Book Name: City of Bones
Author: Martha Wells

ARC
Thank you to NetGalley and **Tor Publishing Group | Tordotcom** for an ARC of Martha Wells’ City of Bones

Stars: 1 (DNF)

Thoughts
- Characters weren't Engaging
- Glacier Pacing
- Why do we Care???

Apologies for the late review I did attempt this book multiple times but…..

Overall I think Martha Wells just isn't my flavor of fantasy, the world-building and slow build-up of character and plot loses me every single time I try. I did attempt this book multiple times and just couldn't get past 10% each time. It made picking up my Kindle feel more like a chore than enjoyable. This feels like a me problem though as Wells is praised as an amazing sci-fi fantasy author. Thank you to Tor for letting me attempt her work but this one isn't it for me.

Due to the Negative Nature of this review, I will not be posting it to Goodreads or retail sites with respect to the publisher and author.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the e-ARC! I am very grateful and happy to explore everything this author will write in the future as well!

I discovered Martha Wells through her Raksura series - years before Murderbot - and did my best to go through her backlist at the time, but City of Bones, for whatever reason, was a book I initially bounced off of. Cue the expanded and updated edition, and I decided it was time to give it another go.

And I'm SO glad that I did! Everything Wells rocks at is here in spaces; superficially simple but excellent worldbuilding, incredibly compelling characters, and twisty, thoughtful plots that conclude in ways I never see coming. City of Bones is a book you can sink into like a warm bath, but it's also exciting; not non-stop action, but high-tension and mystery and full of secrets, double-bluffs, and flip-the-table reveals. And I simply ADORED the ending - the final pages went against everything a lifetime as a bookworm had led me to expect, and that simply delights me!

So, SO strongly recommended!

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC, in exchange for an honest review!

I have to start this off my stating that this is very much an “it’s not you, it’s me” type of review. I am a big fantasy fan, and am used to the slow world building and complex descriptions. With that being said, I just could not get around that part of this book. I think that I am just not in the mood for the genre at the moment, and that I will enjoy it a lot more when I am in the mood for this type of read. This time around I found it to be a bit slow, boring, and not really memorable. This largely has to do with my reading mood, and isn’t an accurate description of the book itself. I will certainly come back around and try it again in the future, and give it a fair shot. For now, I will stick to Wells’ science fiction novels!

I love the Murderbot series and was excited to try the updated and revised edition of City of Bones by Martha Wells. I loved Khat, Sagai, and Elen and their adventures in the city of Charisat, a tiered monolith of the Ancients’ design, that sits on the edge of the vast desert known as the Waste. From the world-building to the characters, I was enthralled.

This was one of Martha Wells’ earliest books and it has been updated and revised in the author’s preferred text. I did not read the earlier edition, but absolutely loved the characters and world that lie within these pages.

Our story follows Khat, he’s a black market relics dealer and historian. Khat is a Krisman humanoid and his people dwell in the desert. He lives in the city with friends and is working off a debt and hoping to be free. Khat works with his human partner, Sagai and deals mostly with the Warder. When an opportunity to score big occurs, Khat accepts the risky deal and the story that unfolds held me spellbound.

Wells did a stellar job of building the world and fleshing out the characters. It’s a brilliant fantasy with magic, artifacts, and an underlying race to collect artifacts for a purpose that is slowly revealed. It gave the story a quest vibe. The story slowly built until I could not set it down.

The ending was brilliant but left me wanting more stories of these characters and the Waste. I was saddened to see this is a standalone, as I would gladly revisit these characters and world. Fans of unique landscapes, magical worlds, quests and engaging characters need to add this one to your reading list.

This is a good, solid fantasy novel. However, I do think I prefer Martha Wells's science fiction novels. While this book did have some cool worldbuilding, it was full of tropes without bringing anything new to the table.

“Charisat – where a beautiful woman and a handsome thief will try to unravel the mysteries of an age-old technology to stop a fanatical cult before they unleash an evil that will topple the City of Bones.”

Having LOVED her MurderBot series, and got bogged down by the world building in The Witch King, I wondered where this book would fall on my Marth Wells spectrum.

Smack in the middle, it turns out. Now, the world building is still fantastic in this one, but I didn’t need a whole chart to keep track.

While the characters, and the plot were both dynamic, it was the setting, to me, that really shown. I love when an inanimate object (in this case, a whole city) become its own character. Charisat is, at the same time, lush and stark. Glorious and grotty. My brain could SMELL and TASTE all it had to offer. Sometimes that was good. Sometimes, not so much.

I know that she has a new MurderBot story out recently, but I’ll also be on the lookout for another epic fantasy from this author.

Thanks to NetGalley and Tor Publishing for this wonderous ARC.

I love Martha Wells writing style and pick up any of her books after reading the Murderbot books. Picking this one up was another great option and I can’t wait to get the next book by Wells to dive into it.

Martha Wells never dissapoints, be it in Fantasy or Sci-Fi, the world building is rich, original and captivating. It can be quite intense for those who've never read that style before but the if they're in for the ride, this is an automatic suggestion

I heard this described as Dune meets Lara Croft and I was like, say less.

This is only my second Martha Wells book. I've read All Systems Red, the first in her popular Murderbot series, with plans to continue. I also have a very fancy Illumicrate edition of Witch King sat on my shelf, waiting for me to get to it. So although I haven't read lot of her books yet, I do feel like I have a sense of her style now.

First thing I'll say, this is not one for the romantasy girlies - this is straight-up high fantasy so I'll save you some time if that's what you're looking for.

But how about those comparisons: Dune and Lara Croft.

Well, yes, we have a city surrounded by a sandy, desolate wasteland as the setting. Really harsh conditions and bad things living under the surface. So Dune for the setting = check!

The storyline involved relic hunters searching for ancient artefacts, so yes I can see the Lara Croft comparison.

I also want to throw one more in - Mistborn. I couldn't help but draw a parallel between the Krisman and the Skaa. Both are a race within the population treated as less than. It's even suggested Krisman have no souls simply because they cannot have their surface thoughts read by the Warders - robe-wearing magic users that live on the higher, more affluent levels of the tiered city of Charisat.

It's these warders who want to hire our Krisman main character, Khat, to help them survive out in the Waste while they try to unlock the secrets of the Ancients and potentially access more power. The Krisman are much better suited to the conditions of the Waste. They can last longer without water, survive the heat better, etc. So a Krisman that also knows a thing or two about relics? The perfect guide - whether he wants to be one or not.


What I loved:

I really enjoyed my time with this although I have to say, similar to when I read All Systems Red, it just takes me a minute with Well's writing style for me to fully tune into it and for it to flow. I really tried to put my finger on why this was because Well's writing isn't purple prosey in any way - something I'm not a fan of - but it is very intelligent and each sentence is pretty loaded. Once I got my groove, however, I flew through this.

I really felt for Khat. His life...really sucks. As a Kris he can't become a citizen of Charisat and as a non-citizen, he's not allowed to trade in coin, only tokens. Every day is a grind with next to nothing to show for it. He's also constantly being beaten up and as the lowest rung on the societal ladder, he's often used, abused and mistreated by pretty much everybody. Yet he still manages to maintain a dry humour and, although he does his absolute best to avoid any attachments, a sense of loyalty to those he deems worthy of it.

Other characters of note are his relic-hunting partner Sagai who has his back no matter what, and Elen, a young Warder determined to uncover the secrets of the Waste, even if they're not what anyone thought they were.

Overall this was a great read. Unusual, slightly weird in places (had me Googling kangaroo reproductive systems at one point - thanks for that🫠), but fascinating and with great plot, good pacing and realistic character development.

4 ★★★★
Advanced Reader Copy provided in exchange for my honest review.

I love Martha Wells and it's been cool seeing her other series! I liked the start of this one, although it was a bit long to get through. Def want to keep going through her backlog of books!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

An exciting adventure in a world with magic, treasure hunting, and a socioeconomic hierarchy that leaves much to be desired, City of Bones is a book that I had a hard time putting down.

This book took a bit to get into, setting up a new world tends to do that, but by the end I had such a vested interest in the main characters that I just had to finish it.

I absolutely love this world and I would be thrilled to read more of it. It reminds me a lot of The Daevabad Trilogy by S. A. Chakraborty and The Broken Earth trilogy by N. K. Jemisin, which I also absolutely loved. So, if you like either of those authors or not your typical fantasy books, you will love this!