Welcome to Charisat, a bustling town on the edge of the great Waste, all that remains of most of the world following apocalyptic events in the distant past. Artefacts from before the event are highly sought after, and form a busy trade – legal and less so – in the city. Treading a fine line between the two legal positions is Khat, one of the krismen desert dwellers, and an outsider with no status. He’s left unsure as to which camp his expertise is required, when the chief Warder – a power in the city – requests his help with the Ancient Remnant structure, a mysterious place in the Waste.

Pursued by a rival faction, attacked by pirates, and soon on the hunt for two specific relics, Khat is soon thrown in with no one he can trust, and no idea how far this quest is going to go…

I must confess, I didn’t get on too well with Martha Wells’ more recent fantasy, Witch King, and so I was a little trepidatious about this older work. I have no idea how much has been revised and updated for this new edition, but I’m pleased to report that I really needn’t have worried – this was great!

The world building is the first thing to impress me. There’s a sense of depth that we don’t necessarily see, but which adds layers that you feel could be explored. Not everything was clear: I didn’t quite understand the whole ‘pouches’ thing (don’t ask, you’ll know if you read it!) for instance. In fact, it’s a good thing that we don’t go too deep into unnecessary explanations, e.g. of how the magic works, or what the apocalypse was. It’s all just background and richness.

The characters are likeable enough. Khat is our main pov, and his position as an outsider makes him cautious but also on the ‘nicer’ side of the city’s factions, for the reader. The patrician classes don’t come across all that well! We do spend a lot of time with Elen, one of the Warders who has come from wealth and doesn’t really understand ‘real’ life, in many ways. I particularly warmed to Khat’s business partner, Sagai, a frustrated scholar with a warmth and goodness about him.

Pace-wise, and this is a bit of a slow burn story. I advise to settle in and enjoy the journey, losing yourself in the heat of the desert city that comes to life with the descriptions, and by the time events pick up pace you’ll be invested – and also wondering where everything is going to go, I suspect. It’s a cleverly subtle and fresh story that doesn’t fall into tropes, keeping me glued to the page right to the end. Recommended.

With a powerful combination of post-apocalyptic fantasy, treasure hunting academics (paging Indiana Jones!), and a mysterious relic that threatens to unleash catastrophe, City of Bones has all the right ingredients to create one hell of a story. Throw in a collection of standout characters with complicated motivations that seem to be threatening to leave our heroes at cross-purposes and a lingering sense of unease and tension, and you've got another standout novel from Martha Wells. I will say that I was a little disappointed with some character growth, (Elen being the prime suspect), and some other little bits and pieces in the novel that I felt just didn't fit.

Overall, Wells doesn't disappoint with this reworked version of her original story, and fans of her most recent fantasy novel Witch King may want to pick up a copy of this fantasy if they are hungry for more work in that vein.

Thank you to NetGalley, Tor, and Ms. Wells for the opportunity to read an ARC of this title. An honest review was requested but not required.

I understand that this book was first published in 1995, some eighteen years ago, and I did not read the original version so I cannot say what is new in this one. There is no author's note sharing what was updated or changed, sadly. However, I really really enjoyed this. Why Martha Wells' name is not in every top-10 list of fantasy, I will never understand. Her skill at evoking a fully-built, tangible imaginary world is breathtaking. In City of Bones I could feel the dusty heat, hear the jangle of coins and rumble of cart wheels. Wells is a magical storyteller and this was a perfect all-in-one story. I suppose Khat, the main character, could have further adventures but his story has a perfect arc here.

Charisat is one of the few remaining cities in a post-apocalyptic desert world following a cataclysmic event. The history of said event is parceled out slowly over the course of the story and becomes more and more ominous as events unfold. Khat, the main character, is a member of a bioengineered humanoid race who has left his enclave in the desert Waste and is making a living as a relic dealer in Charisat (where his non-human race perforce makes him the absolute lowest caste). His business partner is Sagai, a foreigner from one of the other remaining cities. Khat becomes ensnarled in a business deal with a warder (sort of a magician, and nearly the top caste) to find specific relics dating from ancient pre-apocalypse times.

This is absolutely great fantasy in action and I enjoyed every minute. The beginning was, to be honest, a bit of a slow burn, but that's only because the author is setting up the story for a rapid upturn in plot momentum and does not intend to waste a moment explaining or retreading old ground. You, the reader, have been given more than enough time and information at the beginning to be able to keep up when things start moving swiftly. I wouldn't say that City of Bones will displace my #1 spot but it's easily found its way into the top 10. I suppose it's time to glom Wells' backlist now since clearly I'm a full on sucker for her writing style.

5 stars.

City of Bones is a twisting fast paced read that teeters on the boarder of fantasy and dystopian. Wells has an amazing flair with world building. From the depth of the Waste and Charistat to each little detail, the world is thought out and well developed. While there is a lot of information, Wells is kind to the readers by info dumping all this knowledge. The story is strong as well. There is plenty of mystery and twists as well as a romance. The characters are also diverse, unique and interesting. The interactions and bonds developed with characters and through the story are natural and engaging. The characters are even relatable. I'm a sucker for a strong female character, and City of Bones gave me that and more. I was fully engaged through the entire book and enraptured with Wells' writing. I have not read the previous releases of this title, so everything was new to me. This is definitely a book we will add to our collection and one that I will have on my own personal shelves.

Ok, it’s not as brilliant as the Murderbot books but it is a solidly enjoyable read. I’d say fun, but it’s a post apocalyptic world, not ours and things are pretty bleak. I slightly prefer fantasy to sci-fi if I were pressed to choose between them so I had a good time reading this ARC of the updated version. I didn’t read the original so I can’t offer any comparison of changes made. If you like your fantasy on the grimmer side of things then this one is a good choice for you.

I really enjoyed the the world created in this book. I felt that the start was very slow for me personally, and I struggled to get into it at the beginning. I’m a sucker for a book that contains hunting for magical artifacts, but I didn’t feel completely connected to the characters so for that reason I would rate it three stars. It’s hard to be emotionally invested in their win when you aren’t emotionally connected to them.

Thank you NetGalley and Tor for this ARC!

Thank you to Tordotcom and Netgalley for my e-arc in exchange for my honest review!

What can I say? Martha Wells has done it again. I wouldn't consider this an "entry level" fantasy. You have to be ready to really immerse yourself and focus. There is adventure, political intrigue and glorious world building. It is a different pacing from the Murderbot series and even Witch King (my personal all time favorite).

I can't speak on the changes made with the revisions because I had not read the previous version.

*I'll have to update later when I have digested the story a bit more*

This version is the only version I've read, so I'm not able to compare it to the original version. However, I throughly enjoyed this story. I got some "Hunger Games" vibes with how the city is set into 8 different tiers and the higher you go up in the tiers the richer you are. The biggest thing that I didn't enjoy was how long the chapters were, I like to feel like I'm speeding through a book and long chapters just aren't for me. There was also a lot of descriptions of places, which yes some were very necessary, but a lot wasn't. The characters though were amazing! I was able to connect and care about all of them and their struggles and missions. I find that very important in every story. If you cannot connect to the characters what's the point in continuing? If you like sci-fi and dystopian you're really going to enjoy this one.

Martha Wells is a master of story telling. As a massive fan of the beloved Murderbot Diaries series, I was curious to delve into this author’s handywork in a more traditional fantasy setting.

City of Bones introduces a variety of intriguing characters, led primarily by Khat. I appreciated the inner workings of the characters’ relationships and how they contrasted the harsh reality of the world they live in. Wells has a knack for showing personality without overindulging in lengthy dialogue - this is written with concise purpose that helps carry the story.

Overall, I felt the pacing of this novel was a little slower than I’d like - often promising moments would then abandon the reader and left me wanting more and sooner. I think the plot concept is superb, and it’s without a doubt that Wells is an expert and character development.

This read has opened my curiosity to reading some of Wells’ newer fantasy works, and I really commend the ambition and execution of City of Bones.

Charisat is the City of Bones … built on the decaying bones of an Ancient civilization that fell when the Wastes rose up to consume the world … or perhaps it takes it name from the practice of burning human[oid] bones to some necromantic effect. Regardless, it is the most powerful Trade City in the authoritarian dystopian landscape that remains with a stratified power structure, giving raise to very believable biases and prejudice based on which “tier” of the city they have access to … patricians and elites with their warders at the top and destitute at the bottom 8th tier. The system is stacked against outsiders (non-citizens).

The main character is doubly an outsider, being denied any change of citizenship because of his heritage as a “krisman” or desert person; a genetically altered human designed to withstand the dangers and hazards of the Waste where most of the flora and fauna want to kill you. The obvious mystery here is what happened to destroy the world of the Ancients? The answer here becomes a central part of the overall plot … and doesn’t get much play until the action picks up in the second half of the story. Still, the fantastic and somewhat unique take on world-building and character introduction of Khat and his supporting cast in the first 25% kept me fully engaged … with the next quarter starting to drag somewhat.

The story opens with Khat, desperate to get out from under his debt to the merchant crime lord, agrees to take a group of elites out into the Wastes on a Relic hunt … which quickly the rails to bring the Khat into the dangerous realm of elite power games, where his somewhat hidden talents help figure out the various puzzles and mysteries (a la Indiana Jones). Along the way, we get a little more backstory, but not enough to completely dispel the shadows (and this helps give the world a feel of incredible depth). And the interplay between all of the characters allows for some interesting social elements without being overly preaching (letting the PoV speak for itself). Finally … the plot is fairly predictable, so the small twists you get along the way keep it interesting and entertaining.

I was given this free advance reader copy (ARC) ebook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

#CityOfBones #NetGalley

Genre: fantasy
Original pub date: 6/1/1995
Rerelease pub date: 9/5/2023

Khat is a krisman, a humanoid species designed to withstand the brutal conditions of the Waste, the barren land threatening to creep closer to the city. Kris were genetically modified by the Ancients in case the Waste ended the rest of civilization as they knew it, and the kris are born with immunities to desert poisons, the ability to sense true north, and pouches to carry babies. But kris are now considered subhuman in the City of Charisat. Khat and his human business partner Sagai are relic dealers, collecting and selling on the black market. They find themselves entangled with a Warder, Elen, and on an action-packed adventure seeking relics to prevent a fanatical cult from taking over.

One of her earliest fantasy novels, and a rare standalone in a genre (and time period) of epic series, City of Bones has been edited, refreshed, and is being re-released for a new generation of readers.

A signature of Martha Wells’s style is dropping you in the middle of the action. I wrote about this when I reviewed Witch King, and she does it here with City of Bones as well. In fact, I honestly can’t remember the last time I read such an action packed book, which is great because Wells writes action scenes like no other. She provides just enough detail to keep you engaged in a scene while not over-describing every spin-move or punch.

Interestingly with this novel though, was an almost lack of narrative plot-propulsion. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as I was never bored as a reader, but it does do unexpected things to the overall pace of the novel. In some ways, much of the book felt like miniature side-quests until the end when Wells brings the entire thing together. For me, this is the sort of novel that would have worked a little better on audiobook, but that I still really enjoyed reading with my eyes.

The worldbuilding of City of Bones is astounding. Wells provides vivid detail and gorgeous descriptions, but never gives into the urge to info-dump. We see the city unfold through Khat’s eyes, which means we as readers get an outsider’s perspective of culture. If an author is only setting one book in a fantasy world, sometimes they will skimp on details, leaving you unsatisfied, but Wells presents us with a fully formed, elaborate culture in which the plot hinges on the depth of the worldbuilding.

It’s truly satisfying to spend 400 pages with well developed characters in an action-packed novel, and see plot threads come together towards the end. In fact, the ending was one of the more satisfying fantasy endings I’ve read because it was uniquely true to the characters.

City of Bones follows the adventure of Khat and Elen as they search for artifacts and remnant structures whose purposes had been lost to time, but could be a powerful engine. Khat is a Krisman, a descendant of a new human species designed to survive in the harsh world that lost many of its seas. Elen is a warder, a class of humans who have special mental powers (similar in some ways to the force in Star Wars) mastered through extensive training and practice, though their usage runs the risk of madness. They both live in the tiered city of Charisat that abuts a harsh desert known as the Waste. Together and apart, they'll journey through the many different parts of Charisat society and battle against pirate raiders who haunt the wastes.

Having not read the original 1995 versions, I can't speak to what has changed between the editions, but I found it much easier to keep track of the characters and political maneuvering in this book as compared to Wells' Witch King. Khat works as an artifact trader alongside his partner the scholar Sagai. As they are both not natives of Charisat, they cannot gain the same credibility and gain their living on the margins, often trading or dealing with the black market or underbelly of the city. Khat is hired to be a guide for Elen to visit a site out in the wastes, but they are attacked and have to survive against a band of pirates before any chance of help might arrive. Elen is from a privileged case and wants to prove some of her master's ideas and is taking a gamble by journeying with an artifact to the remnant.

It is a novel of conspiracy, mystery, cults and fractional fighting. While Khat is working with Elen, and pulled into the power struggle, he is also in a separate conflict with one of the black marketeers who wants his continued employment, even though the debt owed to him has been paid.

Like any book by Wells, the world this text inhabits is well realized, with a clear structure to the society and thought given to its functioning beyond the necessities of the plot. Water is a considerable asset in this world, and at many points how it is treated or presented helps illustrate the social hierarchy.

Plot wise, it is the gradually unraveling of a mystery of who holds the sought artifacts and determining what, if anything, they do. There are lots of parties and factions involved, and not all of them are honest about their motivations or goals.

Worth a read for anyone who likes their fantasy with more of a political twist than a brute force hack and slash. There is blood and battle, but much more is determined by what is said or left untold.

This review is for the revised and updated 2023 version of City of Bones by Martha Wells and published by Tor Publishing Group.

City of Bones is a standalone fantasy book set in the post-apocalyptic city of Charisat. We follow Khat, a humanoid Krisman who is hired by a powerful group to find relics of the Ancients. What they end up finding is much more concerning, and Khat is forced to decide between doing what is right, and what is needed to survive.

This is my first read of City of Bones, so I cannot compare this updated edition to previous versions of the text. However, I found City of Bones to be an enjoyable story that touches on many important social issues while keeping the reader engaged and enthralled though incredible storytelling. The post-apocalyptic setting of Charisat has both sci-fi and fantasy vibes. We have a city that is tiered and separated by social class, a race of human like creatures designed to withstand the harsh conditions of the ruined Waste, and Ancient technologies that help users channel magic. I am more of a fantasy reader, but even the more science-fiction elements resonated with me and worked well in this story. The world-building is complex, and it took me a bit to get into the story, but once I did, I was hooked. The second half of the story flew by, as we get deeper into the mysteries around the Warders and the ancient artifacts. The slowly built friendship and trust between the Patrician Elen and Krisman Khat was also nicely written. Their relationship demonstrated how individuals from different classes and races can work together towards a common good. Wells’ anthropological background is evident in this story, as she takes care to flesh out the different civilizations and cultural practices, such as those of the Krismen and what we know of the Ancients, in detail.

In all, I found this to be an excellent and rich fantasy. I appreciate that it is being re-released and that new generations of readers can enjoy this epic, standalone story.

I want to thank NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for sharing an electronic advanced reader copy of this book with me in exchange for my honest review.

DNF @ 50%. I feel like I am letting down Martha Wells because I adore the Murderbot series. I really wanted to love this but I am just not able to get into it the way it deserves. Right place, wrong time is what I'm going to call it. It has all the elements of a good fantasy book. For me, it's just a bit slow and it didn't have the snarky lil banter that I expected and wanted.

Thanks to Tor and Netgalley for the e-ARC of the revised and updated version!

Some fantasy stories you read for the characters. Some, you read for the plot. In others, you want to immerse yourself in a different world, so you're looking for complete worldbuilding. City of Bones is one of the worldbuilding ones. Martha Wells constructs a different world so well and so completely that there are never any chips in the mural. This book is set in a post-apocalyptic world. The characters know they aren't as advanced as "the Ancients," who left behind remnants of their advanced civilization. Their current world is a desert where water is scarce and city states, few and far between, each have their own customs and culture. In addition to those basics, there is also a system of magic that has its own logical rules, killer ghosts that roam the streets, and a different species of "krismen" who, lore has it, were created by one of the Ancient Mages to survive in the newly inhospitable world.

But wait! you say, I want characters and plot, too! Don't worry. Wells brings us some immensely appealing characters in Khat, kris relic hunter, and Elen, mage "Warder." Elen hires Khat to help her investigate the "mysteries of the Ancients" (imagine that line with cheesy reverb, because that's how Khat thinks of it). They're almost immediately swept up in more danger and politics than either expected from a short expedition to visit a Remnant. They have to decide very quickly whether or not to trust each other as they try to survive.

And of course, this is where the plot comes in. The book is lengthy but moves at a clipping pace, with lots of action, twists, and reversals of fortune. Since neither Khat nor Elen are the primary movers or shakers, the reader, like them, is left in the dark about the ultimate goal of their actions. We're all swept along to an appropriately epic and bittersweet ending. Even though it takes a while to understand the ultimate consequences of all of the action, all of the characters are competent and generally strive to do what they perceive of as the right thing, which makes living in their heads while we find out a pleasure.

This objective review is based on a complimentary copy of the book.

Take a bit of SF (post apocalyptic world), a bit of fantasy (magic), a bit of Indiana Jones (dry hot world and treasure hunting), a sarcastic/streetwise hero, a pinch of humour and there you have it : an original world where water is scarce and mages are hunting for relics left by the former inhabitants of this world because every trace of their knowledge has disappeared.
Even if the story is a little slow to begin with (just a few pages), it will soon leave you breathless and wondering where are those relics, who (what ?) are those enemies, but most importantly, what are those relics for.
I discovered Martha Wells only a few years ago with her Murderbot series so I'm glad Netgalley gave me this opportunity to discover more of her writings. Though a different type from the Murderbot, this novel comforted me in the thought that she's a major author and well worth devouring.

Early Martha Wells, updated

City of Bones, published in 1995, was Martha Wells' second published novel. This book is an updated and revised edition, and is Wells' preferred text. Now, I have a confession to make: I have not read the earlier edition. Thus I do not know how it changed to make this one*. (And while I'm in a confessional mood, let me also admit that I don't know why the book is called "City of Bones"-- bones play a very small role in the book.) Like many of you (your turn to confess!), I became interested in Wells through Murderbot. If that is you, well, if you were hoping for something a lot like Murderbot, this is not that.

City of Bones is one of those novels that avoids commitment to either Fantasy or Science Fiction. It's a postapocalypse novel. The seas of the world on which it takes place (which could be a future Earth) have been replaced by volcanic wastelands. Prior to the apocalypse the world was inhabited by a technologically sophisticated people whom the present inhabitants call "The Ancients". The Ancients left behind artifacts which the present inhabitants call arcane engines. In addition they left behind a race of people genetically engineered to survive in the wastes, called Krismen. One such person, Khat, is the main point-of-view character. The Krismen are, however, a minority. Most of the people are more ordinary humans. Some of them have magic -- the science fictional interpretation would be that this is Clarke's Law magic: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

The exact nature of the apocalypse that took away the water and created the wastes is not at first clear. In fact, this turns out to be an important plot point, and, to avoid spoilers, I will say no more about it.

Aside from Khat (who is, to be honest, a pretty typical Action Hero kind of guy), the most important character is Elen, who is a Warder, who are a kind of magical police force. Elen's intelligent and methodical personality is far more important than her magic. Hers is the quest mentioned in the publisher's blurb, "to find relics believed to be part of one of the Ancients' arcane engines". Khat makes a living as a relics trader, and Elen hires him to help her out. And thus the story begins.

My biggest problem with City of Bones is that it's so *slow*. The previous paragraph, in which I outlined the beginning of the story, takes the first half of the book. Things pick up a bit after that, as we begin to find out the nature of the relics Elen is searching for. Eventually it becomes quite a good story. But it takes a long time to get there.

I thank NetGalley and Tor for an advance reader copy of City of Bones: Updated and Revised Edition. This review expresses my honest opinions. Release date: 5-Sep-2023.

*The ARC I read lacked an Acknowledgements section or any other end matter that might have explained how the 1995 edition changed to produce this one. I will edit this review on the release date, if the final publication includes anything I think ought to be noted.

This book didn’t really work for me. I’m finding that I like Martha’ science fiction more than her fantasy. The pacing is almost glacial and that was frustrating as a reader. For me, this book lacked any sort of hook, so there was no motivation to grind through the book. Like the Witch King, this book had the elements to be decent, but execution wasn’t great. Overall, it was just ok.

Great to see this novel back in print! (Well, it *will* be back in print, in a couple weeks, anyway.)

If, like many people, you discovered Wells's work through her excellent Murderbot Diaries series (also published by Tor.com), then I'd certainly recommend you pick up the author's fantasy novels -- CITY OF BONES and WITCH KING are the most recently published by Tor.com. They are different from the Murderbot stories, in tone and scope, but they are as inventive and engaging.

A must for fantasy fans. Recommended.

I wanted to like this one so bad but I found it lagged a bit. I may try witch king to see if that’s more up my alley