The Divine Cities (trilogy) – Robert Jackson Bennett
“I don't think we can build much of a future without knowing the truth of the past. It's time to be honest about what the world really was, and what it is now.”
– Ashara Komayd, City of Stairs
This epic fantasy trilogy deals with themes of social/political/economic divides, the legacy of colonial oppression, and a more realistic view of how individual people can create meaningful social change during their lifetime. There are gods and miracles and gutsy people with meaningful goals and the willingness to sacrifice and endure anything for the causes and the people most important to them.
The Basics:
For hundreds of years, the people of the Continent were ruled by six gods, Divinities so powerful they could rewrite reality just by thinking. Capricious, terrifying, and often brutal in enacting their whims or passing judgment on the world, the Divinities combined their power to create the city of Bulikov, the gem of the Continent. But then a citizen of the enslaved island nation of Saypur discovered how to kill these gods, and with their death came the destruction of everything they created in what citizens of the Continent call the Blink – a moment when most of their world, including large portions of the city of Bulikov, simply vanished.Fast forward a few hundred years, and the Continent is still struggling to put itself back together after the chaos of the Blink. Subjugated by the victorious Saypuri's, their history censored and erased, the people of the Continent are locked in a painful downward spiral of social, political, and cultural oppression that leaves entire nations crippled.
Entering this conflicted and often violent arena are three unlikely heroes: Shara Thivani, the academic and Saypur's most gifted spy, Sigrud, her "secretary" and an efficient killing machine haunted by past tortures, and foul-mouthed General Turyin Mulaghesh, war hero, war criminal, and possibly the most no-nonsense woman you'll ever meet. What starts as the investigation of a murder eventually brings all three together to take on the impossible task of fixing a broken world and defending it against the bloodshed and indiscriminate slaughter that would follow if the Divinities were to rise again.
The Opinions:
“Yes. Serve. This is the service, and we soldiers are servants. Sure, when people think of a soldier, they think of soldiers taking. They think of us taking territory, taking the enemy, taking a city or a country, taking treasure, or blood...But a soldier, a true soldier, I think, does not take. A soldier gives.”
– General Turyin Mulaghesh, City of Blades
Yeah, probably better not begin with that last one.
When I first picked up City of Stairs, what impressed me right away was Robert Jackson Bennett's incredible detail in developing a world that went beyond standard fantasy intricacies of technology and the way magic (or in this case, Divine Miracles) are woven into the fabric of reality. Although those parts were pretty cool, I was much more fascinated by Bennett's attention to political, social and economic forces and how they shape countries and perspectives and circumstances.
Bennett spent a lot of time creating a massive iceberg of history to support the Divine Cities trilogy, and although he only introduces you to this history in small parcels as it becomes necessary, I was impressed by what he was able to do with that historical background. How would a formerly enslaved country exact vengeance on their former masters? How would the formerly dominant country react to being subjugated and being banned knowledge of their own history? How would those circumstances impact members of the two countries as they grow up, and how would it impact the development of both countries? Plus, just how far would a country be set back if it relied on miracles and Divine influence in their everyday lives and all of that suddenly went away? (Imagine if the continental U.S. suddenly didn’t have electricity, and you’ll get the picture.) Bennett captures these ideas, even carrying out the psychological effects of occupation and colonial attitudes for several generations. He brings up big ideas and gives you 500 pages to chew on them. Yes, there's some political agenda mixed in there, but it's a subtle touch that I feel makes the trilogy even more thoughtful and worth pondering than it already was.
A few other highlights I appreciated:
- Each book happens about a decade later than the last one, which is unusual but important because it more accurately reflected how hard it is to bring about the kind of profound social change Bennett is writing about. It’s refreshing to find a book where for once the idealistic young heroes, fresh from their recent victory, go home to change the world and find out that changing the world is HARD and nearly impossible and rapidly loses its charm and actually takes lifetimes to do thoroughly.
- I appreciate that, by and large, Bennett avoids making the characters (like Shara) who are detail-oriented people into unemotional machines, an extreme I feel those characters often strays toward in other fiction. Although Shara can be detached at times and certainly isn’t a socialite, she cares about people as individuals as well as in more general terms when thinking about the situation that Bulikov is in and the circumstances of the population of most of the Continent.
“Deserve.' How preoccupied we are with that. With what we should have, with what we are owed. I wonder if any word has ever caused more heartache.”
– General Turyin Mulaghesh, City of Blades
But despite the above rantings and ravings of apparent delight, there are a few significant strikes against the Divine Cities trilogy, mostly due to Sigrud's aforementioned bloodbaths.
Without going into excruciating detail, this trilogy is pretty darn graphic in terms of violence and bloodshed. Every time Sigrud gets into a fight, it seems people get dismembered or gutted or have things stabbed into their eyes and other soft parts of their body. I got squeamish just reading about the liberal splashing of blood and gore. There's also just some horrible mutilations to bodies that crops up a few times in City of Blades which, while relevant to the plot, was pretty intense (hint: there were lots of flies).
The presence of profanity is also pretty intense. There's lots of swearing in these books, particularly on the part of Mulaghesh, who, despite being a big favorite of mine, has a terrible potty-mouth and a similarly expletive-laden internal monologue. Let's just say there are many four-letter words getting a lot of mileage on these pages.
Other personal quibbles include:
- The last book has a different flavor reminiscent of superhero origin stories (that's the no-spoiler description).
- There were also some remarks about how the world was created that became a little campy. Think "there is nothing new under the sun"/"history repeats itself, even among gods" and you'll get the picture. Still, it wasn't so bad that I actually threw my hands up in disgust, which is a real thing that happens that I actually do.
- There's some discrepancy in the amount of character development happening in each book. There's hardly any in City of Stairs, while City of Miracles is a huge character study of Sigrud. City of Blades walks the middle ground between the two.
“We are—or were—Divinities, Shara Komayd: we drew power from the hearts and minds and beliefs of a people. But that which you draw power from, you are also powerless before... A people believe in a god... and the god tells them what to believe.”
– Olvos, City of Stairs
But, like I said, the Divine Cities deals with some really interesting topics and ideas that I thoroughly enjoyed reading and thinking about. I was also fascinated by Bennett's the idea that the Divinities have a changing nature that is influenced by the demands or desires of their people was fascinating. The Divinities are, in some ways, just the product of the imagination of a couple million people who want someone to decide some things for them and give them rules to follow. The Divinities are bizarrely a true extension of the people who follow them, but they’re terrible leaders because they rewrite themselves and their history and the world to give their people what they want – in the most twisted way possible because Divinities aren’t capable of understanding human beings.
If that's not deep stuff, I don't know what is.
“I don't think we can build much of a future without knowing the truth of the past. It's time to be honest about what the world really was, and what it is now.”
– Ashara Komayd, City of Stairs
The Verdict: 4.5 stars
The Divine Cities trilogy is basically a fascinating character study of people and human psychology, although you may have to sit back and ruminate on the books after reading them to get there. Looking back on the series from the distance of a few weeks of reflection, I can say I thoroughly enjoyed this trilogy, particularly the first two books, City of Stairs and City of Blades. That said, I'm stingy with 5-star ratings. Though I was pretty darn impressed with many aspects of this trilogy, due to the body count, language, and overall graphic content, I'm giving it 4.5 stars. It's a very readable epic, but not a trilogy for squeamish readers.
Suggested reading age: 18+. It's a great trilogy, but the generally mature content makes me uncomfortable recommending this trilogy to just anyone.
Author website: www.robertjacksonbennett.com
“They value punishment because they think it means their actions are important - that they are important. You don't get punished for doing something unimportant, after all.”
– Ashara Komayd, City of Stairs
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