However, he passed away in 2006 while finishing the final novel in his <i>Troy</i> trilogy (<i>Fall of Kings</i>), which was then finished by his second wife Stella.
<i>The City</i> is her first fully solo outing. Following recent trends, this definitely weighs in on the 'epic' side of the fantasy scales: think 'A Game of Thrones', where one novel is the size of three what I would term 'normal' reads. Indeed, the novel itself is split into various sections: personally I feel that it could have been split into two or maybe three separate books rather than under the one cover.
<i>The City</i> of the title (which is never actually named) is ancient and bloated, locked in an endless war with its enemies. Built over centuries, it reminded me somewhat of a passage in one of Pratchett's Discworld books (I forget which, and referring to Ankh-Morpork), something along the lines of:
'the main thing Ankh-Morpork is built on is Ankh-Morpork'.
That could be a pretty fair description of The City as well!
I also found some sections to be slow-moving, and while I never lost interest in the story, it also never really grabbed me, seeming to lack that certain something to turns a good story into a great story.
Would I read more by Stella Gemmell? At the moment, I'm undecided.
The Intuitive Farmer: Inspiring Management Success
Book
Successful farm management is based upon excellent decision making by the farm owner. In practice...
Advances in Biometrics for Secure Human Authentication and Recognition
Dakshina Ranjan Kisku, Phalguni Gupta and Jamuna Kanta Sing
Book
Although biometric systems present powerful alternatives to traditional authentication schemes,...
After Isabella
6.0
Rate It
Book
'A compelling and provocative read, nicely paced and thoroughly absorbing. At times, both...
The Girl in the Photograph
7.0
Rate It
Book
For fans of Kate Mosse and Kate Morton comes a haunting novel about two women separated by decades...
The Silence in the Garden
Book
The Silence in the Garden by William Trevor - a classic early novel by one of the world's greatest...
Genus
Book
In the Britain of a few tomorrows time, physical perfection is commonplace and self improvement has...
Waking Lions
Book
Read an exclusive interview with the author here The compelling and timely new novel by the...
Christine A. (965 KP) rated Teen Titans: Raven in Books
Oct 10, 2019
Teen Titans: Raven (Teen Titans #1) by Kami Garcia is a graphic novel with a story written by Kami Garcia and illustrated by Gabriel Picolo. Fans of YA may recognize Kami Garcia as a coauthor of the Beautiful Creatures series. Teen Titans: Raven is Garcia's first graphic novel.
Growing up I was a DC Comic fan but, after the introduction of the Marvel Avengers movies, especially Iron Man, I switched teams. However, you do not need to be a fan of Teen Titans, Raven, or DC Comics to appreciate the way in which Garcia and Picolo present Raven's origin story.
I thought the story was interesting and enjoyed the illustrations. Many reviews mention Raven's snarky attitude is missing from the story. I had not watched or read the Teen Titans and my niece was too young to understand attitude so I do not have a reference in which to compare Raven's story. Although enough reviews mention the lack of snarkiness I felt the need to mention it.
The 2nd book in the series, Teen Titans: Beast Boy (Teen Titans #2) will also be written by Kami Garcia and illustrated by Gabriel Picolo. It is scheduled to be released in 2020.
This 200-word review was published on Philomathinphila.com on 10/10/19.