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Hazel (1853 KP) rated A City Dreaming in Books

Dec 14, 2018

My rating: 2.5

I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.

“The city never sleeps, but it’s always dreaming.” And, by dreaming, Daniel Polansky clearly means nightmares. A City Dreaming is, for the lack of a better term, an urban fantasy novel. Embracing elements of dystopia and steampunk universes, it is difficult to determine the time period in which it is set. What can be established is that, wherever you are in the world, you are never far away from a monster.

A City Dreaming revolves around a semi-anonymous character known as M. M appears to be some form of magician who wishes he could spend his days listlessly staring into the bottom of his beer glass. Yet with misbehaving creatures and warring goddess living in the city of New York, peace is a rare phenomenon in M’s life. From demons to murders and mind-boggling situations, there is never a dull moment.

Each chapter of A City Dreaming is, in some way, an individual story. Apart from the occasional recurring character, no scenario is ever continued after the chapter concludes. This is initially a cause for confusion. With no clear direction or purpose, it is hard to remain engaged with the author’s imagination.

Readers familiar with contemporary fantasy writers, such as Neil Gaiman, may understand Polansky’s vision – think Neverwhere and American Gods combined, but weirder. M spends the majority of his time either inebriated or on drugs, and, to be frank, it would not be surprising to learn the author was on drugs at the time of writing. Imagine Neil Gaiman on drugs; that is how bizarre this book is.

Despite his penchant for recreational drugs, M is an intelligent character that can humorously talk himself out of impossible situations. However it is often a hopeless ordeal to fathom the process of his intoxicated mind. As a result, A City Dreaming loses its thrill and excitement.

As this is the first Daniel Polansky novel that I have read, I do not know whether this is his usual style of writing or whether it was an attempt at something new. What I did observe was the intelligence hidden behind the excess of expletives and lewd content. Polansky writes with certain aptitude, almost as if he has swallowed a thesaurus.

Fans of Neil Gaiman and Brandon Sanderson may enjoy A City Dreaming more than new readers, since they will already be familiar with the style of bemusing narration. A City Dreaming does not live up to the definition of a novel, however as short, connecting stories it provides the intended entertainment. Almost certainly, this book will be received with mixed reviews; nonetheless it will undoubtedly eventually find its fan base.