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THE SIGHTLESS CITY by Noah Lemelson

THE SIGHTLESS CITY

by Noah Lemelson

Pub Date: July 20th, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-94-650140-0
Publisher: Tiny Fox Press LLC

A detective haunted by his past and an engineer desperate to ensure her future become embroiled in a conspiracy in Lemelson’s debut urban fantasy novel.

In the wake of the Calamity, which left an irradiated crater in the middle of the continent, the wasteland border city of Huile has become a bustling hub for the production of “æther-oil,” a miraculous fuel source that also allows certain gifted people to bend physics to their will—a power nicknamed “the Knack.” The people of Huile fought a bitter revolution for their independence from imperial occupiers, and private detective Marcel Talwar, one disillusioned veteran who lost a leg during the conflict, is haunted by traumatic memories. He often investigates for Lazacorp, the city’s distributor of æther-oil. However, after the deaths of one of his former comrades and of a Lazacorp worker, Marcel looks into what’s going on with Lazacorp’s new water filtration plant, overseen by beloved industrialist and war hero Lazarus Roache. Meanwhile, in the engineering mecca of Icaria, a young engineer named Sylvaine becomes acquainted with Roache when he offers to become her patron. As a feral—a furred animal-person—she often faces discrimination, so she’s eager to accept Roache’s offer of “Slickdust,” a substance that awakens her Knack after years of failure. She and Marcel cross paths when they realize they’re both pawns in a struggle between strange and ancient forces. From the very start of the novel, Lemelson’s unique take on a postwar industrial fantasy world features memorable imagery (“You ever take a walk outside this city?” says Marcel at one point. “See the cracked land, the ruins, the oozing trees, the Demiurge-damned Wastes?”) and deftly realized worldbuilding. In its account of its dual protagonists’ struggles, the narrative unfolds at a controlled pace, swelling with tension at each new revelation while delivering intriguing information in an organic way. The result, expressed in Lemelson’s vibrant, witty, and often heartbreaking prose, is a page-turner that’s perfect for urban fantasy fans.

A gripping mystery with an exceptionally fleshed-out world.