THE CITY OF THE MAGICIANS

A debut fantasy focuses on a defenseless city that faces a dire threat.

Welcome to the City of the Magicians. It is a place where pilgrims travel to the Sacred Temple of Life in order to partake in the Holy Spring That Never Fails. The Holy Spring has water with supposed healing properties that have attracted many outsiders. The city is careful to cater to these visitors, or, put more cynically, there is a “priority of siphoning off as much currency as possible from pilgrims while presenting an aura of sanctity and superiority.” It is also a place with a detailed bureaucracy. Sas of Elisa House is a member of the Council of Deliberators. In the opening pages, he is tasked with an incredible assignment: He must communicate remotely (utilizing a technique called “sendings”) with a barbarian horde that plans to invade in the spring. The city has no standing army or weaponry. Sas may be its only hope. He must convince the barbarians that the City of the Magicians is not worth destroying. Meanwhile, a young librarian named Lalya becomes involved in a secret, oversexed organization. The group loves nothing more than a smoke-filled orgy, but its power runs much deeper than carnal pleasures. In Gribble’s series opener, a lot of information is thrown at readers quite quickly. An appearance of a mysterious “trail of 5’s” on buildings; various council members to keep track of; and the importance of the “book-and-paper market” introduce a great deal of complexity early in the story. Still, the narrative takes a novel approach to the excitement of a city targeted for invasion. Not only is this assault some time away, the plan to thwart it is unconventional to say the least. Certain diversions and explanations do mitigate some of the tension. For instance, readers have much to unpack about this magical city’s history and schools of thought. Passages include wordy, perplexing information, such as “The Shapers charged the Pushers with not being assiduous in using Augury before practice.” But things do pick up in later chapters. A hapless emissary named Maxon is sent to talk to the barbarians. His journey makes for a meticulously curious (and dangerous) adventure tucked neatly into the grander tale.

This intriguing fantasy creates a memorable, if dense, twist on a society in trouble.