Book Review: City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett

5/5 stars. Robert Jackson Bennett writes unique stories, set in unusual worlds, and populated with wonderful characters. This is the third novel by Bennett that I have read this year (after The Tainted Cup and Drop of Corruption, his most recent novels) and I have greatly enjoyed all of them. I decided to read some of his backlisted titles and I look forward to continuing to read his catalogue of stories. He is such an outstanding writer!

In this first installment of the Divine Cities trilogy, we encounter the mysterious death of one historian that leads to unexpected revelations about this world’s people, places, and gods. Shara works for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Saypur, the powerful island nation that controls most of the world. She is sent to Bulikov, a city on the Continent, to investigate the death of the scholar, her dear friend and colleague. She is accompanied by Sigrud, her personal secretary (and bodyguard?). Together, they work to discover the reason for the scholar’s death and uncover secrets that have been hidden for decades. 

This is a story of friendships, lost love, forgotten history, and the evils that can befall one group of people because of the differences between races. It is a tale that should be enlightening to us all that it takes working together to allow us all to succeed. 

Highly recommended! A reader can not go wrong with one of Robert Jackson Bennett’s books!!

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