Review -- City of Dreams & Nightmare by Ian Whates

I just finished the highly recommended City of Dreams & Nightmare by Ian Whates. For the longest time I kept wanting to call it City of Dreams & Nightmares (plural). Sadly, I'm conflicted about this book. Reading it created such a strange mixture of joy and tedium. City of Dreams & Nightmare is one of those weird class of books where the whole isn't greater than the sum of its parts. Read on to find out what I mean.


The City of a Hundred Rows, towering above and stretching below--Thaiburley is a multi-tiered city carved directly into a cliff face. Its construction creates a literally stratified society divided between those living in the Heights and those stuck in the sprawling, cavernous warrens of the City Below.


Thaiburley is the titular City of Dreams & Nightmare, and as far as settings go, it's one of the more inventive I've ever seen. While reading the book, I couldn't help but make comparisons to New Crobuzon which is featured in China Miéville’s Bas-Lag trilogy. To me, Thaiburley felt more like a "fantasy" version of New Crobuzon while Miéville’s city has more prominent steampunk and weird elements.


City of Dreams & Nightmare tells the story of a teenage "street nick" named Tom who ventures from the City Below up to the forbidden heights. Up there he is witness to a murder, and he must flee back to the City Below in order to escape the malevolent forces pursuing him. The mysterious, renegade young woman Kat helps him in his escape. Tylus, the inexperienced Kite Guard is tasked with capturing Tom, but none of them know that they are pursued by the assassin Dewar and even deadlier inhuman forces.


While Thaiburley is a fully realized setting, I can't say the same for the characters. Tom spends most of the novel being led from one location to another by multiple characters. His personality was bland, and his special abilities were only more fully revealed at the end of the novel. Kat has a little more depth to her, but her story is only half told. Dewar is the only character that was able to hold my interest, but I'm not sure he'll be featured in the sequel.


I had a tough time finishing this book, because despite the murder in the first chapter, it started slow and took a long time to pick up. Even after it picked up, there wasn't enough character development to really keep me interested. Coupled with the fact that the plot is only the first half in this series, it was hard for me to truly care for the characters.


I loved the fantasy and sci-fi elements, and I loved the city itself, but the characters populating it didn't hold my interest. This is where my inner conflict comes in. I want to find out more about Thaiburley, how it came to called the City of Dreams and Nightmare, why it was built, etc., but I'm not sure I could make it through another installment. It could be that the upcoming City of Hope & Despair will iron out a lot of the wrinkles in this book, but I'm not yet convinced that I want to take that risk. There are things to enjoy about City of Dreams & Nightmare, but there are other parts that need to be slogged through. Be prepared to not have all of your questions answered by the end of the novel.