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The City of Silk and Steel
Apr. 5th, 2022 03:20 pmAlso published as The Steel Seraglio. By Mike Carey, Linda Carey and Louise Carey (a husband, wife and daughter writing team).
When the sultan of Bessa is overthrown, his wives and their children are put to death, as threats to the new regime. But his concubines and their children are spared, for a brief window of time. They escape into the desert - facing many obstacles, fending off enemies, and gaining allies - and eventually make a city of their own.
I love stories where people have to figure out one problem after another, often in clever and creative ways. I love how there are so many different women, with different backgrounds and personalities. There's also a lovely F/F romance between the librarian Rem and the assassin Zuleika.
It has a One Thousand and One Nights feel, with the main narrative containing stories within stories. Parts of it also reminded me of Guy Gavriel Kay, in its sense of the epic and the fantastic, delving into the stories of side characters, and intense feelings about a beloved city.
The lives of women in this world are not easy. And even when they achieve their freedom, they still face the threat of destruction by their enemies. But I love what the book says about how making the dream real matters, whatever happens after, because it makes it possible in all the futures to come. Inspiring, poignant, and hopeful.
***
No one said it would be easy, and it wasn't. We did it anyway. - Zuleika
***
When the sultan of Bessa is overthrown, his wives and their children are put to death, as threats to the new regime. But his concubines and their children are spared, for a brief window of time. They escape into the desert - facing many obstacles, fending off enemies, and gaining allies - and eventually make a city of their own.
I love stories where people have to figure out one problem after another, often in clever and creative ways. I love how there are so many different women, with different backgrounds and personalities. There's also a lovely F/F romance between the librarian Rem and the assassin Zuleika.
It has a One Thousand and One Nights feel, with the main narrative containing stories within stories. Parts of it also reminded me of Guy Gavriel Kay, in its sense of the epic and the fantastic, delving into the stories of side characters, and intense feelings about a beloved city.
The lives of women in this world are not easy. And even when they achieve their freedom, they still face the threat of destruction by their enemies. But I love what the book says about how making the dream real matters, whatever happens after, because it makes it possible in all the futures to come. Inspiring, poignant, and hopeful.
No one said it would be easy, and it wasn't. We did it anyway. - Zuleika
***
