Helpful Score: 2
The story of Whandall Placehold, and how he grows up and becomes successful.
It's another one of those "life journey" novels that I seem to accidentally start reading. It takes a while to get going, and never really gets me too excited. I expect a lot more interesting things from the Niven/Pournelle combo, but this book didn't do it for me.
It's another one of those "life journey" novels that I seem to accidentally start reading. It takes a while to get going, and never really gets me too excited. I expect a lot more interesting things from the Niven/Pournelle combo, but this book didn't do it for me.
Set in the world of Niven's popular The Magic Goes Away, THE BURNING CITY transports readers to an enchanted ancient city that often bears a provocative resemblance to our own modern society. Here Yagen-Atep, the volatile and voracious god of fire, holds sway, alternately protecting and destroying the city's denizens. In Tep's Town, nothing can burn indoors and no fire can start by accident--except when the Burning comes upon the city. Then the people, possessed by Yagen-Atep, set their own town ablaze in a riotous orgy of destruction that often comes without warning.
Whandall Placehold has lived with the Burning all his life. Fighting his way to adulthood in the mean-but-magical streets of the city's most blighted neighborhoods, Whandall alone dreams of escaping the god's wrath to find a new and better life. But his best hope for freedom may lie with Morth of Atlantis, the enigmatic sorcerer who killed his father!
Both gritty and exotic, THE BURNING CITY is unique fantasy vision unlike any you have read before.
Whandall Placehold has lived with the Burning all his life. Fighting his way to adulthood in the mean-but-magical streets of the city's most blighted neighborhoods, Whandall alone dreams of escaping the god's wrath to find a new and better life. But his best hope for freedom may lie with Morth of Atlantis, the enigmatic sorcerer who killed his father!
Both gritty and exotic, THE BURNING CITY is unique fantasy vision unlike any you have read before.
Set in the world of Larry Niven's popular The Magic Goes Away, THE BURNING CITY transports readers to an enchanted ancient city bearing a provocative resemblance to our own modern society. Here Yagen-Atep, the volatile and voracious god of fire, alternately protects and destroys the city denizens. In Tep's Town, nothing can burn indoors and no fire can start-----except when the Burning comes upon the city. Then the people, possessed by Yagen-Atep, set their own town ablaze in a riotous orgy of destruction that often comes without warning.
Whandall Placehold has lived with the Burning all his life. Fighting his way to adulthood in the mean-but-magical streets of the city's most blighted neighborhoods, Whandall dreams of escaping the god's wrath to find a new and better life. But his best hope for freedom may life with Morth of Atlantis, the enigmatic sorcerer who killed his father!
Whandall Placehold has lived with the Burning all his life. Fighting his way to adulthood in the mean-but-magical streets of the city's most blighted neighborhoods, Whandall dreams of escaping the god's wrath to find a new and better life. But his best hope for freedom may life with Morth of Atlantis, the enigmatic sorcerer who killed his father!
