It took me a long time to get into this as i picked it up, read a few pages, and stopped because it just didnt grab me at all. I found it a bit tedious in parts, and i found it difficult to continue with it, but i did finish in the end.

Whilst I liked reading this I got so far and stopped. It wasn't holding my attention but I do hope to come back to it in the future, as it's more likely me than the book. Mood reader problems.

I was really enjoying this book for the first half, but unfortunately the last half (specifically the last quarter) fell flat for me. I keep giving Adrian Tchaikovsky's books a chance because the plots are really interesting to me, but everytime I read one of his books, I think his writing just isn't for me. In this book, I really liked most of the characters but I felt as though they were just One Thing and not very complex. Despite that, I enjoyed exploring this world were everything is "perfect" and if there were more books set in this world, I would absolutely check them out. I'm not giving up on Adrian! Maybe the next book of his I read will be The One!

I loved the Doors of Eden, so I was looking forward to this read. I don’t know how I feel about it to be honest. It’s really heavy going, I’ve had to put it down a couple of times to have a rest.

I like the story, not sure if I like how it’s set out?

I’m struggling with my thoughts on it- good story, just heavy going?

As ever, my thanks to Netgalley and Head of Zeus for the copy

I found this novel very difficult to read, follow and undestand. There were more characters and factions in this city than I have had hot dinners. Far too many to enable any sort of narrative to build in between the reams of description. I struggled through but really gave up any attempt to fully understand at the halfway point.

City of Last Chances is a political fantasy adventure by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Released in electronic format in Dec 2022 by Head of Zeus, it's 545 pages and is now also available in hardcover and audio formats in addition to ebook. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

The author is an often astoundingly adept wordsmith and this is a complex and immersive fantasy against a brobdingnagian tapestry of intrigue and a city-under-brutal-occupation. The prose seethes, and despite its impressive doorstopper brick of a page count, it's eminently readable and readers will find themselves surprised at the passing of time immersed in the story.

Although it's not derivative (at all!), readers who love Neal Stephenson, China Miéville, and Ann Leckie will likely find a lot to enjoy here. It's decidedly dark in places and the characters aren't so much black and white as varying shades of smudgy grey. The background and settings are also quite dark and disquieting and it's clearly by intent.

Four and a half stars. It's a big complex book, and very well written. For fans of political/campaign fantasy.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes

City of Last Chances is my first experience of Adrian Tchaikovsky's fantasy writing and I'm pleased to say I enjoyed it. As expected, the writing is good and draws you into this new world. The world is an interesting one and keeps you engaged with the story. My one main issue with this was the cast of characters - there is a fair few character perspectives throughout and I struggled keeping track of them all, as well as finding a few that I just didn't really care about. Overall thought I would recommend checking this one out.

This is a dnf for now. I might get back to the book in the future but for now I could not get into the story and will have to set it down.

i wasn't sure what to expect from my first Tchaikovsky book but this was a very interesting read. it took me a bit longer to get through which i attribute to the overall tone of the book. i loved the Mosaic chapters and found them to be very helpful as the book progressed. I did find that there were parts of the book that seemed to stall out, this isn't uncommon in an epic fantasy of this size. So while i didn't mark down for it i know that that could be an issue to those that are not quite familiar with this genre subset. I found the characters to be well written and fitting for the story. The multiple pov were fun. i was happy to see that for a stand alone it wrapped up quite nicely. over all i think that any fan of high fantasy would definitely enjoy this dark adventure.

It's becoming clear that there are no genres Tchaikovsky can't master. Over the past few years, he's written across the various speculative genres and sub-genres, and each time he offers something new and engaging. The same can be said for CITY OF LAST CHANCES - a stand-alone novel, populated by varied and three-dimensional characters. The plot is engaging and full of intrigue, and I was hooked from very early on.

If you haven't read Tchaikovsky, yet, then I strongly urge you to do so ASAP. A master of SFF.

This book is part of a series and quite complicated to get into if you're not ready for a heavy read.

Preliminary 5-star review. Will post a full review and adjust the rating accordingly after I finish the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an e-ARC copy of this book, in exchange for this honest review.

DNF - This book is DENSE. Which I should reasonably have known going into it given Tchaikovsky's other works but I found this a lot more difficult to follow compared to his other works that I've read. There's a lot of characters and a lot of POVs, and I do think I will enjoy it if I read it at the right time, but it just hasn't been working for me so far.

The cover is gorgeous, which is a juxtaposition to the story inside, in terms of atmosphere, storytelling and content. Whilst I appreciated the themes of oppression, revolution and it's look on classism, I found that it tended to be quite slow at times. I couldn't attach myself to the characters as wholly as I'd like, but each one embodied a particular trait that you can tell Tchaikovsky was passionate about exploring. Overall, I enjoyed this for its philosophical reminiscing more than the plot or characters itself, and I found myself thinking about its question well after I put it down

This book was a good mix of everything I like in a story. Mystery, magic, weird stuff happening. The slight like polictical aspect in the story. I really enjoyed reading it. Eventhough I was a bit late, I still enjoyed it a lot!

This was not for me, however I could see this was well written, and the world-building was phenomenal.

A masterpiece written by the most prolific British author. This was a genre bending approach to fantasy, appealing characters with whom I fell in love, page-turning prose and an engaging story to bring it all to the surface. I loved every page.

This is a beautifully designed book, which was enjoyable to read, but took way longer than it usually does for me to read a book I enjoy.

There was a little bit too much of world building, however I do understand that that is a big part of an epic fantasy, so it could just be a personal dislike.

Overall, I really liked it! Could just use an abridged version maybe.

Epic fantasy. Ilmar is the city of last chances where the Perfecture tries to rule over the conquered peoples by enforcing their version of perfection. But humans, by nature aren't perfect, especially when they live within shouting distance of the Wood leading to distant realms, the Reproach where ancient bloodlines run mad and the demon-driven mercantile district.
When a special ward is stolen leading to the death of one of the Heads of the Perfecture suddenly the whole City is in uproar and deeds and misdeeds filter through every section of the City.

This is possibly the longest it has ever taken me to read a book I was genuinely enjoying. I was listening to it on audible and had to do it to fits and starts but this didn't lessen the story at all. I loved the way the narrator was able to embody all of the characters and help them to be differentiated by their tone and accents. He did a fantastic job with such a diverse group of characters. Huge Props to David Thorpe.


The cast list is huge and each character has their own motivations and aspirations that intertwine in a way that makes the story feel even more epic. The warring factions matched the intricacies of politics and social justice that permeate any conquered territory and you couldn't help but be entranced by the overall web.

Adrian Tchaikovsky did an amazing job and I look forward to reading more of his fantasy as well as his sci fi.

I absolutely love fantasy as a genre; however, I did find it incredibly difficult to get into this book. The world building was dense and complication to understand and I almost dnf’d a few chapters in. Although, that being said I am glad I finished it as the story was really interesting and the magic system was a beautiful but sinister concepts! I look forward to reading Tchaikovsky’s other works.