City of Last Chances
DETAILS: Series: The Tyrant Philosophers, #1 Publisher: Head of Zeus Publication Date: May 28, 2024 Format: Paperback Length: 498 pg. Read Date: March 12-17, 2026
What’s City of Last Chances About?
I’m tired of trying to come up with a succinct way of saying this, so I’m just going to paste the text from the back of my paperback:
There has always been a darkness to Ilmar, but never more so than now. The city chafes under the heavy hand of the Palleseen occupation, the choke-hold of its criminal underworld, the boot of its factory owners, the weight of its wretched poor and the burden of its ancient curse. What will be the spark that lights the conflagration?
Despite the city’s refugees, wanderers, murderers, madmen, fanatics and thieves, the catalyst, as always, will be the Anchorwood – that dark grove of trees, that primeval remnant, that portal, when the moon is full, to strange and distant shores.
Ilmar, some say, is the worst place in the world and the gateway to a thousand worse places.
I’m not sure what I think about this…
There are several groups that oppose the occupation, each for their own reasons, too. Partially patriotic, partially something varied from group to group. And given that, there are different levels of eagerness to begin. Each group has a particular goal, a particular set of events that they’re waiting for to launch their rebellion—and each fully expects the others to join in once the fuse is lit.
That’s a mistake—some won’t when this particular fuse is aflame. Some will claim to be coming to help, but will instead hole themselves up. Others just want to bide their time.
And overcoming that is a lot for those who have thrown their hats in the ring.
This is probably very realistic—it’s never going to be as easy as a well-organized group rising up to counter the invaders/ruling class. It’s going to be various alliances and sects. So well done, Tchaikovsky. It very much makes it feel like a fantasy version of the French Revolution.
Why did I pick this up? Why did I keep reading?
I picked this up because it was the Fantasy Book Club pick of the month.
I kept at it because there were a lot of interesting plot threads, some fascinating characters, and great scenes, and I was eager to see how they all tied together by the end.
What does this book tell us about humanity?
For one, there’s a great depiction of the utter lack of compassion and naked ambition that can befall those who are convinced they/their group are absolutely correct, the only determiner of what is right/wrong, as they try to elevate/educate/correct another group of people.
On the other side, we have a selfishness and greed that a resistance can give shelter to. “Yes, I want to push back against this oppressive regime—but not so much that it’ll interfere with my art/scholarship/business or cause me any more inconvenience than I’m currently experiencing.”
There are some who don’t seem so materialistic in their approach—I should stress, but their motives aren’t necessarily that “pure.” They’re just more intangible, while largely selfish.
There’s a lot of self-delusion to go around, basically.
So, what did I think about City of Last Chances?
There are just so many fantastic characters—on all sides of the conflict. I don’t know how many times I would get into a scene or return to a character and would’ve been content to stay in that POV for hundreds of pages. I never got that opportunity.
Some of the plot lines were just delicious—the combination of characters, their aims, and what they do to try to accomplish those aims. So close to perfection.
There were scenes that you just want to re-read to suck all the marrow out of it. Tchaikovsky phrases things so well, and crams so many ideas into the book that it can make your head swim. There are bits that are so sweet and heartwarming, there are bits that will make you chuckle, some incredibly gross moments, too—and your pulse will pound more than once. And you will frequently bask in Tchaikovsky’s cleverness in how he orchestrates scenes/events/plotlines.
However (yes, sorry, there’s a however). You put it all together and…it just flops. It might be that there’s just too much of a good thing; it could be that everything doesn’t have the chance to breathe and get fully fleshed out; I just might not have the attention span for it all (I would note that most at our Book Club meeting shared my sentiment here, though); it might be the conclusion of the novel wasn’t as satisfying as it could’ve been (I will not get into that more).
It’s entirely likely to be something else, too. I dunno—I just walked away more than ready for my next read.
Oh, and the fact that we don’t get back to this city until (as I’m told) the 5th book in the series? That makes it really hard for me to think about trying Book Two.
Your results may vary, obviously. The book and series have received plenty of honors. The fact that Tchaikovsky has released four books in the series so far, suggests that there is an audience for it. And if one of those wants to fill up my comments with all the reasons I should read on in the series—I’m all ears.
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