The Dark City
Author: Catherine Fisher
Series: Relic Masters (#1)
Publisher: Dial
How Received: review copy
Welcome to Anara, a world mysteriously crumbling to devastation, where nothing is what it seems: Ancient relics emit technologically advanced powers, members of the old Order are hunted by the governing Watch yet revered by the people, and the great energy that connects all seems to also be destroying all. The only hope for the world lies in Galen, a man of the old Order and a Keeper of relics, and his sixteen-year-old apprentice, Raffi. They know of a secret relic with great power that has been hidden for centuries. As they search for it, they will be tested beyond their limits. For there are monster - some human, some not - that also want the relic's power and will stop at nothing to get it.
Buy | Borrow | Brush Off
Let's get my hatred of this cover out of the way.
1) We are not in the 90s. Fantasies have much better covers than the "let's stick this fantasy-esque image on the front and use really bad fonts and make it look like something nobody wants to pick up."
2) Why emblazon Relic Masters on the front and make it larger than the actual title? Why?! WHYYYY!?
That aside, The Dark City delivered what it's cover promised - it's a story with a good fantasy world and a good fantasy plot and... that's about it. The writing is bland, bordering on boring. The only interesting writing parts were diary entries written by somebody who joins Raffi and Galen on their journey, and even those were nothing spectacular; they were simply more interesting than the other things happening around them.
The characters themselves were nothing out of the ordinary - if anything, they bordered on annoying, at least for me. Characters I was supposed to feel sympathy for I hated a little bit. The only interesting character for me was the Sekoi, and I somehow doubt that he's going to play a huge part in the sequels.
I like the plot and the world. I didn't love the plot or the world like I normally with fantasies. (The fact that this is the first fantasy I've read since Mistwood doesn't help, seeing how much I loved that.) And considering the end of the novel, this could probably fall under science-fiction as well. I'm not sure anymore.
But the plot and the world were good. I wish we had seen more of how the magic worked and less randomly doing it. The bits of the world I saw I liked; I'm interested in seeing how a certain city functions - maybe we'll see more in the sequel?
Assuming, of course, I pick the sequel up.
Overall Rating & Final Comments: 5/10. A fantasy that blends in with the rest of the pile; nothing spectacular.
Incarceron or The Dark City?: Though both are by Catherine Fisher - and both have annoying characters - I loved the world of Incarceron more than I did the world of Anara.