City on Fire

From the other reviews, people seem to love or hate this book. I'm in the first camp, so this is a positive review. In this sequel to Metropolitan, Aiah has just entered Caraqui, right after Metropolitan left off. She finds a job with Constantine's section of the new government and slowly becomes more and more involved with political intrigue and concerned with questions of morality. As head of her own department, she finds herself starting to have her own side in the mass of intrigues and attacks. She and Sorya continue to be rivals for Constantine's affections. The grumpy Rohder is back too. There's tons of intrigue and war in the book, which deals with it more at the bureaucratic level, behind the scenes. If you like the series Sandbaggers (The Sandbaggers Collection Set 1) you will probably like this book. Constantine's ultimate goal of going beyond the shield is pretty much just hinted at, but Aiah really comes into her own. This is a lovely Brazil/steampunk-type novel and is interesting to compare to the recent flock of fantasy about cities.

I was blown away by this book and its precursor, Metropolitan. I normally don't go for political intrigue tales, but William's style was so compelling, I couldn't stop reading. His concept of plasm is intriguing as well. I can't wait to see what happens in the third book, with the Dreaming Sisters, beyond the Shield.

City on Fire is a transcendant novel in that it goes beyond most works of science fiction. At its heart, it is a story about the rites of passage endured by Aiah as she develops from a young woman into a major socio-political figure. This progression is handled very well, and in such a subtle fashion that it is only at the end of the novel that one realizes just how far she has come. In addition, the novel uses a complex political backdrop and well thought-out future landscape in which to chronicle these events. Many of the characters are larger-than-life, yet Walter Jon Williams manages to make their successes and failures credible. The novel's futurist qualities are a bit more suspect in that it is based on the existence of a compound called "plasm". This compound has almost magical properties, and at times I suspected I was reading a work of fantasy more than of science-fiction. Nonetheless, Walter Jon Williams adhered to a fairly rigorous realization of the socio-economic impact of plasm, and has a very consistent world view such that after the first few pages, I was willing to accept the society that he proposes. Walter Jon Williams novel is also blessed with his writing style--one which remains concise and powerful, yet avoids omissions, thus remaining quite readible. In summary, this is a truly outstanding work. Once you get past the initially odd concept of plasm, the novel becomes a well-written, compelling read. So much so that I am quite sorry to see that there is not third novel in the series.

Walter Jon Williams is one of my favorite SF/Fantasy writers. I very much enjoyed Hardwired, Knight moves, Days of Atonement, and (of course) Metropoliton. City on Fire rips along at a great pace, showing the difficulties inherent in changing power structures (something that most writers leave to the "happily ever after"). I very much enjoyed Ahai's growth as a person during this book and can't wait till a sequel come sout!

Although I enjoyed Walter Jon Williams's previous Novel, Aristoi, for it's exotic atmosphere and larger-than-life characters, I was somewhat disappointed in Metropolitan. It seemed somewhat contrived and depressing. At the time I did not realize that it was part of a series as it definitely stands on its own as a complete novel. City on Fire is the sequel to Metropolitan and it delivers all the promise that Williams has shown in previous novels. City on Fire is a fascinating novel both for its characters, who evolve and devolve in fascinating ways, but for William's exploration of the interactions of religious, military, commercial, and political factions as they deal with consolidating power in a conquered territory, a situation which is usually the conclusion of most books rather than the starting position. Throughout the novel the action is fast, but never slights the accelerated education of Aiah, the strong and engaging protagonist. Although the setting is science fictional, the actions and reactions are completely and realistically human. This book is a marvel and I intend to nominate it for a Hugo in 1997. Thank you, Walter Jon Williams, for a thoroughly engaging world and characters. I simply can't wait for your next amazing performance.