The Hidden City

Michelle Sagara West is different. Good different. Her world-making is incredibly detailed and multilayered. It, in my view, is what distinguishes her work in this series (bearing in mind I've not read some of her others) from so much of the "lesser" work in the sword and sorcery genre. That very detail and texture, though, makes it often difficult, if not impossible, to resolve everything at once. The story of The Essalieyan Empire and The Dominion as told in her Sun Sword epic extends to six volumes and over 3000 pages. It was so long and complexly textured that she had trouble (or so it seems to me) bringing it to a single "conclusion". She left hanging one of the major sub-plots as one of the truely great characters she created, Jewel ATerafin, was facing a major and surely going to be bloody struggle for control of the House of Terafin (one of the Ten greatest merchant houses of the Empire). To assuage that, however, Ms West returns now to that thread of plot. But, as with the Sun Sword series, she does so by starting another monumental undertaking. She takes Jewel Markess back to her roots as an 11 year old seer-born girl who looses, in fairly rapid succession, her grandmother and both parents. The last to go is her father in a shipyard work accident that she (as seer) had forseen 5 days in advance. But, as a young girl, she could not make her "grown-up" male father take seriously her warning. After his death, she takes her gift, unpredictable and uncontrolable, and what money she had (her father's last 3 days of pay) and goes the only place she can, to the streets. She acquires, much to his consternation, a guide and protector in the shadowy and taciturn figure of Rath, the fallen son of a great merchant family turned himself to the streets many years ago after an angry renunciation of his birthright as heir to that house because his sister "deserted" the House of her birth for one of the ten great houses, Terafin. Jewel ATerafin is, by the end of the Sun Sword books 30+ years old (if memory serves). She's a remarkable character and that series obliquely touches on some of the events that made her that way. Instead, however, of picking her up there and simply continuing the house war story, Michelle West takes us back and will attempt to show us how Jewel Markess became Jewel ATerafin and where her "den", that cadre of personally loyal friends and supporters who follow her to the House of Terafin, was acquired and how. It's a fascinating journey. It will, as another reviewer has noted tend to keep you up til the wee hours of the morning. It'll make you exult and smile, worry and weep in the process. You will meet extraordinary characters other than just the main ones, like the dress maker with a hidden and dangerous past, Haval, who helps instruct Jewel and her darkest, most dangerous den-mate, Duster, on how to act like a merchant's daughter and her servant for the key mission/test of this the first episode. The whole i

Hidden City begins with Jewel (or Jay as she is known to her friends) trying to steal from Rath. She manages to take his money and he tracks her down. He lets her keep the money with a promise to repay him and when he comes back to the bridge she has been living under he finds her sick. So, he takes her back to his place to nurse her back to health - an act that he says is totally out of character for him. The rest of the book is the story of a developing relationship (not sexual or romantic relationship, but of a more father-daughter or student-teacher relationship) between Rath and Jay. He begins to care deeply for her, enough to let her bring various other children back to his home. He risks his life for her and her friends more than once, but don't expect that just because they are children they don't pull their own weight. I have to say that I really enjoyed the book. It is over 600 pages long, and believe it or not I read it in one sitting (was up until 5 in the morning). The author creates another world that just pulls you into and I couldn't wait to see what was going to happen next. Jay is an unusual child with unusual skills. She is very stubborn and strong, but also very caring. I like seeing the character development in both her and Rath. There is a sequel to this book coming sometime in 2010 supposedly. Also, this book is supposedly a prequel to some of the author's earlier written works - the Hunter's Oath Series and Sun Sword Series. I haven't read either series so I don't know how they compare to this book or how this book fits in with them. But this book on its own is fantastic - one of the best fantasy books I've read. The author also writes the Elantra series under the name of Michelle Sagara, and I am enjoying that series as well. I hope that you read this book - it is well written with interesting and dynamic characters that grab your attention and don't let go. ENJOY!

I am very harsh on authors whom I like and expect a lot from their new books. I had only read the Elandra series written by this author under her other name, and I love that series. For some reasons I never did try to read her earlier books. I happened to come across this paperback and almost finished it in one reading. It is that good. It is interesting that the dialogs between characters in some fantasy fictions will sometimes bore me to tears but in books written by this author, they were simply so enjoyable. The author did not try to do too much to confuse the "sequences" of this book. While there were many characters being introduced but the story is always centered around the two main characters - Rath and Jewel (or Jay). It is just a very entertaining and action filled fiction. You simply cannot go wrong with it because for me to give any books a five star, it has to be better be good.

I really enjoyed 'The Hidden City', the characters were interesting and the action fast pasced. I have read several of Michelle West's book and they are all very good.

First I have to say that in my opinion, Michelle West is a writer in the same category of excellence as the recently deceased Robert Jordan. I loved reading The Hidden City, it was great to have something new from West to read. I read the Sun Sword series 3 or 4 times! This book reminds me of the first volume in West's Sun Sword series, in that it focuses extensively on one character (Jewel) and the people and circumstances that shaped her. She also uses this volume to set the stage for future plot developments-it's clear that there's more to come. I was already familiar with Jewel from West's earlier novels (I believe she makes her first appearance in the second of the Sacred Hunt books--Hunter's Death). If you have loved West's other books, you'll love this one. If you haven't read her books yet, I suggest you begin with the Sacred Hunt--a 2 book series, then move on to the Sun Sword series. Maybe by then, the House War triology will be completed and you won't have a long wait between books.