CITY ON FIRE - An Epic Novel

Well I finally finished this book.  Wow!  City on Fire by Garth Risk Hallberg is a sprawling, complex novel set in New York in the 1970s. It is pretty impressive for a debut novel but at 900+ pages it's a bit of a marathon read and not for the faint-hearted.

It begins in December 1976 when we are introduced to some of the characters. A pivotal event occurs on New Year's eve when a teenage girl is shot in Central Park. The book covers what happened afterwards and also what had gone before and slowly reveals the connections between the various characters in the book.  Things all come to a head on 13 July 1977 when all the lights go out in New York City.

There are a myriad of characters, many of whom are introduced in (or fall into) pairs: Charlie and Samantha, William and Mercer, Regan and Keith, Felicia Gould and her 'Demon Brother' Amory Gould, Richard and Jenny, Pulaski, Nicky Chaos and Solomon Grundy, Sewer Girl ….. and more.

The characters include a wealthy New York family and the two estranged heirs, a teacher recently arrived, two Long Island teenagers drawn to the New York punk scene, a re-formed punk band and the characters around them, a writer, the police officer investigating the shooting, a gallery owner.... and more.

I loved the way the author cleverly weaves the story to reveal the connections between the various characters (although they don't realise it at the time).

I also liked the fact that the story is told from the viewpoint of individual characters.  It also jumps backwards and forwards in time.

I thought the author described the locations really well. You could imagine yourself in these places. The characters are also very well formed and I feel you really get to know them, or at least some of them.

For all its brilliance, it's not a happy, uplifting story. It's a bit bleak in parts. It took me longer than usual to read and I came close on a couple of occasions to giving up simply because of the sheer length of the story but then the pace would change and I engaged with it again. I'm glad I read to the end and although for some characters there is a satisfactory ending for me there were still some unresolved issues.

Even as I'm drafting this review I can't decide how I feel about the book.  I suppose I could say it's brilliant in parts but the sheer length of the novel could turn it into a bit of a slog.  Overall I would say I'm glad I read it.

(Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with a review copy - the book is due to be published in the UK on 22 October 2015).

Author website:               www.garthriskhallberg.com/

Author facebook page:    www.facebook.com/GarthRiskHallberg/

MEANWHILE ....

I have a few books 'pending'.  Some I bought, and some were sent to me via NetGalley for review.  I desperately want to start reading them but I'm still working my way through a rather 'thick' book (I say thick, but it's an ebook so it's hard to tell - although it does say I'm 33% through it!) due to be published on 20 October.  Hopefully I'll have finished reading and posted a review by then.

It's long for a debut novel.  According to Amazon  the hardcover version has 944 pages so although I like a good 'meaty' read, I'm very glad I'm reading it in ebook format.


 Anyway I might have more to say about it in a week or two.

I love reading but sometimes you need a break so Sunday was spent at a Big Big Sing Day in Glasgow Royal Concert Hall.  It was amazing - 5 hours (including breaks) singing with hundreds of other people.  It's good for the body and good for soul!

We learned to sing 5 songs on Sunday with harmony (some in 4 part harmony).  Big Big Sing days are for anyone, singers and non singers, old and young.  We were celebrating the 25th birthday of the Concert Hall so the songs kind of acknowledged the 90s or singers/bands who performed there in the 90s.


Stephen and Adey taught us the songs supported by a fantastic band and three wonderful singers on stage.

I've now got a couple of days free so it's back to reading!

MORE CRIME NOVELS!

I'm still on the crime novels!  I've been lucky enough to have been given advance copies via NetGalley in exchange for a review.

It might seem a bit strange that I'm really liking nearly all of them.  However that might just be that I am getting better at requesting books that I think I will enjoy. So here are another couple of short reviews.

The first one is The Lion and the Rose by Riccardo Bruni (author) and Aaron Maines (translator).  I loved this book (I was given an advance copy through Netgalley).  

The story is set in early 16th century Venice, a perfect setting for all the dark goings on.

There is something for everyone - gruesome murders, secrets, open secrets, political intrigue, secret societies, plots, conspiracies, torture, forbidden love and a scholarly German monk named Mathias (who has been questioning his faith) who has reluctantly been hired (or rather pressed) into investigating the murders.

Venice is the perfect setting for the book with its network of canals and dark alleyways. 

It seems to be a good translation of a well written book.  I loved this book even although initially I wasn't sure if it was my type of book (until the last month or so I seemed to be reading a lot of romance and 'chic lit' and enjoying these too).  It reminded me a little of the Brother Cadfael novels by Ellis Peters although these were set in an earlier century and not quite so 'dark'.  I would say The Lion and the Rose is perfect for those who like crime thrillers and mysteries, especially those in a historical setting.  

The second one is a bit different and maybe even a bit quirky.  It's not available until 20 October 2015. 

The Unfortunate Decisions of Dahlia Moss by Max Wirestone involves a 'virtual' theft and a murder but it is a whodunnit with a twist.  Dahlia (not an experienced detective) gets herself involved in the virtual world of gamers.  

At the start Dahlia is given money to investigate the theft of a 'virtual' spear - "The Bejewelled Spear of Inifinite Piercing" but she soon becomes involved in a real murder.

To be honest I didn't dislike this book and I did read it to the end but it didn't quite catch my attention enough to keep me up to the small hours to finish it. 

It would probably appeal to someone a bit younger than myself.  I'm retired now and I've never really been involved in online virtual worlds so I might be a bit too old to be classed as a total geek.

I have to say I did like it very much in parts.  Towards the end it was pretty funny, especially at the convention.  In fact the more  I read, the better it got.  Dahlia certainly gets herself into some weird situations.