The Etched City

by K.J. Bishop and K. Dž. Bišop

Book Overview

"Combine equal parts of Stephen King's Dark Tower series and Chine Mieville's Perdido Street Station, throw in a dash of Aubrey BeardsleyandJ.K. Huysmans, and you'll get some idea of this disturbing, decadent first novel."- Publishers Weekly Gwynn and Raule are rebels on the run, with little in common except being on the losing side of a hard-fought war. Gwynn is a gunslinger from the north, a loner, a survivor . . . a killer. Raule is a wandering...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0553382918
• ISBN13: 9780553382914
• Release Date: November 2004
• Publisher: Spectra Books
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.4" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

decent style but no gravity

while the world and setting of this book seemed to have some merits, the story is just weird lit slice of life. i didn't feel as if either of the two main characters went on much of an arc and most of the plot can be summed but by "and then things happened". the story needed something. more weirdness, more action, development, direction. as it stands now it needed more editing and beta reading. just not worth the time and effort.

A fabulous, steam-punk journey through a dreamscape

I am somewhat at a loss of words to describe this book. It follows two characters, one a physician and another a rogue, through their joint travels through a desert land to their arrival in a populous city, reminiscent of a river city in India. The geography of this story is not set on Earth; there are unfamiliar countries, landmarks, and histories. In fact the entire book reminded of nothing so much as a complex and long dream one might have. I very much enjoyed this book even though I am struggling to adequately describe it. It reads as a steam-punk novel with technology of the gas-light era; trains, paddleboats and guns being common, yet swords and horses are still everyday items. The novel is also strongly of the magic-realism school too. In many ways I think it is as if Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Jack Vance sat down together and knocked out a highly enjoyable book together. The story-telling is compelling and pulls you along from page to page, the characterization is remarkable, the dialogue is superb (especially certain parts dealing with philosophy and religion), but overall the simple otherworldliness of the book will be the biggest draw for most readers. This is a complex and enjoyable novel, remarkable in that is a first effort.

Classic, And I Don't Say That Lightly

I can only think of two books that seems to me to be in The Etched City's weight-class, and that's Gormenghast and Paul Park's Soldiers of Paradise. The Etched City has that same quality of dreamy, otherworldly skill in using prose to suck the reader seamlessly into another mentality. It's the opposite of Tolkien-esque world-creation, and far less often accomplished or attempted. The Tolkien-type fantasy, even the very good ones, approaches world-creation as a matter of comprehensive scholarship and geek-friendly mastery of consistent detail. Bishop's Etched City is no less a masterful creation of a world, but it accomplishes this through simply beautiful, utterly original prose and equally memorable characterization. Reading it is like drawing deep in an opium den, a sort of delirum contract between reader and writer. Seen in the cold light of the morning after, there are weaknesses, in particular a plot that seems to be moving langurously towards the convergence or closure of two parallel tracks but ultimately spins out (in a rather life-like manner) into a whimper rather than a storytelling bang. But just as Gormenghast in the end doesn't really seem to be about that much, or Soldiers of Paradise is just a retelling of the French Revolution, the narrative weakness of The Etched City ultimately seems irrelevant. I can't recommend this book highly enough.

All hail KJ, Bishop of Ashamoil!

What a fine book this is! While the world between these pages has been --justly-- compared with M. John Harrison's Viriconium and China Mieville's New Crobuzon, the world of Ashamoil and its environs is uniquely Bishop's own. Bishop's world is every bit as fleshed out as either of the formers', and there's plenty of action and plot to move things along. Ashamoil is not a pretty place, and I found myself immersed in the decadence and savagery of the place.The author doesn't take the easy path of painting her characters in manichean black-and-white. Gwynn and Raule --the antiheroes and main characters of the story-- are very human in that they are both bad and good, and thus neither completely likeable nor unlikeable. As their paths cross and diverge, and as they confront their respective moral dilemmas, we come to see something of ourselves. In this aspect, she outdoes both Harrison and Mieville.Should mention that it's written such that you may read it quickly, or linger over it for maximum effect. I chose the latter.I thoroughly enjoyed The Etched City and plan to return to Ashamoil again soon. Books like this keep me excited about "what's to come" in fiction.

I loved it, can I have some more please?

What a surreal world Bishop has created and what a breath of fresh air for fantasy writing! Unlike many offerings in the genre this story is driven by the characters and the environment rather than the tired "chosen one on a quest where it all comes out right in the end". The extraordinary hides amongst the mundane then leaps out to tap you on the shoulder and remind you that yes, this is not Life as we Know it. I devoured this book in a very short time, not wanting to miss the next tweak in the tale. A very subtle and enjoyable trip to a world a little like ours, but so very different...

The Etched City: a stunning journey of the mind and spirit

I cannot recommend 'The Etched City' highly enough. This is an astonishingly good book. As I read it I found myself thinking of Dostoevsky's willingness to tackle spiritual and ethical issues; of Bulgakov's surreal whimsy; of the richness of imagery and fable to be found in books like 'The Dictionary of the Khazars'. They are not writers and works to be invoked lightly, but I believe K J Bishop has written a first novel worthy of the comparisons.This is a book that resists easy classification. It is a story set in a surreal world with characters that are refreshingly free of easy sentimentality. There is action, violence, murder; passion, lust, love; there is confusion and clarity, magic and pragmatism.Her main characters, like the book itself, do not fit any recognisable type, beyond the facile one of 'anti-heroes'. Gwynn is a fascinating creation. He is a man of great honesty which he applies to both himself and others, clear-eyed in a murky world. Yet for all his cunning and sharp observational powers, he is capable of being seduced by the intriguing woman who embodies ambiguity. He is paradoxical, amoral; a killer who nonetheless refuses to be callous; an executioner who refuses to be judge, and a realist who embraces the poignancy of love.Raoule is equally paradoxical, a woman who acts compassionately but feels nothing, a callous caregiver. She searches for truth amongst the monstrous remains of the children she delivers, and her relationship with Gwynn is astringent, to say the least.There are men who manipulate wars, reaping rewards and destruction in equal measure; there are zealots, lovestruck fools, women and a priest who fumbles towards heaven and Gwynn's soul even as he fumbles in their skirts.I don't know if time will prove this to be a great book. It certainly has the seeds of greatness within it in its unforgettable scenes and the richness and poetry of its text. If you want to read something that delights, challenges, entertains and moves you, 'The Etched City' is for you.