A Book Review: City of Blades by Robert Jackson Bennett (The Divine Cities #2)

Today I am going to review Robert Jackson Bennett's book, City of Blades. This is the second installment in an urban fantasy trilogy titled, The Divine Cities. After a lengthy consideration, I decided to write this review in a very different way. I hope my thoughts will interest you. I am going to start my review this way...

Some say, life has no meaning if there is no afterlife.

I question, can afterlife have meaning without afterafterlife?

Ok, let me set aside the (half) joke.

Lying at the core of most religious/spiritual beliefs, is the notion, there is a heavenly existence beyond the current one. By following a particular god, so say the evangelists, one can be granted with salvation, and receiving the key to enter some sort of “heaven”. While different religions phrase the mechanics for salvation differently, but the general idea remains the same. Therefore, let's just stick to this concept for what it is– you follow some god, and that god will give you salvation, and brings you to some kind of heaven when your earthly existence is due.

I suppose, people can incessantly argue about the existence of heaven, hell, salvation, sin, and the whole shebang. But I am interested in a different question:

Will you still follow your god, if your god does not promise an afterlife and reward in heaven? If your god says, you only have this single life, when it is due and the universe dies, then it is game over and you cease to exist, no more. Will you still follow your god?

“But there must be heaven for the faithful and hell for the rebellious”, you said, “otherwise there is no judgement for the moral right and wrong." With a stern face, you concluded, "a god who does not reward or punish, is no god at all”.

“What do you mean, right and wrong?”, I said, “currently, your god sounds awfully like a deity who was created in your image, to fulfill your fancy for how the universe ought to behave”.

“In fact”, I continued, “Is a thing good because your god says it is good? Or does your god say a thing is good because it is good? If you respond with the later, then it means “good” comes from a higher source, and it imposes itself on your god, making your god redundant for moral good. On the other hand, if you respond with the former, then you are subscribing to a harmful belief, where whatever your god commands to be good, is good (religious terrorism, anyone?).

“Ok listen”, you said, “there is a third option, the nature of my god is good, so my god cannot command anything that is against his nature”.

“Hmm”, I questioned, “where did the nature of your god come from?”. A small pause, then I continued, “If you say, your god is the uncreated creator, and is therefore in control, or self-creating, of his nature, then it means good is once again, based on your god's authority, and we are back to the harmful belief, where you believe whatever your god commands is good, is good. Alternatively, if your god does not choose that nature, then the source that imposed the nature upon your god, is the source of good and your god is once again, made redundant for moral good.”

What a dilemma! Please excuse me if the above paragraphs are dense and heady. I hope it is interesting. However, you are welcomed to try and resolve this problem. But this dilemma, known as Euthyphro dilemma, first proposed by Socrates, has remained unsolved for thousands of years. This is the silver bullet to those who use the moral argument for the existence of supernatural deities.

My gentle readers, while I leave you to explore this dilemma, my question remains: Will you still follow your god if he does not promise you an afterlife, or reward in heaven?

City of Blades explores the above question.

Like many good novels, this book started with a mystery. A secret agent has gone missing on the cold, windy shore of Voortyashtan. This is a domain once belonged to the (now) deceased goddess of war and destruction. Since the goddess' demise, the city of Voortyashtan has lost much of its former glory, it is reduced to an outpost, troubled by savage tribes. General Turyuin Mulaghesh received a call from the prime minister of Saypuri. Reluctantly, Mulaghesh left her retired life, and agreed to investigate the fate of the missing agent. As Mulaghesh came closer to the heart of the mystery, so does the dead whisper louder in her ears. She wonders, after a god died, what happens to the souls of the dead who are trapped in the afterlife?

City of Blades stands apart from a galore of books in the genre. The worldbuilding in this book evokes the image of post-colonialism. Furthermore, its characterization is unlike most fantasy novels, it does not feature a young and dashing hero. Instead, Mulaghesh, the protagonist, is a 50 something year old woman. She is an ex-military, a weathered creature, who became handicapped during her service. This also means Mulaghesh walks around carrying some baggage from the past; a few regrets, a few horrid memories from wars, and she has tasted the bitter and the sweet in life. Mulaghesh is far from being the all-powerful and flawless hero of fantasy archetype. She is experienced and a bit cynical. Yet, under her hard exterior lies a tired soul who genuinely tries to do the right thing. I like Mulaghsesh, while there are many interesting supporting characters in this book, but she carries the narratives on her own.

City of Blades, like its predecessor, is a fusion of fantasy, mystery, and spy novels. It explores the question about afterlife, and its role in the relationship between believers and their god. It does so, through a story about gods, miracles, the death of gods, and the death of miracles. The theme is thought-provoking, and not wholly unrelated to the philosophies I attempted to expound in my opening paragraphs. The book is very well-written, its story is interesting, featuring a cast of memorable characters. I do have a minor complaint about this book, its pacing was a bit odd at certain places. Otherwise, this book is great. This book features an unusual protagonist, a good story, while exploring the philosophical question about the afterlife. City of Blades has my recommendation. Check out this series, starting from the first book, City of Stairs.